WEEK 0 PREP RECAPS: Catholic throttles McGill-Toolen; Pike Road falls to Hillcrest; Lanier tops Lee on Saturday
Catholic’s Caleb McCreary avoids the tackle of McGill's Alex Shamburger in the Knights’ win on Friday. (Tim Gayle)
COMBINED REPORTS
Jeremiah Cobb ran for three touchdowns and Caleb McCreary passed for three more as the new-look Catholic Knights defeated McGill-Toolen 42-21 in the season opener for both teams on Friday.
While Cobb and McCreary are veterans, Friday night’s game was a valuable test for an offensive line that included just one returning starter from last year’s team.
“I started when I was young so I know how they feel,” McCreary said. “They were nervous, but it’s OK. We’ve got a pretty good relationship. I understand them, and I’m not going to get down on them. I try to encourage them. They’ll make plays for me and I’ll make plays for them.”
The Knights may have had new starters on both sides of the line but it didn’t show as they manhandled the 6A Yellow Jackets in the first-ever meeting between the two Catholic private schools.
“There’s a lot of moving parts to what we hope will be a 15-game season and we’ve got to learn how to navigate through that,” Knights head coach Kirk Johnson said. “We’ve got some guys banged up but that’s what happens with the first game.”
Catholic jumped out to an early 28-7 halftime lead and extended their lead to 42-7 by the middle of the third quarter. But third and fourth quarter mistakes and penalties allowed the Yellow Jackets to score two more touchdowns and march down the field.
“We’re young, and we made a lot of mistakes, and we came out very fast early and we came out very dominant early,” Johnson said. “We’ve got a lot of growing to do and we’re a very young team, but also a very good team. I’m proud of my team for the win, but we’ve just got to do better late game.”
McCreary completed 13 of 20 passes for 198 yards and three touchdowns, while also rushing 10 times for 103 yards.
Cobb rushed 17 times for 215 yards and three touchdowns, while also catching two passes for 61 yards and a touchdown.
Senior wide receiver Luke Harkless caught six passes for 85 yards and a touchdown, while senior wide receiver Justin Rose caught one touchdown pass for 25 yards.
“Shoutout to Caleb controlling the clock, utilizing his feet when he could and for utilizing his arm when he could,” Johnson said. “He makes things happen, and we love him and hate him for it, and he wants the big plays, and a lot of attention gets drawn to Cobb, but there are a lot of great players on this team.”
McCreary was able to extend a lot of plays in key situations such as third and longs with both his legs and his arm, but he didn’t place blame on any of his players and pointed to practice as the key.
“In practice, we go over a lot of that stuff and people make mistakes, and I make mistakes myself, so we just repeat it over and over,” said McCreary. “So I know that when the time comes, I’ll be able to make the big play.”
The Knights used big plays to take the lead early, scoring first on a 29-yard run by Cobb, then on a 25-yard pass from McCreary to Rose for a 14-0 lead.
Cobb added a 9-yard touchdown run for a 21-0 lead before McGill-Toolen answered with a 4-yard pass from Aaden Shamburger to receiver Anthony Eager. McCreary then completed a 15-yard touchdown pass to Harkless to take a 28-7 lead at the half.
On their first possession of the third quarter, McCreary completed a 16-yard pass to Cobb for his third touchdown pass of the game for a 35-7 lead. Cobb added a 10-yard touchdown run midway through the quarter for a 42-7 lead.
The Yellow Jackets added two late touchdowns as quarterback Andrew Murchinson completed a 70-yard pass to Eager for his second touchdown and Shamburger passed to Eager for 27 yards for the game’s final touchdown.
Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa 28, Pike Road 21
TUSCALOOSA -- Pike Road rallied for 14 points in the fourth quarter to tie the game, only to have Hillcrest quarterback Ethan Crawford score with 17.9 seconds left to pull off a 28-21 victory in the season opener for both teams.
The much-anticipated matchup between Hillcrest, which advanced to the 6A semifinals last year, and defending 5A state champion Pike Road lived up to its billing in the final moments after Hillcrest opened up a 13-0 halftime lead and still led by two touchdowns entering the final quarter.
Anthony Rogers rushed for 96 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries and added two receptions for 40 yards to finish with 136 all-purpose yards. His 47-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter cut the lead to 21-13 to set up the final exchange of touchdowns.
Quarterback Kaleb Foster, making his debut for Pike Road, was 7 of 9 for 94 yards, leading his team down the field late in the game on a touchdown drive. He scored on a quarterback sneak with 1:59 remaining to pull the Patriots within 21-19, then dropped a pass over the shoulder of Brennan Tormey on the left sideline for the game-tying two-point conversion.
Tre’marcus Webb put Pike Road on the scoreboard first with a 30-yard score after Hillcrest had taken a 13-0 lead in the first quarter.
Defensively, Cody Markham had eight tackles and a pass defensed to lead Pike Road, while Bishop Singleton had seven tackles, including a sack for eight yards, and Malik Blocton had five tackles.
The loss snapped Pike Road’s school record 14-game winning streak and spoiled the debut of new Patriot coach Ed Rigby.
Pike Road (1-0) returns home to play Dade Christian, a private school out of Hialeah, Fla., next Friday.
Sidney Lanier 20, R.E. Lee 7 (Saturday)
Tacraris Bozeman rushed for 163 yards that included two long runs for scores in Sidney Lanier’s season-opening win over R.E. Lee on Saturday at Cramton Bowl.
The win was the first for new Lanier coach Darone Fagan.
Bozeman scored on a 45-yard run in the first quarter and later clinched the win with a 13-yard run with just over four minutes remaining in the game.
Lee struggled with just 149 yards in total offense for the game. The Generals coughed up two fumbles and allowed a blocked punt in an auspicious start for new coach Qua Everett.
Yet, the Generals pulled within five points with 8:35 remaining in the game on a 1-yard touchdown plunge by quarterback Bryson McGrew.
But Bozeman would pick up 53 of his yards, scoring his second TD on the ensuing drive to extend the Poets’ lead.
Lanier opened the scoring with 10 minutes left in the first quarter when Jawan McBride jumped on a loose ball in the end zone for a score.
The start of the game was delayed nearly an hour due to a severe storm and a steady rain continued for most of the night, causing fumbles on both sides.
McGrew finished with 58 yards passing on 8-of-21 attempts. He added 58 yards rushing on nine carries.
Lee (0-1) opens Class 7A, Region 2 play next Friday at Dothan while Lanier (1-0) takes the week off and faces Jeff Davis on Sept. 3.
KICKOFF CLASSIC : Auburn 17, Hoover 14
Auburn junior place-kicker Towns McGough kicked a 36-yard field goal with 2:31 to play to give Auburn High School a 17-14 season-opening victory over Hoover in the 2022 Kickoff Classic at Cramton Bowl on Friday.
Auburn (1-0) built a 14-0 halftime lead with back-to-back scoring drives. DV Williams’ 2-yard run capped a six-play, 85-yard drive with 8:01 to go before halftime, and he added a 15-yard run to cap a six-play, 54-yard drive with 3:48 remaining before intermission.
In the third, Hoover’s Tyler McKinnel blocked a McGough punt in the end zone, and Devan Carlisle fell on it for a touchdown with 8:23 remaining in the period to pull to within 14-7. The Bucs then drove 58 yards in 10 plays, and Ahmari Williams’ 27-yard TD run on the first play of the fourth quarter tied the game at 14-14.
Auburn took advantage of two fourth-quarter fumbles by Hoover, with McGough kicking the Tigers to victory.
Auburn’s Williams finished with 82 yards rushing on 17 carries and two touchdowns. Hoover’s Williams ran 17 times for 131 yards and one TD.
Auburnn quarterback Clyde Pittman completed 11-of-18 passes for 140 yards.
Hoover started freshman Jonah Winston, the younger brother of former Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston. He finished 5-for-8 for 29 yards. Brewer Smith subbed for Winston and played the entire second half finishing 7-for-16 passing for 53 yards.