FLAG FOOTBALL: Catholic scores late to beat Auburn; Brew Tech takes two over Enterprise
Catholic’s Maggie McNeely (29) breaks up a pass to Auburn’s Jailyn White in the Knights’ win on Tuesday. (Tim Gayle)
COMBINED REPORTS
For the second consecutive game this season, the Catholic flag football team struggled to find any rhythm or consistency on either side of the ball.
But a touchdown in the final minute of both halves was enough to give the Knights a 13-7 win over Class 6A Auburn High in the 2026 home opener on Tuesday at Catholic.
“We just didn’t come out playing like we should have at the beginning,” Catholic coach Whitney Toole said. “We couldn’t get everything to click at the same time. We made some adjustments in the second half. We found a way to win, but we’ve got a long way to go.”
Catholic quarterback Hayden Fitts was one of those that struggled to find a rhythm but the senior found Avery Sadler in the back of the end zone with a touchdown pass in the final two minutes of the first half, then engineered the game-winning drive in the final six minutes of the game, hitting the pylon on a fourth-and-goal run with 66 seconds left that was initially ruled short before officials conferred and reversed the call.
“That was chaotic,” Fitts said. “I’m just happy we had more eyes on that play.”
Fitts raced for the left corner of the end zone on fourth down from the 2-yard line, stretching the ball toward the goal as she hit the pylon. She was initially ruled out of bounds two feet short of the goal, but after a conference among the three officials, the ruling was changed to a touchdown.
Auburn picked up an initial first down, but turned the ball over on downs four plays later to give Catholic its first win of the season after losing to Central-Phenix City 38-0 in the Kickoff Classic the previous Thursday.
Auburn used six consecutive passing plays on its second possession to grab an early 7-0 lead, using a 7-yard pass over the middle from Taylor Plott to Alyssa Kate Jackson to put the Tigers in front.
Catholic, held without a first down on its first two possessions, finally started clicking on its third, stopping Auburn on downs at the Catholic 19, then marching 61 yards in nine plays, converting a fourth-and-five run by Fitts into a first down on the sixth play of the drive. Three plays later, Fitts rolled right under pressure and threw a strike on the back line of the end zone to Sadler, then threw a perfectly placed pass to Aria Martinez for the extra point.
Catholic, outplayed for an entire half, had fought back to tie the game 7-7 at the half.
“It was very important to us,” Fitts said of the touchdown. “We just knew we had to find the energy and the intensity. Once everybody was on board, we were good from there on out. We just needed to pick it up. We know what we’re capable of and we know how to fix it.”
The momentum clearly shifted from Auburn to Catholic at that point. Auburn, which had seven first downs in the first half, managed just four in the second half -- two on startup possessions that required just six yards, another on an offside penalty against the Knights.
“It brought some momentum back,” Toole said of the first-half touchdown. “It gave us a little bit of energy, but we know, ideally, we’ve got to score more than two touchdowns.”
The second half was primarily a defensive struggle until the final possession. Catholic, borrowing a page from Auburn’s first-half playbook, threw passes over the middle on four of the six passes on the final possession, moving the ball 47 yards in eight plays.
“We saw that was what was open,” Toole said. “We’ve preached the last two games to take what they give us, take what they give us, so that’s what we were hoping to do the whole game.”
Fitts completed 11 of 22 passes for 91 yards, rushed nine times for a game-high 54 yards and led the Knights in flag pulls with six. Sadler also had six flag pulls and a pass breakup, rushed three times for nine yards and caught two passes for 21 yards.
Kaylee Hinkle led Catholic with three receptions for 23 yards. Maggie McNeely also had three receptions for 19 yards.
Plott led the Tigers with 49 yards on eight carries and also completed 14 of 23 passes for 99 yards, Jackson had three receptions for 19 yards and a touchdown. Harper Wood also had three receptions for 17 yards and Katherine Foster had three catches for 19 yards.
Catholic (1-1) returns to the field next Tuesday at home against Selma.
Brewbaker Tech 12-7, Enterprise 0-0
The Lady Rams swept two games from visiting Enterprise at Cramton Bowl on Tuesday.
In the first game, Tessa Wilburn threw two touchdown passes with the first to Kaymana Bindy for 18 yards in the second quarter.
The second TD pass went to Helena Pennic on the last play of the third quarter. The extra-point try in each case was missed.
Enterprise’s biggest threat to score came on the final play of the first half when quarterback Keziah Upton threw an interception near the end zone as time expired.
Wilburn finished with 174 yards passing to lead the Rams.
In the second game, the only points came with 3:35 left in the first half on a 1-yard pass from Khalia Wiley to Peighton Williams. The Rams converted the extra point to take a 7-0 lead.
Makenzi Walker finished with 55 yards passing to lead the Rams. The Rams defense picked off Enterprise quarterbacks three times, with two by Xena Mayo.
Brew Tech (4-2) is set to play Vestavia Hills on Tuesday.