FLAG FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS: ACA advances with win over John Carroll; Brew Tech dominates Vigor

Nora Burgess moves past John Carroll defenders in Alabama Christian’s win in the first round of the AHSAA Flag Football playoffs on Tuesday at Wade Black Norton Field. (Tim Gayle)

COMBINED REPORTS

The pass wobbled badly as it left Peri Laine Holley’s hand.

The pass reflected the desperation of the moment as Alabama Christian faced fourth down and 14, trailing John Carroll by a point with less than four minutes left.

But in one quick moment, Nora Burgess came back and gathered in Holley’s pass, whirled past a Cavalier defender and went 54 yards to the end zone to give the Eagles their first-ever playoff victory in the first round of the Class A Private flag football playoffs at ACA on Tuesday.

“When you’re in a game and you feel like you have players who can make plays … when you need your athletes to show up and make plays, they do,” ACA coach Josh Gaines said. “I believed in them. I asked them what they wanted to do and they did a good job.”

It was the only catch of the night for Burgess and the only offensive touchdown by ACA in the 12-7 victory over John Carroll.

“I was just thinking, catch it, go to the ball, don’t let it drop,” Burgess said. “I didn’t know (it would turn into a touchdown). I just ran and hoped for the best.”

Alabama Christian (6-5) will travel to Westminster Christian next week for the second round of the playoffs. John Carroll ends the season at 3-12.

The Cavaliers managed to take the lead on their second possession with a series of short passes, followed by quick laterals. Brooke Shepherd ran through the ACA defense for the final 21 yards and a conversion pass capped a 63-yard drive and gave John Carroll a quick 7-0 lead with 4:09 remaining in the first quarter.

The Cavaliers would manage just 83 yards on their other nine possessions.

ACA, meanwhile, had a first down in the red zone on each of their first four possessions and five of their first six, only to come away with no points.

“That can’t happen,” Gaines said. “We’ve got to be able to finish drives, we’ve got to be able to do what we’re coached to do. I thought we played sloppy. We’ve got to clean it up. You get in the red zone five times, we need to score at least three out of five or four out of five to give us a shot to win the game when we’re playing lights out on defense.

“You give up one bad touchdown on defense because we can’t pull a flag, then we go out and shut them out for three more quarters but can’t score on offense.”

The Eagles had pulled within a point early in the second quarter when Burgess grabbed a punt on the left side of the field, ran to the right and sprinted 45 yards for a touchdown, but the conversion pass failed, leaving John Carroll in front 7-6.

“I just knew to always run on the opposite side,” Burgess said of her return. “Don’t run on the side they’re going to be on.”

The game would remain a defensive struggle for the remainder of the night, with the ACA defense holding firm as the offense struggled through a stretch of penalties, dropped passes and mistakes.

“I think at the end of the day, you’ve got to live in the moment,” Gaines said. “You can’t let the moment get too big. That’s what we told them at halftime. We got into some scenarios where the moment became too big and we had to reel them back in. Leadership wise, even from young girls like Addi Newkirk and Addison Smith to Peri Laine (Holley) and even the senior, Maddie (Owens), telling everybody to calm down, we’ve still got a ballgame to play and we’ve still got to finish.”

Those words didn’t seem to work until Burgess grabbed a wobbly fourth-and-14 pass out of the air and sprinted to the end zone with 3:25 remaining to send the Eagles into the quarterfinals of the Class A-AA Private playoffs after winning just one game in their inaugural 2025 season.  

“We actually believe in ourselves this year,” Burgess said. “Last year, we just didn’t really believe. We didn’t really think we could win anything. This year, we thought we could win and we have been winning.”

Holley led the Eagle defense with seven flag pulls, while Smith had four and an interception, Newkirk had four, two interceptions and a pass breakup and Owens had four stops. Burgess added two tackles and two passes batted down to help ACA advance to next week’s quarterfinals.

“It feels good,” Gaines said. “We’ve got to go back to work. We’ve got to clean it up, score when we put the ball in the red zone and we’ve got to keep playing lights out on defense. It does feel good, though. Sleep on it tonight and then we’re back at work.”

Brewbaker Tech 34, Vigor 0

The Rams had little trouble putting away the Wolves in the opening round of the AHSAA Class 1A-4A flag football playoffs at Cramton Bowl on Tuesday.

Quarterback Tessa Wilburn passed for 122 yards and three touchdowns to lead Brew Tech to the victory in a game shortened by the mercy rule in the third quarter.

Apollonia Wesley scored one touchdown and passed for another for the Rams.

Reese Woody, Kaymarria Bandy and Skylar Haywood each had a touchdown reception.

Woody also added an interception return for a touchdown.

Brew Tech will face the winner of the game between Wilcox Central and Carroll in the second round.

Catholic 32, Northside 14 (Regular season)

NORTHPORT -- Aria Martinez grabbed seven receptions for 66 yards and a pair of touchdowns as Catholic’s flag football team closed out the regular season with its 16th consecutive victory in a 32-14 win at Northside High School last Thursday.

Hayden Fitts completed 9 of 23 passes for 108 yards and a touchdown, while Avery Sadler completed 7 of 7 passes for 77 yards and a touchdown. Fitts also rushed for 55 yards and a touchdown on five carries and Sadler added a 1-yard touchdown run on her only carry.

Haley Ishman had four receptions for 59 yards, Frances Ann Rogers had 25 yards on a pair of receptions and Kaylee Hinkle added a pair of catches for 15 yards.

Defensively, Rogers had a career-high nine flag pulls and an interception, Sadler had eight and an interception, Fitts had five and an interception, Addi Little had five and Destini Hartman had five, including a pair of sacks.

The 14 points scored by Northside was the third highest total against the Catholic defense this season, trailing only Central-Phenix City and Smiths Station.

Catholic (16-1) will face Mobile Christian at home on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. in second-round action of the AHSAA Class A-AA playoffs.

AHSAA Flag Football Playoff scores

CLASS A-AA PRIVATE

McGill-Toolen 21, Glenwood 0

Mobile Christian 34, Northside Methodist 0

Hope Christian 26, Trinity 0

Alabama Christian 12, John Carroll 7

Second Round

Tuesday schedule

McGill-Toolen at St. Michael

Mobile Christian at Catholic

Hope Christian at American Christian

Alabama Christian at Westminster Christian