FRIDAY NIGHT RECAP: Montgomery Academy earns key region win; Holtville, Elmore County get road wins

COMBINED REPORTS

Montgomery Academy 48, Houston Academy 7

DOTHAN -- Montgomery Academy set the tone with a touchdown on its first play from scrimmage as the Eagles dominated the Raiders from start to finish in the region opener for both teams.

Reid McBride completed 9 of 15 passes for 254 yards and three touchdowns, including a 49-yard pass to tailback Ali Nelson for a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage.

Nelson had eight carries for 119 yards and scored two touchdowns to close out the scoring in the second half.

After Nelson’s touchdown reception, the Eagles came back with a Braden Gordon run for a touchdown, a pass from McBride to Jarrett Friendly and another touchdown pass of 40 yards in the final moments of the first half for a stunning 34-7 halftime lead.

In between the two touchdown passes, McBride ran 66 yards for a touchdown, finishing the night with 80 yards on five carries.

Friendly had five receptions for 92 yards and a touchdown, while Gordon had two catches for 60 yards and a touchdown along with five carries for 44 yards and a touchdown. David Whisenhunt had two receptions for 54 yards and Mac Benefield had six carries for 32 yards.

Defensively, Knox Wingate had eight tackles, a tackle for loss and a pass breakup, William Marks had six tackles, William Wakefield had six tackles, including a tackle for loss, and Aaron Aronov had six tackles and a sack. Gordon had four tackles, including four for loss and three sacks, and Whisenhunt had four tackles, including one for loss and a pair of pass breakups.

After three games on the road to open the season, Montgomery Academy (3-0, 1-0 in Region 2 play) will play its home opener at McLemore Field next Friday against Wicksburg. After three games at home to open the season, Houston Academy (2-1, 0-1) will travel to Slocomb for a region game next Friday.

Tristan Blackmon reaches for a loose ball in Prattville’s win over Oak Mountain on Friday. (Photo courtesy Cody Kanaday)

Prattville 27, Oak Mountain 6

PRATTVILLE -- Tristin Blackmon rushed for 154 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 26 carries as the Lions captured the 600th win in school history with a region victory over Oak Mountain on Friday at Stanley-Jensen Stadium.

Kavion Tyrus added 31 rushing yards on four carries and JJ Williams had 16 yards on three carries. Williams completed 6 of 10 passes for 43 yards and a touchdown with two interceptions. DeShawn Hall had two receptions for 22 yards, including a 17-yard touchdown catch from Williams, and Ford Rucker had one catch for 14 yards,

Defensively, Eric Townsend  had five tackles, including one for loss, Darrell Washington had two tackles, including one for loss and an interception, Tyrus had three tackles, including one for loss and a sack, Caleb Mitchell returned a fumble 32 yards for a touchdown and Bryan Thomas had an interceptions, a tackle and a fumble recovery.

Prattville (2-1, 1-0 in region play) travels to Northport to play Tuscaloosa County in a region game next Friday, while Oak Mountain (2-1, 0-1) returns home to play Thompson in a region game.  

Trinity 21, Prattville Christian 12

The Wildcats gave up a fumble recovery for a touchdown but held PCA to less than 100 yards in offense to earn the win in Class 3A, Region 2 play Friday at Boykin-Ragsdale Field.

PCA scored first on a fumble recovery and return by Tillman Simpson on Trinity’s first possession. The extra point was missed.

But the Wildcats took the lead for good later in the quarter on Brandon Boswell’s 1-yard run. The extra point made it 7-6.

Luke Hall’s reception on a fourth down play in the second quarter gave Trinity a 14-6 lead.

PCA pulled within two points on Bryson Pugh’s 5-yard run, but the two-point try failed, leaving Trinity up by two, 14-12.

Boswell’s second score of the night, a 7-yard run, pushed the Wildcats’ lead to 21-12 after Ryan Basile’s third extra point of the evening.

Tillman Clements led the Trinity rushing attack with 73 yards on 12 carries. Pugh led PCA with 79 yards rushing.

Trinity (2-1, 1-0) will visit Alabama Christian next week while PCA (0-3, 0-1) goes to Northside Methodist.

Holtville 34, Sylacauga 31

SYLACAUGA -- Dashaun Ziergler rushed for 138 yards and a pair of touchdowns to lead the Bulldogs to a win over Sylacauga in the region opener for both teams on Friday.

Jacob Burgess passed for 91 yards, including 38 yatds to Bryant Boone. Boone also had an interception on defense.

Tyler Hackett led the defense with 13 tackles, including a sack.

Holtville (2-1, 1-0 in region play) returns home to play Elmore County next week, while Sylacauga (2-1, 0-1) travels to Beauregard for a region game next week.

Elmore County 36, Carroll 20

OZARK - Eli Thames rushed for 126 yards and three touchdowns in Elmore County’s first region win of the season on Friday.

Thames scored on runs of 5, 9 and 55 yards all in the first half as the Panthers build a 21-point lead.

Conner Pike and Sam King each added a rushing touchdown for the Panthers, who finished the night with 409 total yards in offense.

Quarterback Gage Davis had 146 yards in total offense including 84 in the air. Jameson Davis had 94 yards on 12 carries.

Elmore County (2-1, 1-0 5A/R4) travels to Holtville next Friday.

Lowndes Academy 47, Fort Dale Academy 14

HAYNEVILLE -- Jeremy Hardy rushed for 320 yards and four touchdowns on just 16 carries as the Rebels won their 25th consecutive regular season game with a 47-14 win over Fort Dale at Mac Champion Stadium on Friday night.

Hardy scored on runs of 64 and 6 yards to stake the Rebels to an early lead and added a 54-yard touchdown run after a Bradyn Stokes touchdown pass.

In the second half, Fort Dale scored, Stokes scored on a 5-yard run and Fort Dale scored again before Hardy ran 48 yards to the end zone for his fourth touchdown carry of the night.

Stokes completed 5 of 10 passes for 126 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 36 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries.

Crawford Dansby led the Lowndes defense with 10 tackles.

Lowndes (3-0, 1-0 in region play) travels to Clarke Prep next week while Fort Dale (2-1, 0-1) is idle next week before playing host to Clarke Prep in two weeks.

Tallassee 53, Munford 21

TALLASSEE - The Tigers overcame a slow start but earned an easy win over Munford in Class 4A Region 3 opener for both teams at J.E. “Hot” O’Brien Stadium.

Tallassee fell behind 14-0 but then led 17-14 at halftime after a pair of scores from Jaiden Gordon, one on Gordon on a 36-yard pass from John Carter, and the other on a run of 14 yards.

Tallassee scored 36 unanswered point, getting touchdowns from Hamp Love, Jeremiah Reeves, John Carter and Tiny Green. The Tigers ran for 330 yards led by Green’s 96 yards on 16 carries.

Yuren Rodriguez and Channing Johnson  combined for three field goals for the Tigers.

Tallassee (2-1, 1-0) completes a four-game home stand to start the season facing Booker T. Washington next Friday.

Autauga Academy 41, Billingsley 19

BILLINGSLEY -- Kaden Cotton returned a kickoff 70 yards for a touchdown but it wasn’t enough to put the Bears in the win column as Autauga Academy won the matchup between the two teams in a 1A Region 4 meeting on Thursday at Mims Field.

Cotton also had 91 yards on 20 carries.

Kyle Boice had 50 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries, but struggled throwing the ball, completing just 2 of 11 passes for 18 yards with a pair of interceptions. Receiver Jaylen Cutler had two carries for 99 yards and a touchdown.

Defensively, Caleb Massey led the Bears with 16 tackles, including a pair of sacks and three tackles for loss. Boice had nine tackles and an interception, Lane Plott had eight tackles and Tanner Truesdale had eight tackles as well.

Billingsley (1-2, 0-1 in region play) will travel to Verbena for a region game next week, while Autauga Academy (1-1, 1-0) will be idle next week before hosting Maplesville in two weeks.

Alabama Christian 45, Northside Methodist 8

Christian Snipes completed 12 of 15 passes for 162 yards and a pair of touchdowns, all in the first half, as the Eagles cruised to a 45-8 win over Northside Methodist in the Dothan school’s season opener at John Mark Stallings Field on Friday.

Snipes threw a pair of touchdown passes to Ethan Dabney, the first covering 57 yards for a 7-0 lead and the second closing out the scoring in the first half with a 13-yard pass with 1:58 remaining for a 35-0 halftime lead.

In between, Micah Merritt ran in a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs and Teilan Tyson-Long broke out on a 42-yard run midway through the second quarter.

The reserves played in the second half, with Mason Henry throwing a 29-yard touchdown pass to Ethan Capps early in the third quarter and David Johnson adding a 32-yard field goal with 5:49 left in the third quarter.

Northside scored early in the third quarter to avoid the shutout.

Henry was 6 for 6 for 54 yards and a touchdown. Dabney had seven receptions for 107 yards and a pair of touchdowns, Capps had three catches for 36 yards and a touchdown and Tyson-Long had two receptions for 15 yards.

Merritt finished with 82 yards on five carries, Tyson-Long added 55 yards on two carries and Carlos Smith had six carries for 43 yards.

Defensively, Cooper Milner led the way with five tackles, Levi Summers had four tackles and an interception, Aidan Whiten had four tackles and a fumble recovery, Tydarius Moore had four tackles and Mekhi Gardner had four tackles.

Alabama Christian (2-1, 1-0 in region play) remains home to play Trinity next week in a region game, while Northside Methodist (0-1, 0-1) returns home to play Prattville Christian next Friday.