FRIDAY PREPS: ACA handles rain, Fort Dale in win; Trinity falls in road test; St. James tops PCA

ACA‘s Micah Merritt stiff-arms Costner Simmons on a run during the Eagles’ win over Fort Dale Academy on Friday at the Faulkner University’s John Mark Stallings Field. (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE

Alabama Christian running back Micah Merritt really enjoys lining up in Wildcat formation.

“I get the ball and I can run to the spot,” Merritt said. “It builds a lot of confidence. As soon as I scored that first touchdown, I knew we could blow them out because we had the momentum. I felt like our team picked it up and stuck together for the win.”

Merritt ran for 97 yards and a pair of touchdowns, including 56 yards and both touchdowns in seven Wildcat runs that helped the Eagles score 32 unanswered points and virtually assure themselves of a playoff berth with a 32-7 win over Fort Dale Academy on Friday afternoon at Faulkner’s John Mark Stallings Field.

The game was moved up five and a half hours as Hurricane Isaias approached the Gulf Coast. While the change avoided heavy rain and gusty winds, a light and steady rain fell throughout the contest.

The win evened Alabama Christian’s Class A Private Region 2 record at 2-2. Montgomery Academy and Trinity remain tied at 4-0 in region play, followed by St. James at 3-2. PCA (1-4) and Fort Dale (0-4) are mathematically eliminated from playoff consideration and Pike Liberal Arts would have to defeat both Trinity and ACA in the next two weeks to take the final playoff spot from ACA.

The game started on an ominous note as ACA fumbled the opening kickoff and Fort Dale converted the mistake into a 14-play drive and a 7-0 lead. Fort Dale converted on three fourth-down plays, including quarterback Brandon Slagley’s 2-yard keeper on fourth and goal.

“We got off to a slow start,” Merritt said. “It all started with a fumble on the kickoff return. We let them score. I thought in the third quarter we picked it up and did a pretty good job of responding.”

Fort Dale’s next drive covered 13 plays and resulted in a missed field goal attempt by Slagley, but Fort Dale was held to 97 total yards over the final three quarters.

“We got them to third and long, we got them to fourth and long, it was just one play,” Dockins said of Slagley’s 17-yard run on fourth and 16 on the opening drive.  “And it only takes one play to give another team another three downs in a drive, another opportunity to maybe score, which they ended up doing. We’re fine 75, 80 percent of the time but we’ve got to be dialed in every single play, especially those third downs and fourth downs in getting off the field.”

On ACA’s second possession, the offense ran the first three plays in a standard offensive set, then switched to Wildcat and started feeding Merritt the ball. He spun out of an attempted tackle on a fourth-and-one play from the Fort Dale 23 and ran to the end zone to tie the game.

“It’s nice,” Dockins said. “You snap it to him and get downhill, trust him to go get the yards you need. We put him in at second and 15, knowing we’re going to get a first down.”

Mason Henry’s pass to Levi Summers in the corner of the end zone with 43 seconds remaining gave ACA a 15-7 halftime lead after Merritt ran in the two-point conversion. Merritt added another touchdown in the third quarter and Mekhi Gardner raced 72 yards for a touchdown late in the third quarter to put ACA in command.

Gardner led the defense with 12 tackles and two tackles for loss. Aiden Whiten and Summers each had six tackles and Landon Widmer had four tackles for loss.

Fort Dale (2-5) returns home to play Montgomery Academy next week, while ACA (4-3) will travel to Carlisle Field next Friday as the Eagles and St. James will battle for third (and fourth) place in the region.

“It’s an in-city school where everybody knows everybody,” Dockins said. “Really, it doesn’t matter who we play. We’ve got to worry about us and have a one-play-at-a-time type mentality.St. James just happens to be the team we’re playing next Friday.”

Westbrook Christian 27, Trinity 0

RAINBOW CITY -- The Warriors got a pair of first-half touchdowns and turned the game over to their defense, shutting out Trinity in a 27-0 victory on Friday night.

The Wildcats had trouble sustaining any offensive production against the Warriors. Patton Mitchell completed 9 of 22 passes for 106 yards and ran six times for 26 yards as the Wildcats converted just one of 10 third-down opportunities.

William Hughes provided most of Trinity’s offense, grabbing four passes for 81 yards. Mackin Roth added three receptions for 20 yards.

Wilson Cherry led the Trinity defense with eight tackles. Reed Bledsoe also had eight tackles, including three for loss. Roth had five tackles, Rocky Bailey had five tackles, including two for loss, and Drew Sanders had six tackles, including one for loss. John Michael Cox and Sawyer Speagle each had four tackles.

Trinity (6-2) travels to Troy next week to play Pike Liberal Arts, while Westbrook Christian (7-0) travels to Shoals Christian. 

St. James 35, Prattville Christian 21

PRATTVILLE - Michael Hassell passed for 162 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Trojans to a road win over PCA on Thursday in Class Private A, Region 2 action.

Cameron Hartley rushed for 152 yards, scoring twice while Wilson Aman caught five passes for 80 yards and two touchdowns for the Trojans.

Mikeil Delbridge added a 36-yard reception for a touchdown for St. James.

The Trojans’ offense finished with 314 yards in total offense.

PCA took a first-half lead on a Tillman Simpson 2-yard run and Nolan Stuart’s 25-yard scamper for a 14-0 halftime advavtage.

The Trojans scored 35 unanswered points in the second half before PCA’s final points on a Carter Montgomery 28-yard pass to Stuart.

The St. James defense forced three PCA fumbles and three interceptions.

The Trojans (3-5, 3-2) play Alabama Christian next week while PCA (3-5, 1-4) has an open week before facing Ft. Dale Academy on Oct. 23.