FRIDAY RECAP (Week 5): Hoover storms back to beat Prattville; Hooper ends losing streak

COMBINED REPORTS

Hoover 48, Prattville 23

PRATTVILLE - The Lions jumped out to a 20-point lead before Hoover stormed back with 48 points of its own to hand Prattville it’s first region loss of the season.

Prattville used a scoop-and-score fumble recovery by Jayden Milledge to take the early lead, followed by Tristin Blackmon’s 1-yard run and a pick-6 from Cash Boerigter to to make it 20-0.

Hoover pulled to within 20-14 before a field goal from Hayden Fann to push the lead to 23-14. At that point the Bucs took over, scoring 24 unanswered points.

Quarterback JJ Williams finished with 204 yards passing on 19 of 31 attempts. Donovan Brown led the receivers with four catches for 60 yards while Blackmon added five catches for 50 yards. He also finished with 31 yards rushing.

Ricardo Parker had two sacks and two forced fumbles for the Prattville defense.

Prattville (3-2, 2-1 7A/R3) is off next week and then travels to Vestavia Hills on Oct. 3.

Montgomery Academy 62, Northside Methodist 6

DOTHAN -- Montgomery Academy scored on the ground, in the air and on defense in beating Northside Methodist 62-6 at Rip Hewes Stadium on Friday, becoming just the seventh team in school history to start the season with five consecutive wins.

The Eagles led 55-6 at the half, causing officials to switch to an eight-minute quarter in the second half with a running clock.

It was the first 5-0 start for third-year coach Ethan McBride and the first time since 2020 under Robert Johnson the Eagles were unbeaten at the midway point. Anthony McCall (2014) and John Tatum (1987, 1997, 1998, 2006) also accomplished the feat.

Montgomery Academy remains atop the region at 3-0, followed by Trinity (2-0), Alabama Christian and Wicksburg (both 2-1), Houston Academy and Prattville Christian (both 1-2) and winless Slocomb (0-2) and Northside( 0-3). The top four teams qualify for the playoffs.

Northside Methodist, which has won just two games over the past three years, has never had a winning season in six years as an Alabama High School Athletic Association member.

Reid McBride was 5 of 5 for 81 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while Mac Benefield rushed for 113 yards and a pair of touchdowns on six carries. Ali Nelson also had one carry for 37 yards and a touchdown and one reception for 26 yards.

Mitch Corley had eight carries for 42 yards and a pair of touchdowns, David Whisenhunt had two receptions for 39 yards and a touchdown and Jarrett Friendly added a 6-yard touchdown catch.

Defensively, middle linebacker Knox Wingate had five tackles to lead the defense, while Nathaniel Shaw had four tackles and blocked a punt, Braden Gordon had three tackles and a fumble recovery, both Kingston Nelson and Whisenhunt had two tackles and returned an interception for a touchdown and Biscuit Lester had a tackle, a sack and a forced fumble.

The Eagles return home to play a non-region game against unbeaten Luverne at McLemore Field next Friday.  

Alabama Christian 50, Prattville Christian 13

PRATTVILLE - Micah Merritt rushed for 137 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Eagles to the Class 3A, Region 2 in over PCA on Friday.

Ethan Dabney and Christian Snipes added touchdowns in the first half to give the Eagles a 19-6 lead at halftime.

Mekhi Gardner added to the lead with a 23-yard run in the third quarter. Merritt’s second touchdown along with Teilan Tyson-Long run added to the lead in the final quarter.

Levi Summers added a 37-yard fumble return for the Eagles.

Dabney added 63 yards rushing along with Tyson-Long’s 53 yards.

Merritt led the ACA defense with seven tackles and a sack. Noah Shack had five tackles and Aiden Whiten had five tackles. Summers added two fumble recoveries.

William Roy added a touchdown run for PCA (1-4, 1-2). ACA is off next week and travels to Houston Academy on Oct. 3. PCA returns home to face Autauga Academy.

Elmore County 33, Beauregard 6

ECLECTIC - Gage Davis passed for 298 yards and five touchdowns to lead the Panthers to a win over Beauregard on Friday at Burt-Haynie Field.

Justin Brooks had two catches for scores and 126 yards while Tate McNeely, Seth McGhee and Beau Taylor each had touchdown catches.

The Panthers had 389 yards in total offense.

Elmore County (4-1, 2-0 5A/R4) will take off next week before a key regional game against Central-Clay County on Oct. 3.

Trinity 42, Slocomb 6

SLOCOMB -- Freshman Land Sharpless threw for 223 yards and a pair of touchdowns as the Wildcats remained unbeaten in region play after shutting down the Red Tops 42-6 on Friday night.

The freshman, promoted to a starting role because of an injury to Patton Mitchell, had his best night of the season, completing 14 of 20 passes, including touchdown throws of 22 yards to running back Tillman Clements and 12 yards to John Allen Schroll.

Clements finished with 74 yards on 11 carries, including a 1-yard touchdown run. Tristan Wright had six carries for 45 yards, including an 11-yard touchdown run, and Brandon Boswell had eight carries for 42 yards, scoring on runs of 3 and 1 yards.

Luke Hall led the Trinity receivers with 83 yards on four receptions, while Reed Daniel added 47 yards on four catches.

Defensively, Max Vaughn had 11 tackles, including two for loss, while also adding 35 yards on three punt returns. Wilson Cherry also had 11 tackles, followed by Daniel with six tackles, S.J. Lee with six tackles, including two sacks, Drew Sanders with six tackles and Mackin Roth, William Hughes and Rocky Bailey, each with five.

Ryan Basile added a 34-yard field goal as the Wildcats piled up 441 yards of offense, including 218 rushing yards and 223 passing yards.

Trinity (3-1) remains atop the 3A Region 2 standings, tied with Montgomery Academy at 3-0. Alabama Christian and Wicksburg are tied for third at 2-1, Houston Academy and Prattville Christian are tied for fifth at 1-2 and Slocomb and Northside Methodist are tied for seventh at 0-3. The top four teams qualify for the state playoffs.

The Wildcats will travel to Carlisle Field to play St. James next week, then return home for a huge region matchup with Montgomery Academy the following week.

Hooper Academy 35, Bessemer Academy 28

BESSEMER -- The Colts exploded for 261 rushing yards and five touchdowns to break a 16-game losing streak with a 35-28 win over the Rebels on Friday night.

Ayden Newman had 19 carries for 160 yards and a pair of touchdowns to lead the Colts, while fellow running back Kingston White added 60 yards on 16 carries, returned a kickoff 60 yards for a touchdown and had eight tackles and a sack on defense.

Quarterback Hunter Bowman added a rushing touchdown for the Colts, while Jeremy Griggs had an interception on defense for Hooper.

Heyden Chun was 4 of 5 on extra points.

Friday’s victory for Hooper (1-3) was the first for the Colts since winning at Sparta Academy in 2023. The Colts return home for a pair of games against winless teams, facing Lakeside School on Sept. 26 and Jackson Academy on Oct. 3.

Bessemer Academy (1-4) travels to Selma to play Morgan Academy next week.  

Russell County 38, Park Crossing (Saturday)

Quarterback Bryson Riggins passed for five touchdowns to lead Russell County to a Class 6A, Region 2 win over Park Crossing at Cramton Bowl on Saturday.

Riggins finished with 238 yards passing on 20 of 14 attempts. Most of the yardage came in the first half when the Warriors scored all of their points. The second half was shortened to eight-minute quarters.

Park Crossing was held to minus-14 yards of offense with the longest play from scrimmage a 13 yard pass by Christian Perry.

The loss was the 17th straight for Park Crossing, which will have an off week before facing Pike Road on Thursday, Oct. 2.