FRIDAY RECAP (Week 7): Prattville gets important win; Carver falls to Central; Catholic tops Headland

COMBINED REPORTS

Prattville 24, Hewitt Trussville 21

PRATTVILLE - Prattville took advantage of the Huskies’ mistakes in the punting game to earn an important win on the road Friday night.

The Lions were the beneficiary of two bad snaps on punts with the last one adding the final points on DJ Walton’s fumble recovery in the end zone, It was enough to secure a Class 7A, Region 3 victory, keeping their playoff hopes alive.

Quarterback Will McKay finished with 214 yards and a touchdown on 17 of 21 passing. Donavan Brown had five receptions for 84 yards and a score while Tristan Blackmon had 114 yards rushing on 31 attempts.

Deshawn Hall added five receptions for 71 yards.

Eric Townsend led the Prattville defense with a Pick 6, two tackles and a tackle for loss. Walton added a tackle for loss and three stops. Damien Dickerson added an interception.

The Lions (4-3, 3-2) travel to Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa next Friday. Hewitt (6-2, 3-2) plays at Oak Mountain.

Central-Phenix City 58, G.W. Carver 35

The Red Devils held a 16-point lead at halftime and never looked back to earn an important Class 7A, Region 2 win over Carver on Friday at Cramton Bowl.

It was the 28th consecutive win for Central over a team from the city of Montgomery.

The game was tied in the first half on an Elijah Tarver touchdown run for 12 yards with two minutes remaining in the first quarter. But Central scored the next 13 points to take the lead for good.

Carver pulled within six points on Zion Crumpton’s 26 yard pass to Tyler Grant making it 27-21 in the second period. But the Red Devils pulled away again before the half, adding a late field goal for the 16-point lead at the break.

Crumpton had a touchdown pass to Grant and Marterrious Sankey added a 70-yard touchdown run in the the fourth quarter for Carver.

Carver (5-2, 4-1) will travel to Auburn next Friday while Central (7-1, 5-0) is home against Opelika.

Catholic 51, Headland 7

HEADLAND -- CJ Sankey threw three touchdown passes and the Knights rolled up 363 yards of total offense in a dominating 51-7 Class 5A Region 2 victory on the road Friday night.

Catholic (4-3) won its third consecutive region game, which all but assured the Knights of a playoff berth in the process. Catholic is in third place in the region at 3-1 with home games remaining against Greenville (0-5) and Andalusia (4-0) in a bid to earn one of the four playoff berths from the region.

Headland dropped to 3-3 overall and 1-3 in region play but still has an outside shot at a playoff berth.

Sankey completed 15 of 24 passes for 173 yards, including touchdown passes to Justin Outlaw, MJ Belser and Michael Sheffield.

Sheffield finished with four receptions for 57 yards and a touchdown, followed by Belser with three catches for 56 yards and a touchdown and Outlaw with three receptions for 15 yards and a touchdown. Elijah Nunnelly had 82 all-purpose yards, including 45 receiving yards and 37 return yards.

Peyton Finch-Ford led the rushing attack with 122 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 14 carries. Zay Ligon added 42 yards and a pair of touchdowns on four carries, while Will Brantley had nine carries for 23 yards.

The defense also got in on the scoring, recording a safety with six minutes left in the game.

Catholic returns home for the first time in six weeks next Friday against Greenville. 

Valley 20, Elmore County 17

ECLECTIC -- Caden Foreman threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Kason Varner with 26 seconds left to give Valley a 20-17 win over Elmore County in a Class 5A, Region 4 game on Friday.

Elmore County held the lead for virtually the entire second half until Foreman accounted for his third touchdown of the night with the pass to Varner.

Elmore County took an 8-0 lead midway through the first quarter with a 6-yard touchdown run by Tyler Payton and a two-point conversion run by Payton.

Valley pulled within 8-6 on Foreman’s 24-yard pass to CJ Johnson, then took the lead on a 5-yard touchdown run by Foreman.

Elmore County rallied, using a 31-yard touchdown pass from Gage Davis to Tate McNeeley to take a 14-13 lead with 3:21 remaining in the first half.

It would stay that way until McNeely booted a 39-yard field goal with 10:41 left in the game to extend the lead to 17-13.

Davis completed 11 of 18 passes for 169 yards and a touchdown but was intercepted once. Payton rushed for 87 yards and a touchdown on 28 carries, while also grabbing two receptions for 34 yards. McNeely led the receivers with 94 yards and a touchdown on six receptions.

Connor Pike and Payton had interceptions on defense.

Elmore County (4-3) dropped into a tie with Beauregard for third place in the region at 2-2 with games remaining at Marbury next week and at home against Sylacauga the following week.

Valley (5-2) took over second place in the region behind Central at 3-1 with remaining region games at home against Holtville before closing out with Beauregard.

Houston Academy 21, Prattville Christian 13

PRATTVILLE -- Houston Academy scored a pair of second-half touchdowns to break a halftime tie and lead the Raiders to a 21-13 win over Prattville Christian on Friday at Panther Stadium.

Blake Bowman gave the Panthers the early lead with a 73-yard run. Lian Van Heerden added the extra point for a 7-0 lead.

In the second quarter, the Raiders tied the game on a 48-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Judson Bailey.

The Panthers added a touchdown in the fourth quarter when Nolan Stuart connected with Tyson Houston on a 62-yard pass, but the two-point conversion attempt failed.

Stuart completed 6 of 17 passes for 75 yards and a touchdown but was intercepted once. Bowman rushed for 130 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries and led the defense with 10 tackles.

Prattville Christian (1-7) dropped to 1-4 in 3A Region 2 play with games remaining at Montgomery Academy next week and Slocomb the following week.

Handley 45, Tallassee 14

TALLASSEE -- Handley scored two touchdowns in each of the first two quarters to cruise to a 45-14 win over Tallassee on Friday at J.E. “Hot” O’Brien Stadium, leaving Tallassee to fight for the fourth and final playoff berth in the region.

Handley’s win kept them tied atop the region standings at 5-0 with Booker T. Washington, who travels to Bullock County (4-1) next week and closes out at home against Handley in two weeks to determine the top three positions in the region.

The fourth spot will be determined next week when Tallassee (2-3 in region play) travels to Montgomery to play St. James (2-3) at Carlisle Field on Friday.

MaKavian Allen scored on a 7-yard run to give Handley a quick 14-0 lead in the first quarter and runs of 8 and 4 yards by Cordan Patterson extended the lead to 28-0 at the half.

Trent Morris threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Cortland Roberts in the third quarter to make it 28-7, but Handley answered with a pair of touchdowns and a field goal to extend the lead to 45-7.

Morris hit Jaiden Gordon with a 59-yard pass for the Tigers’ final touchdown.  Morris completed 13 of 22 passes for 210 yards and a touchdown but was intercepted twice. Gordan had five receptions for 99 yards and a touchdown and Roberts had four receptions for 76 yards and a touchdown.

Central-Clay County 42, Holtville 0

HOLTVILLE -- The Bulldogs were shut out in their second consecutive game, losing the Central-Clay County 42-0 on Friday.

Gavin Russom had 50 rushing yards but was limited to 23 passing yards by the Volunteers. Brock Godwin and Tyler Hackett led the Bulldog defense with six tackles each.

Holtville (2-5) travels to Valley next week. 

Lowndes Academy 51, Morgan Academy 16

SELMA -- The Rebels jumped out to a 20-0 lead in the first quarter and cruised past Morgan 51-16 to finish AAA Region 2 play undefeated at 4-0.

Jeremy Hardy rushed for 183 yards and three touchdowns on 17 carries to lead Lowndes. Hardy scored on runs of 30 and 16 yards in the first quarter and added an 8-yard run in the second quarter for a 30-8 halftime lead.

Bradyn Stokes added a 52-yard pass to Cooper Carver in the first quarter for a touchdown.

Kimmins Morgan replaced Stokes in the second half and completed 3 of 6 passes for 102 yards and a pair of touchdowns, hitting Huston Hampton with a 57-yard scoring toss in the third quarter and a 28-yard touchdown pass to Hampton in the fourth quarter.

Hampton finished with 101 yards and two touchdowns on three receptions, rushed three times for 36 yards and added a 91-yard interception return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Defensively, Hardy had a team-high eight tackles, followed by Crawford Dansby with seven tackles. Jack Holley had five tackles, including one for a safety in the second quarter.

Ford Walker and Ben Azar also had five tackles.

Lowndes (7-1) will remain on the road with Thursday night games at Wilcox next week and at Hooper Academy on Oct. 30 before returning home for the first round of the AAA playoffs.