PREP FLAG FOOTBALL: Brew Tech falls to Vestavia Hills on Pick-6
Brew Tech’s Apollonia Wesley avoids the “tackle” of Vestavia Hill’s Elizabeth Anne Aaron in Tuesday’s matchup at Cramton Bowl. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
For 42 minutes, Brewbaker Tech’s flag football team stood toe to toe with Vestavia Hills in a Tuesday afternoon matchup at Cramton Bowl.
In a four-play span, two interceptions made the difference in the Rebels’ 13-7 win over the Rams.
“We’ve got a high-flying offense,” Brew Tech coach Kevin Tarver said. “You win some, you lose some.”
The high-flying part of the Ram attack responded to a 7-0 deficit with a drive into the Rebel red zone early in the second quarter and a touchdown a few minutes later that tied the game. The opposite side of the Brew Tech offense surfaced late as the Rams completed just one of their final 12 passes while suffering three interceptions.
The second of those interceptions resulted in a 19-yard return for a touchdown by Emma Kate Jacobs for the game-winning points with 5:11 remaining.
“The girls played good,” Tarver said. “A few too many mistakes, but overall, a pretty good game. They showed they belonged on the field.”
Both teams struggled through a pair of possessions in the first quarter before Brew Tech’s third possession started clicking early in the second quarter. The Rams drove to a first and goal at the Vestavia 15-yard line but a 1-yard run and three incomplete passes turned the ball over on downs.
The Rebels then drove 66 yards in seven plays, using a 3-yard shovel pass from Eden Logan to Callie Davis and a conversion run by Logan for a 7-0 lead.
Brew Tech responded with a 66-yard drive of its own as Tessa Wilburn accounted for every yard in the air, including the final two passes of 24 yards and 6 yards to Kaymarria Bandy that completed the drive for a touchdown. Wilburn threw to Reese Woody for the game-tying conversion with 1:08 left in the first half.
Logan was injured two plays later, suffering an injury to her right leg after colliding with Woody. The junior, who had completed 5 of 10 passes for 42 yards and a touchdown, was replaced by freshman Alana Anderegg, who finished out the final two plays of the first half and the entire second half, completing 14 of 22 passes for 106 yards with one interception.
“That’s a great team over there,” Tarver said/ “They’ve got about 40 girls they can reload with. Awesome girls. If 50 (Anderegg) didn’t play as good as 23 (Logan), she played better. I hope (Logan) is all right.”
Vestavia would take the opening possession of the second half into the Ram red zone, but Anderegg’s fourth-and-goal pass at the Brew Tech 2-yard line was batted down by Dejah Steele. The Rams then marched to a first down at the Vestavia 35 before the drive stalled with two incomplete passes, the first two of a string of 11 passes that were either incomplete or intercepted.
Vestavia would take the lead on Jacobs’ interception return, then Davis grabbed her second interception of the game three plays later to allow the Rebels to take all but the final 23 seconds off the clock.
Until the final two possessions, the Rams had played one of the state’s top flag football programs evenly. “If not better,” Tarver noted, “at least on a par with them. We’ve just got to manage the high highs and the low lows on the sideline and keep playing with a certain intensity and we’ll be fine.”
Davis led the Vestavia receivers with 51 yards on six receptions, followed by Hannah Walker with five catches for 28 yards, Stella Thompson with four catches for 59 yards, Savannah Shaw with three receptions for 19 yards and both Ava Scott Gay and Landon Guinn with 20 yards on two catches.
Defensively, Brielle Dawson had four flag pulls, while Davis had two along with two interceptions.
Wilburn completed 17 of 35 passes for 153 yards and a touchdown, with Bandy grabbing five passes for 64 yards, Apollonia Wesley pulling in four receptions for 20 yards and Woody having three catches for nine yards.
Defensively, Woody had seven stops and an interception, while Steele had seven and a pass breakup. Ericianna Ellis and Brookelyn Marzett each had three flag pulls.
In junior varsity action, Vestavia Hills shut out the Rams, 21-0.
Brew Tech (5-3) plays BTW Magnet on Thursday.