THURSDAY PREPS: Catholic scores early to beat St. Paul's; missed extra point gives Park Crossing win; MA,PCA volleyball wins
Catholic’s Ty Player avoids tacklers in the Knights’ win over St. Paul’s on Thursday. (Tim Gayle)
COMBINED REPORTS
Both St. Paul’s Episcopal and Catholic were coming off of disappointing losses from the previous week, but the Knights turned three explosive plays into touchdowns in the first 14 minutes of the game to defeat the Saints 31-7 at Catholic on Thursday night.
Catholic had led Briarwood Christian at halftime, but failed to score in the second half as the Lions rallied for a 24-21 win. St. Paul’s led St. Michael by 18 points but the loss of starting quarterback Hayden Fincher and starting tailback Ty Sellers were a factor as the Cardinals rallied for a 39-35 win.
On Friday night, both teams showed the effects of the previous week as Catholic had trouble sustaining an offensive rhythm as the Knights took on another of the state’s larger private schools, while the Saints had trouble generating big plays with freshman quarterback Murphy Fromdahl and undersized running back Roberts Law.
Catholic grabbed the upper hand quickly, however, as quarterback Will Blackwell connected with Ty Player on touchdowns of 31 and 85 yards and Will Brantley for 40 yards as the Knights struck quickly for a 21-0 lead.
“It was a big-play night,” Catholic coach Aubrey Blackwell said. “Sometimes, it happens like that. But we tell them all the time, you create your own luck with the hard work you put in, practicing those situations so that when those happen, you’re ready for them.”
Player’s 16-yard punt return set up his 31-yard touchdown catch three plays later as the senior slipped unnoticed behind the Saints’ secondary for the first points of the game.
“Honestly, what we focus on in practice is that what we put into it is what we’re going to get out of it,” Player said, “and we’ve been working on that (play) all week.”
Late in the first quarter, the Knights struck again, stopping the Saints on downs for the second time in the game, then striking on the next play as Brantley ran past the Saints’ defenders and caught Blackwell’s pass at the goal line for a 14-0 lead.
Three plays and a St. Paul’s punt later, the Knights struck again. Facing third and nine and a Saints’ blitz, Blackwell flipped a pass into the flat to Player who dodged a would-be tackler, got to the corner, weaved past two defenders and sprinted 85 yards to the end zone.
“Just showing my God-given talents, my speed,” Player said. “I’m not sure if I was supposed to get the ball but the ball was in my hands and I needed to do something with it.”
The Saints would turn a muffed punt into points minutes later, but Player’s second touchdown had put the Saints in a 21-0 hole from which they could not recover.
“We completely missed the ‘mike’ ‘backer on a blitz,” Aubrey Blackwell noted. “Will got hit as soon as he threw it. All around, what a heck of a play by both Will getting rid of it and ‘Peanut’ making something out of nothing.”
The Saints struggled to find any rhythm against the Catholic defense, which harrassed Fromdahl all night and held Law to 67 yards on 20 carries.
“The game plan was to stop them alignment wise so they don’t beat us with alignment,” said Catholic linebacker Fred Lewis, who led all players with 11 tackles and a fumble recovery. “Just studying our film, knowing what plays they were going to run. So we were all calling out the plays before they ran them.
Will Blackwell completed 11 of 21 passes for 197 yards and three touchdowns, with Player catching six passes for 133 yards and two touchdowns and Brantley catching four passes for 60 yards and a touchdown. KJ Johnson led Catholic rushers with 52 yards on 11 carries and the Knights got defensive help from Devin Hampton, who had seven tackles and a pair of sacks, and AJ Dottery with six tackles.
Lewis scored the game’s final touchdown, scooping up a Fromdahl fumble at the 5-yard line after KB Simmons forced the fumble.
“Right place at the right time,” Lewis said.
Catholic (5-2) remains unbeaten in Class AA Private Region 1 at 4-0 along with McGill-Toolen and a half-game ahead of UMS-Wright (3-0), next week’s opponent. Catholic’s fourth win ensured the Knights would finish in the top four in region play, earning a first-round playoff game at home.
“I’m proud of those guys,” Aubrey Blackwell said. “There’s a lot more work left to do in this region. It’s a good region, it’s been great so far with the quality of teams we’ve been playing. We’ve got three big ones coming up.”
The players had similar feelings in their first season in Class AA Private, facing the toughest schedule in school history.
“It feels great,” Player said. “I felt like last week we didn’t do what we needed to do, but this week we came out expecting to win because of what we’ve put into the game.”
The Knights travel to Mobile next week to play UMS-Wright before returning home to play McGill-Toolen the following week. Like Friday’s game against the Saints, the Knights will face a squad with more size and more depth.
“We’ve got guys that are going to compete,” Lewis said. “We’re really not worried about how many players they have. There’s just 11 on the field at one time, competing.”
Park Crossing 28, P. Julian 27
A missed extra point proved to be the difference in Park Crossing’s win over the Phoenix in Class 5A, Region 2 action at Cramton Bowl on Thursday.
The two teams traded scores for most of the night with the final points for both teams coming just a few seconds apart.
After a 21-21 tie game in the first half, the Thunderbirds broke through for the lead on Kristen Perryman’s quarterback sneak with 7:35 to go in the third. Tony Turner added what would be the important extra point to make it 28-21.
Julian answered immediately on a 75-yard run by Elijah Bowden with 6:52 left in the third. But the extra point try sailed right of the upright, leaving Park Crossing a one-point lead.
The Thunderbirds opened the scoring in the first period on a Perryman touchdown pass to Jaylen Sankey for 15 yards for a 7-0 lead with 7:50 left in the quarter.
The Phoenix answered back with 2:22 left in the quarter with an A’Marie Williams 70-yard fumble recovery to tie the game at 7-7.
The Thunderbirds added their own fumble recovery for a score when Zion Knight scooped up a loose ball and returned it 8 yards for a touchdown and a 14-7 lead.
The Phoenix tied the game early in the second quarter on a 47-yard pass from Jordan Winston to Earnest Shuford with 40 seconds gone in the quarter.
They would follow with a Nowden touchdown run for 13 yards to give the Phoenix their first lead with 5:31 left in the half.
But the lead would be short-lived as Perryman threw his second touchdown pass to Kyle Bell for 72 yards to tie the game.
Perryman finished with 191 yards passing on 10-of-14 attempts with a touchdown. He added 37 yards rushing and a score. Bell finished with two catches for 75 yards and a touchdown.
Julian was led by Bowden’s 157 yards and a score on 15 carries. Winston finished with 101 yards passing on 5-of-10 attempts with two TDs. Shuford had two catches for 68 yards and a score.
With its first win in region play, Park Crossing improved to 3-3 overall and 1-3 in 5A, Region 2. Julian fell to 2-4 and 1-3.
The Thunderbirds travel to Wetumpka next week while the Phoenix is home against Stanhope Elmore next Thursday.
Charles Henderson 51, Tallassee 26
TROY - Hamp Love’s 4-yard touchdown run tied the score in the first quarter but the Tigers would get no closer on the night as the Trojans earned the Class 4A, Region 4 game at Troy’s Memorial Stadium on Thursday.
Following Love’s score, the Trojans would build a 21-6 lead before Trent Morris scored on a 14-yard run to pull the Tigers to within nine at 21-12.
But Charles Henderson finished the first half with two more touchdowns to take a 34-12 lead at the break.
Tallassee scored two more times in the second half on a Morris 40-yard pass to Milaki Griffin and Morris added a 4-yard rush for a score in the fourth quarter.
Morris passed for 294 yards and a touchdown plus added 31 yards on the ground with two scores. Griffin had five receptions for 111 yards and a score. Hudson Timmerman added three catches for 70 yards.
Joshaun Daniel led the Trojans with 210 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries.
Tallassee (1-6, 0-4) returns home to face Beauregard next Friday. The Trojans (4-2, 3-1) travels to Marbury.
Billingsley 30, Red Level 16
REDLEVEL - Quarterback Kyson Thomas rushed for 289 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Bears to a Class 1A Region 4 win on Thursday.
Jaylen Cutler rushed for 228 yds and three touchdowns and added a 7-yard catch for a score.
Lane Plott led the Bears defense with 16 tackles, including six for loss. Trey Byrd added 11 tackles while Jayden Crawford had eight tackles Christian Haveman - had seven tackles with two sacks.
Billingsley (3-3, 3-1) returns home next week to face Verbena.
VOLLEYBALL
Montgomery Academy 3, Alabama Christian 0
Montgomery Academy closed out Class A Private Area 4 play with an unblemished record, sweeping ACA 25-21, 25-14 and 25-14 to finish 8-0 in area play.
Trinity is 4-3 with a match remaining against St. James, followed by Prattville Christian at 4-4, St. James at 2-5 and Alabama Christian at 1-7.
Morgan Springer had 15 kills, a block, a pair of aces and six digs, while Caroline Wood had nine kills, a block and three digs to lead MA. Emilyn Trott had seven kills, a block, an ace and six digs, E.G. Hines had six kills, an ace and eight digs, Addison Kitchens had five kills and two digs, Rehmat Sidhu had a kill, a pair of aces, 21 digs and 28 assists, Lizzie Campbell had two aces, 19 digs and six assists, Caroline Sullivan had a kill and a dig and Kathleen Johnston had 12 digs.
Montgomery Academy will travel to Homewood High this weekend to compete in the Blalock Tournament.
Prattville Christian 3, Trinity 2
PRATTVILLE -- Prattville Christian rallied to win the fourth and fifth sets to defeat Trinity in a Class A Private Area 4 match in the PCA gym on Thursday.
PCA won the first set 25-18, dropped the next two 13-25 and 17-24, then won the last two 26-24 and 15-5 to even its area record at 4-4. Trinity is in second place at 4-3 with a match remaining against St. James.
For the Panthers, Maddie Brownlee had an assist, 12 digs and two aces, Anniston Robison had five kills, 22 assists, 13 digs and an ace, Copeland Miller had four kills and seven digs, Christiana Franklin had eight kills and two blocks, Haven Harrell had three assists and seven digs, Jordyn Harris had 17 assists and nine digs, Olivia Rossi had eight kills, an assist, 12 digs and two aces, Maren Diefenderfer had 19 kills, an assist and 14 digs and Elle Maddox had a kill, two blocks and two digs.
PCA (12-21) will play host to Glenwood School and Wetumpka next Tuesday for Senior Night.