THURSDAY PREPS: Pike Road waltzes past Park Crossing
Jordan Holmes races past Park Crossing defenders for big yardage in Pike Road’s win on Thursday at Cramton Bowl (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
After last week’s loss at Opelika, Pike Road coach Granger Shook wanted to see his team come out fast and efficient, playing mistake-free and penalty-free football in the process.
The Patriots accomplished that mission with the starters scoring on six of their eight possessions, turning the ball over once while not committing a penalty in a 54-7 region victory over Park Crossing at Cramton Bowl on Thursday.
The penalty part of it may have been the most pleasing aspect of the game to Shook, who watched last week as his team was assessed an astonishing 28 penalties by the officiating crew at Opelika.
“The boys came ready to play,” Shook said. “We took ownership of some things and I’m proud that we got better at what we emphasized this week in practice. I’m proud of the physicality. I’m sure (Park Crossing) coach (Charles) Biggers will rally his troops, but I’m proud of our execution with our older guys. We got some young guys in late and were able to score with the young guys. It got a little sloppy but that’s to be expected with a bunch of freshmen.”
Pike Road (5-2) improved to 4-0 in Class 6A Region 2 and will play the two region challengers, Stanhope Elmore (2-0) and Russell County (3-0) over the next two weeks, beginning with next Friday’s homecoming game against Stanhope Elmore in Pike Road.
“I’m proud of how we played, proud we’re still undefeated in the region and we have a big region opponent coming up next week,” Shook said.
Park Crossing (0-5), meanwhile, lost its 18th consecutive game dating back to 2023 and fell to 0-3 in Region 2, one of three teams that are winless in the region. The Thunderbirds travel to Rehobeth next week, host Wetumpka on Oct. 17 and close out region play against Julian in three weeks.
Park Crossing was up to the task early, holding Pike Road on its initial possession, but the Thunderbirds never made it past their own 35 against the Pike Road starters except for one possession following a turnover that started on the Pike Road 47-yard line but only gained one yard in three plays.
Pike Road found the end zone on its second possession when Jordan Holmes snatched a Gunner Gibbs’ pass away from a Park Crossing defender and sprinted 39 yards to the end zone and a 6-0 lead.
Omari Smith scored on a 23-yard reception from Gibbs on the next Patriot possession, Ja’Michael Jones dragged defenders into the end zone on a 14-yard run midway through the second quarter, Quinton Robinson scored on a 1-yard run and Elias Holtzclaw pulled in a 31-yard pass from Gibbs with 39 seconds left to give Pike Road a 33-0 halftime lead.
Gavin Rivers pulled in Gibbs’ fourth touchdown pass of the night, a 36-yarder, on the fifth play of the second half for a 40-0 lead to finish the night for the starters. Julius Williams added a 9-yard scoring reception late in the quarter and Landon Herring returned an interception 33 yards for a touchdown a minute into the fourth quarter for a 54-0 lead.
Park Crossing managed just three first downs and 19 total yards against the Pike Road starters, but did force two turnovers. The first came early in the second quarter when Gibbs was blindsided by Kamarion Canty as he was throwing the ball. Jayden Hamilton grabbed the ball out of the air to record the interception by the Thunderbirds.
In the final minute, a bad snap by the Patriots resulted in a fumble that was recovered by Martise Adair on the Pike Road 5-yard line. Jakauri Albritton grabbed Christian Perry’s quick pass on the next play and sprinted to the end zone with 42 seconds remaining for the Thunderbirds’ only points.
The two fumbles by the Patriots spoiled an otherwise perfect night that generated seven touchdowns, 326 total yards and just two five-yard penalties.
Park Crossing finished with six first downs and 76 total yards, with 55 of that coming on the final two possessions against the Pike Road reserves.