THURSDAY RECAP (Week 7): Elmore County holds off Valley; Prattville stays undefeated; Stanhope beats Julian

COMBINED REPORTS

Elmore County 42, Valley 35

ECLECTIC -- Tyler Payton rushed for 176 yards and three touchdowns, including the game-clinching 78 yarder with 4:39 remaining to give the Panthers a crucial 42-35 region victory over Valley at Burt-Haynie Field on Thursday night.

The Panthers rallied from deficits of 14-0 and 21-6 to pull even with Valley and Holtville in the Class 4A Region 4 standings for third place with games remaining against last-place Beauregard and fifth-place Tallassee in the next two weeks.

Brandez Eason completed 20 of 34 passes for 254 yards and four touchdowns for Valley, but was intercepted three times. It was Eason’s 26-yard touchdown pass to Aaden Johnson early in the second quarter that gave Valley a 14-0 lead and his touchdown pass to CJ Johnson that made it 21-6 after Kason Moe threw a touchdown pass to Beau Traylor to put the Panthers on the scoreboard for the first time.

Touchdown runs of 8 and 5 yards by Payton tied the game at 21-21 late in the third quarter and his 32-yard interception return for a touchdown put Elmore County in front for the first time all evening. Traylor added a 1-yard touchdown run to make it 35-21 midway through the fourth quarter but after Eason threw another touchdown pass, it would take one more touchdown run by Payton to give the Panthers a cushion for the final four minutes.

Traylor led the Panther receivers with 37 yards on four catches and added three carries for six yards and a touchdown. Moe completed 7 of 14 passes for 82 yards.

Elmore County (4-3) travels to Beauregard next week.

Tallassee 46, Beauregard 9

TALLASSEE -- Hamp Love rushed for 202 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 21 carries as the Tigers built a 21-point halftime lead on the way to their first region victory of the season at J.E. “Hot” O’Brien Stadium on Thursday night.

Milaki Griffin’s 87-yard kickoff return for a touchdown sparked the Tigers after Beauregard had pulled within a point at 7-6. Love added his two touchdowns in the second quarter to help the Tigers to a 27-6 halftime lead.

Trent Morris threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to Kaleb Jackson to open the scoring, but Jeffery Holloway’s 20-yard scoring run pulled Beauregard within 7-6. After Griffin’s kickoff return for a touchdown, Love scored on runs of 7 and 59 yards to put the Tigers in control.

Morris connected with Braylon Rigsby on a 27-yard touchdown pass, Jeremiah Reeves added a 20-yard touchdown run and Griffin scored again, this time on a 35-yard fumble return, to give Tallassee a 46-6 lead.

Tallassee (2-6) won for the first time in five region games and closes out region play on the road at Valley and Elmore County.

Prattville 35, Oak Mountain 10

PRATTVILLE -- Will McKay completed 16 of 25 passes for 349 yards and a pair of touchdowns with two interceptions as the Lions defeated Oak Mountain 35-10 at Stanley-Jensen Stadium on Thursday night.

Deshawn Hall caught six of the passes for 128 yards and both touchdowns. Christian Alexander had six catches for 129 yards and CJ Brown had four receptions for 92 yards.

Marterrius Sankey rushed for 85 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 15 carries and Jaiden Crenshaw added a touchdown on seven carries for 50 yards.

Defensively, Jayden Milledge had four tackles, including a tackle for loss, Kolby King had two tackles, Caleb Mitchell had two tackles and blocked a field goal, Rylan Caffee had a tackle and a 23-yard interception return and Jason Crenshaw had four tackles, a sack and an assist.

Prattville (7-0) travels to Alabaster next week to play Thompson in a region battle of unbeatens.

Holtville 24, Greenville 20

HOLTVILLE -- Daishaun Ziegler rushed for 132 yards and a pair of touchdowns to lead Holtville past Greenville 24-20 in a crucial 4A Region 4 battle on Thursday night.

The Bulldogs (4-3) improved to 3-2 in region play, tied with Elmore County and Valley for third place in the region. Holtville plays the two region leaders, Charles Henderson and Marbury in a pair of road games over the next two weeks.

Blake Irvin led the Holtville defense with six tackles.

South Haven Christian 58, Macon East 8

SPRINGFIELD, Tenn. -- Macon East had six turnovers in the first half, helping South Haven to a 58-8 win over the Knights on Thursday night.

Trip Jackson scored the Knights’ only touchdown.

Macon East (6-2) returns to region play next week with a game at Escambia Academy.

Billingsley 22, Verbena 16

BILLINGSLEY -- Kyson Thomas threw for a touchdown and ran for two more as the Bears celebrated homecoming with a 22-16 win over the Red Devils at Mims Field on Thursday night.

Thomas completed 5 of 8 passes for 65 yards and a touchdown, while rushing for 156 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries.

Jaylen Cutler added 59 yards on nine carries and Dequavion Ray had four receptions for 65 yards, including the touchdown catch from Thomas.

Defensively, Trey Byrd had 13 tackles to lead the Bears, while Caleb Massey had 12 tackles and an interception and Tyler White had 10 tackles. Trent Cobern had eight tackles, including two for loss and a fumble recovery, and Christian Haveman had eight tackles.

Billingsley (4-3) is tied with Maplesville for second place in Class 1A Region 4 after the crucial win over Verbena dropped the Red Devils to fourth and put the Bears a step closer to the playoffs. Billingsley travels to Calhoun next week with an opportunity to clinch a berth in the playoffs.

Benjamin Russell 31, Pike Road 28

ALEXANDER CITY -- Gunner Gibbs threw for a pair of touchdowns and Quinton Robinson ran for a pair of touchdowns, but the Patriots fell short in the battle of  5A Region 2 unbeatens as Benjamin Russell edged Pike Road 31-28 at Charles Bailey Sportsplex on Thursday night.

Josh Harriell rushed for 232 yards and a touchdown for Benjamin Russell, while Kingston Preyear rushed for 79 yards and two touchdowns and threw for 106 yards and a touchdown.

Gibbs completed 6 of 16 passes for 232 yards and two touchdowns, while Robinson rushed for 110 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries, but the Patriots couldn’t keep pace with Benjamin Russell, which had 450 yards of offense in the win.

Caiden Thomas had three receptions for 108 yards and a touchdown to lead the Patriot receivers.

Benjamin Russell improved to 5-0 in region play, while Pike Road dropped to 4-1, followed by Wetumpka and Russell County both at 3-2.

Pike Road (5-2) returns home to play Wetumpka next week before closing out region play the following week at Rehobeth.

Stanhope Elmore 42, P. Julian 14

Dee Barnes rushed for 187 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Mustangs to their third-straight win on Thursday at Cramton Bowl.

Barnes was consistent with 92 yards on 11 carries in the first half and 95 yards on 11 carries in the second half. He scored both TDs in the second half.

Davis Foshee passed for a touchdown and Leland Merrit added a touchdown run as the Mustangs built an early 28-0 lead.

The Mustangs’ defense and special teams also got into the scoring act, accounting for two touchdowns on a 48-yard interception return by Jeremiah Thigpen and a 47-yard punt return for a score by Deodre Washington, both in the second quarter.

Julian’s only points came on a 17-yard pass from Jordan Winston to KaDarien Anderson late in the first half and a 2-yard run from Winston in the fourth quarter.

Elijah Nowden led the Phoenix with 112 yards rushing on 23 carries.

Stanhope Elmore improved to 3-4 and 2-3 in Class 5A, Region 2 play. Julian fell to 2-5 and 1-4.

The Mustangs return to Cramton Bowl next week to face Park Crossing while Julian faces Russell County.