Jackets fall to Titans
- Updated: September 23, 2021
Oxford grabs four takeaways, but Gadsden City’s defense keeps Jackets from capitalizing on them
THURSDAY’S SCOREBOARD
CLASS 7A
Gadsden City 17, Oxford 9
CLASS 6A
Carver-Montgomery 21, Jeff Davis 14
CLASS 4A
Williamson 39, Charles Henderson 22
CLASS 3A
Winfield 51, Brilliant 0
CLASS 2A
Hatton 30, East Lawrence 14
CLASS 1A
Maplesville 47, Jemison 13
McKenzie 35, J.F. Shields 0
By East Alabama Sports Today
GADSDEN – The Class 7A Gadsden City Titans ended a five-game losing skid against 6A rival Oxford Thursday night, using a solid defense to snuff out several Jacket scoring opportunities in a 17-9 victory.
The Titans only had eight possessions in the game and turned it over four times. Oxford’s Jordan Dobbins was a one-man wrecking crew for the Jackets’ defense in the second half as he had two interceptions and forced a fumble that he recovered.
Oxford coach Sam Adams talked at halftime about his team needed to be more opportunistic in the second half. The Jackets got the turnovers they needed, but Gadsden City’s defense was always there to stem the tide.
“I thought our kids played well in a hostile environment,” Adams said.
Dobbins’ fumble recovery with 3:45 left gave the Jackets a late chance to tie the game, but Gadsden City junior Elijah Taylor got a big sack on third down that eventually forced Oxford to punt from its own end zone.
The Titans (4-2) opened up a 17-3 lead in the third quarter on a 62-yard pass from quarterback Luke Waldrop to Clyde Curry.
The Jackets (3-3) chopped the lead to 17 -9 after a 78-yard scoring drive early in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Sam Robertson scrambled around and found Mikey Tibbets in the end zone on an 11 -yard scoring pass.
Oxford fumbled the opening kickoff and ended up starting the game at their own 5. The Jackets dug their way out of the hole with an impressive drive of 17 plays and took it down to the Titan 10 where Ray Barrera nailed a 30-yard field goal to put Oxford ahead 3-0. The drive took more than nine minutes off the first quarter clock.
The Titans lost the ensuing kickoff on a fumble, but the Jackets were unable to convert as they were stopped on downs.
Gadsden City got its first possession with just 44 seconds left on the first-quarter clock. But the Titans quickly scored on a 3-yard run by Justin Peoples. It took the Titans just four plays to cover 65 yards and take the lead 7-3.
Oxford held the ball on a short drive and was unable to score, but ran the second-quarter clock down to six minutes. The Titans took possession at their own 17 and ground out a 12-play drive to the Oxford 9.
The drive stalled and Gabriel Brito kicked a 26-yard field goal to give the Titans a 10-3 lead at the half. The Titans only had two possessions in the half.
“They showed us a few things we had not seen them do, but we settled down and just played,” Titans coach Ali Smith said.
Miguel Mitchell led Oxford in rushing with 89 yards on 16 carries.
Gadsden City 17, Oxford 9
| Oxford (3-3) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6– | 9 |
| Gadsden City (4-2) | 0 | 10 | 7 | 0– | 17 |
O – Rey Barrera 30 FG, 2:33 1Q
GC – Justin Peoples 3 run (Gabriel Brito kick), 11:02 2Q
GC – Gabriel Brito 26 FG, 0:21 2Q
GC – Clyde Curry 62 pass from Luke Waldrop (Gabriel Brito kick), 2:00 3Q
O – Mikey Tippets 11 pass from Sam Robertson (kick blocked), 8:28 4Q
| Oxf (9) | GC (17) | |
| 17 | 1st D | 15 |
| 41-163 | Rush | 24-59 |
| 8-14-0 | C-A-I | 12-18-2 |
| 45 | Pass | 201 |
| 0-0 | F-L | 3-2 |
| 3-36.0 | Punt | 0-0 |
| 6-55 | Pen | 7-70 |
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