Making connections
- Updated: October 2, 2021
West-to-McGhee combo powers Alexandria past Hayden; Handley rallies to avoid upset by Jacksonville; Hokes Bluff joins tie at the top of 3A Region 5
By East Alabama Sports Today
HAYDEN – Austin West and Javais McGhee hooked up on a pair of 38-yard touchdown passes with Austin West two minutes apart in the second quarter and Alexandria held Hayden to less than 100 yards of offense in a 35-0 rout that was its first shutout of the season.
The win keeps the Valley Cubs (6-0, 4-0) on target for a region title showdown with Leeds in their next-to-last regular season game. They now have a 12-game region winning streak.
McGhee scored four touchdowns in the game. In addition to the two touchdown catches, he scored on runs of 9 and 14 yards. West combined five of six passes in the game for 126 yards.
Defensively, the Valley Cubs held their hosts to 83 net yards, holding the Wildcats (0-7, 0-4) to 15 plays of zero or negative yardage. Tyler Brown had nine tackles, Da’Markus Williams had six tackles with two sacks, and Antonio Ross had two interceptions.
Alexandria 35, Hayden 0
| Alexandria (6-0, 4-0) | 7 | 21 | 7 | 0 — | 35 |
| Hayden (0-7, 0-4) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 — | 0 |
A – Jake Upton 2 run (Cleat Forrest kick), 7:50 1Q
A – Javais McGhee 9 run (Cleat Forrest kick), 7:40 2Q
A – Javais McGhee 38 pass from Austin West (Cleat Forrest kick), 3:50 2Q
A – Javais McGhee 38 pass from Austin West (Cleat Forrest kick), 1:50 2Q
A – Javais McGhee 14 run (Cleat Forrest kick), 9:20 3Q
| Alex (35) | Hay (0) | |
| 20-92 | Rush-yds | 37-56 |
| 6-7-1 | C-A-I | 4-12-2 |
| 159 | Pass yds | 27 |
| 4=51 | Penalties | 1-11 |
Handley 35, Jacksonville 20
ROANOKE – Things were going in Jacksonville’s favor in the first half, then Tae Meadows got loose.
Meadows scored three touchdowns in a stretch of about five minutes in the fourth quarter as top-ranked Handley scored 28 unanswered points in the second half to avoid a region loss.
The Golden Eagles have never beaten a No. 1 ranked team (0-9).
Meadows rushed for 191 yards on 21 carries and scored on runs of 11, 37 and 12 yards in the fourth quarter. Jamarius Haynes, who scored the game’s first touchdown on a 65-yard run, finished with 72 yards rushing.
Jacksonville scored 20 points in the final seven minutes of the second quarter to take a 20-7 halftime lead. Jacoby Zackery caught a 2-yard pass from Jim Ogle and Taj Morris scored on runs of 3 and 25 yards 42 seconds apart to give the Golden Eagles momentum heading into halftime.
Ogle completed 22 of 42 passes for 203 yards. Morris rushed for 93 yards.
Handley 35, Jacksonville 20
| Jacksonville (3-4, 2-2) | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 – | 20 |
| Handley (5-0, 3-0) | 7 | 0 | 6 | 22 – | 35 |
H – Jamarius Haynes 65 run (Davey Towers kick), 7:43 1Q
J – Jacoby Zackery 2 pass from Jim Ogle (Mason Terrell kick), 7:17 2Q
J – Taj Morris 3 run (Mason Terrell kick), 1:46 2Q
J – Taj Morris 25 run (kick failed), 1:04 2Q
H – Maurice Cameron 1 run (kick failed), 3:33 3Q
H – Tae Meadows 11 run (Tae Meadows run), 9:54 4Q
H – Tae Meadows 37 run (Davey Towers kick), 7:47 4Q
H – Tae Meadows 12 run (Davey Towers kick), 4:49 4Q
| Jville (20) | Hand (35) | |
| 17 | 1st Downs | 15 |
| 30-103 | Rushes-yds | 33-174 |
| 22-42-2 | C-A-I | 8-14-0 |
| 203 | Passing yds | 96 |
| 2-0 | Fum-Lost | 1-1 |
| 4-37.0 | Punts-avg | 4-44-.0 |
| 8-55 | Pen-yds | 15-125 |
Hokes Bluff 35, Weaver 0
HOKES BLUFF — Tucker Griffin rushed for 189 yards and three touchdowns and scored the Eagles’ first four touchdowns of the game.
Griffin scored on runs of 3, 47 and 79 yards, and caught a 13-yard touchdown pass from Jordan Bradley as the Eagles (3-3, 3-1) pulled into a four-way tie for first place in Class 3A Region 5.
Weaver has lost four in a row. The Bearcats had 156 yards of total offense. Kaden Gooden threw for 50 yards and Christian Marturello led the rushing game with 53 yards.
Hokes Bluff 35, Weaver 0
| Weaver (1-5, 1-3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 — | 0 |
| Hokes Bluff (3-3, 3-1) | 21 | 0 | 14 | 0 — | 35 |
H — Tucker Griffin 3 run (Jaden Burns kick), 8:17 1Q
H — Tucker Griffin 47 run (Jaden Burns kick), 6:28 1Q
H — Tucker Griffin 13 pass from Jordan Bradley (Jaden Burns kick), 2:34 1Q
H — Tucker Griffin 79 run (Jaden Burns kick), 9:01 3Q
H — Will Wellingham 17 run (Jaden Burns kick), 4:18 3Q
| Wea (0) | HB (35) | |
| 12 | 1st Downs | 7 |
| 45-106 | Rushes-yds | 19-225 |
| 8-17-0 | C-A-I | 2-2-0 |
| 50 | Passing yds | 13 |
| 0-0 | Fum-Lost | 2-1 |
| 5-26.4 | Punts-avg | 2-33.5 |
| 8-80 | Pen-yds | 7-80 |
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