Serious business
- Updated: September 30, 2022
Anniston stays unbeaten, takes upper hand in Class 4A Region 4 race with dominating 32-7 win over No. 2 Handley
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
In some of the bigger games they’ve played over the past couple weeks, the Anniston Bulldogs didn’t mind resorting to a little trickery to keepII opponents on their toes.
It was fun to do. It was fun to see. It kept things interesting. But when it came to their biggest game of the year Friday night, they played it super straight and couldn’t have been more serious about it.
The Bulldogs played their most complete game of the year and their most dominant defensively in head coach Rico White’s tenure in taking down No. 2 Handley 32-7 to take the upper hand in Class 4A Region 4.
It was a “special win,” the coach said, but for no other reason for a team that could have had many beyond what was on the table.
“We wanted to play football, we want to show we’re a good team, that’s all,” White said. “Just line up and play football. Best man is going to win. We weren’t fixin’ to use tricks and win it, let’s play football.
“You look the last few games, Piedmont, we ran trick plays, we did some of everything to keep folks off-balanced. This game I wanted to play hard-nosed football. Let’s run the ball on them, let’s show them what kind of team we have up front and the defense shut them down.
“This is a sound team, you ain’t going to trick them. It’s hard-nosed football. You’ve got to come out and show I’m here to fight you. That’s what we did. We played hard-nosed football tonight.”
While there are still games to play, the fourth-ranked Bulldogs (7-0) have now beaten both of the teams that were expected to give them the biggest challenge in the region, so barring some kind of collapse they’ve effectively won the region title.
It would be their first region title since 2011. They seemingly had it won last year after beating Handley on the road, but were stripped of it when the AHSAA ruled they had used ineligible players during the year and had to forfeit some wins reducing them to the No. 3 region seed.
“I’m so happy, we’re region champs,” sophomore defensive end Grayshaun Swain said. “We haven’t been region champs in so long.”
The Bulldogs couldn’t have been much more balanced offensively. They rushed for 157 yards and passed for 156. Javon Thomas caught two touchdown passes from Kam Sandlin and Malachi Taylor rushed for three scores. Their relentless defense held the Tigers to 9 yards in the first half and 132 total for the game.
“We haven’t put together a complete game where the offense was hitting on all cylinders and the defense shutting people down,” White said. “I think tonight was the first time since I’ve been here (five years) that we really played a solid defensive effort and a solid offensive effort.”
“I’m glad the defense came and showed out,” Swain said. “They did real good on defense. It was the best game I played on defense so far this season. I’m pretty proud of our boys.”
The Tigers (6-1) went into what effectively was the region championship game without one of its biggest weapons. Jay Haynes, the back in their one-back set who rushed for 476 yards earlier this season against Jacksonville, has been hobbled with a bruised foot and saw limited snaps Friday. He usually gets upwards of 30 carries a game, but he had two for four yards in the first half and was never quite himself.
The biggest play the Tigers generated was Cannon Kyles’ 55-yard touchdown pass to Jamerqui Lewis midway through the third quarter that drew them within 13-7. It was their first play of 10 or more yards in the game. They had scattered chances to make a big play but missed the mark under the Bulldogs’ pressure.
“They’ve got a good football team to start with,” Handley coach Larry Strain said. “A lot of the mistakes that happened tonight was because of what they were doing to us. We never got untracked from the get-go.
“We knew Jay Haynes probably wasn’t going to get to play and that’s a major factor in the game for us … It’s a different factor with Jay Haynes back there, no doubt, but would the outcome be any different? I don’t know that, but I would have liked to have had that opportunity to see.”
He may get that chance. It’s not a stretch to think the two teams might meet again in the playoffs – in a matchup that could be even better than the state finals.
“I think there are about five teams that have a chance to win the state championship and virtually all of them are in the South,” Strain said. “I don’t think anybody in the North has a prayer, to be honest with you. … I think both us and Anniston have a chance to make a run if we’re healthy.”
Cover photo: You’ll notice the not-so-subtle No. 1 marker behind Anniston coach Rico White as he addresses his team after its 32-7 win over Handley to take the region lead.
| HAND (7) | ANN (32) | |
| 5 | 1st Downs | 13 |
| 25-48 | Rushes-yds | 42-157 |
| 6-21-1 | Comp-Att-Int | 7-15-0 |
| 84 | Passing yds | 156 |
| 1-0 | Fumbles-lost | 2-0 |
| 8-29.3 | Punts-avg | 5-40.0 |
| 13-100 | Penalties-yds | 8-66 |
| Handley (6-1) | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 – | 7 |
| Anniston (7-0) | 7 | 6 | 6 | 13 – | 32 |
A – Malachi Taylor 31 run (Kam Sandlin kick), 0:44 1Q
A – Javon Thomas 17 pass from Kam Sandlin (kick failed), 0:08 2Q
H – Jamerqui Lewis 55 pass from Cannon Kyles (Landon Bozeman kick), 6:37 3Q
A – Malachi Taylor 1 run (run failed), 3:14 3Q
A – Javon Thomas 57 pass from Kam Sandlin (Kam Sandlin kick), 11:44 4Q
A – Malachi Taylor 10 run (PAT failed), 6:29 4Q
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