Eyeing the playoffs
- Updated: October 6, 2022
Donoho rolls over winless TCC, makes Satcher first football coach to take Falcons to playoffs in his first season in nearly 40 years
THURSDAY’S SCORES
CLASS 7A
Central-Phenix City 55, Lee-Montgomery 20
Foley 55, Alma Bryant 32
Thompson 51, Oak Mountain 0
CLASS 6A
Buckhorn 38, Lee-Huntsville 20
Homewood 31, Chilton County 10
Mountain Brook 35, Parker 6
Pelham 30, Benjamin Russell 20
Sidney Lanier 41, Stanhope Elmore 17
St. Paul’s Episcopal 38, Robertsdale 14
CLASS 5A
East Limestone 54, Lawrence County 13
Gulf Shores 49, Elberta 3
Ramsay 56, John Carroll Catholic 7
Williamson 20, Citronelle 0
CLASS 4A
St. John Paul II Catholic 27, New Hope 20
St. Michael Catholic 49, Wilcox Central 6
Westminster Christian 70, Madison County 42
CLASS 3A
Danville 49, Asbury 6
Gordo 35, Fayette County 0
Houston Academy 52, Northside Methodist 0
J.B. Pennington 55, Brindlee Mountain 0
Plainview 33, Sylvania 30
Southside-Selma 52, Greensboro 30
CLASS 1A
Decatur Heritage 49, Woodville 8
Donoho 48, Talladega County Central 14
Elba 62, Georgiana 28
Valley Head 34, Appalachian 28
By Brant Locklier
For East Alabama Sports Today
The Donoho Falcons won their third straight game Thursday night in a crushing 48-14 victory over Talladega County Central and are starting to think about the playoffs.
The Falcons (4-3, 3-2) are one of three teams in Class 1A Region 6 currently with three wins. They hold the region tiebreaker over Winterboro (1-2, 2-4) in the race for the fourth playoff spot and have wrapped up that spot with Thursday’s win.
“In my mind we’re in because we beat Winterboro,” Donoho coach Jeremy Satcher said. “It’s awesome. It’s what the boys wanted and my job was to help guide and challenge and mentor and help them get to the place they want to get to. I’m proud of the boys being able to accomplish something they set out to do.
“But I told them after the game now we accomplish that it doesn’t mean we relax. That just means we have to work even harder because now it’s about potentially moving up a spot or putting us in a position where we can play a No. 2 (in the playoffs).”
Three touchdown runs by Lucas Elliott, four touchdown passes from Will Folsom and three touchdown receptions by Logan Melton would be what one would call a pretty good first half and that’s what the Falcons used to build a 48-8 halftime lead.
Elliott got off to a fast start for the Falcons as he rushed for touchdowns of 68 and 20 yards on two of the first three offensive plays and they had a quick 14-0 lead.
The rout continued as Folsom fired four consecutive touchdown passes – three to Melton and one to Jordan Cameron. Elliott scored his third touchdown of the half as Donoho led 48-8 at the half. Melton was a busy man as he also kicked six PAT’s in the first half.
“My quarterback just put the ball in the right place to be successful; he made it easy,” said Melton.
The playoff berth would be the Falcons’ first since 2019 and would make Satcher their first coach to take them to the football playoffs in his first season at the helm since Mike Patterson in 1984.
“I am excited about our team and the progress we have made,” Satcher said. “Our guys have come a long way. We wanted to start fast tonight and we did. We maintained that intensity on all but a couple of plays. We want to be consistent on every play and we did a great job of doing that.”
Patrick Dosius was the lone bright spot for TCC in the first half as he broke off a 61 yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
Jarvius McKenzie added a 65-yard run for the only second half score as it ended the scoring. The clock ran continuously in the second half.
TCC (0-7, 0-4) has now lost 33 consecutive games on the field. The Fighting Tigers won a forfeit game over Victory Christian during the COVID year in 2020. They have not won since the final game of the 2018 regular season.
”You guys keep fighting and working hard.,” Satcher told the Fighting Tigers after the game. “You have a great history down there. You can make it back.”
The Falcons, meanwhile, recognized four seniors on their Senior Night. One of them was Elliott, who rushed for 158 yards on nine carries. Earlier in the day Elliott committed to play baseball at Wallace-Selma.
| TCC (14) | DON (48) | |
| 5 | 1st Downs | 12 |
| 28-172 | Rushes-yds | 20-207 |
| 1-3-0 | Comp-Att-Int | 8-10-0 |
| 7 | Passing yds | 169 |
| 3-9.0 | Punts-avg | 0-0 |
| 7-43 | Penalties-yds | 5-45 |
| TCC (0-7) | 0 | 8 | 0 | 6 – | 14 |
| Donoho (4-3) | 21 | 27 | 0 | 0 – | 48 |
Don – Lucas Elliott 68 run (Logan Melton kick), 11:48 1Q
Don – Lucas Elliott 20 run (Logan Melton kick), 9:08 1Q
Don – Logan Melton 11 pass from Will Folsom (Logan Melton kick), 2:02 1Q
Don – Logan Melton 31 pass from Will Folsom (Logan Melton kick), 10:15 2Q
Don – Logan Melton 24 pass from Will Folsom (kick blocked), 7:50 2Q
Don – Jordan Cameron 56 pass from Will Folsom (Logan Melton kick), 5:49 2Q
TCC – Patrick Dosius 61 run (Javari McKenzie run), 4:27 2Q
Don – Lucas Elliott 15 run (Logan Melton kick), 2:05 2Q
TCC – Javari McKenzie 65 run (kick failed), 9:18 4Q
| CLASS 1A REGION 6 | ALL | REG | PCT. | GB |
| Ragland | 4-3 | 3-0 | 1.000 | — |
| Spring Garden | 6-1 | 3-1 | .750 | 0.5 |
| Wadley | 2-4 | 2-1 | .667 | 1.0 |
| Donoho | 4-3 | 3-2 | .600 | 1.0 |
| Winterboro | 2-4 | 1-3 | .250 | 2.5 |
| Victory Christian | 3-4 | 1-3 | .250 | 2.5 |
| Talladega Co. Cent. | 0-7 | 0-4 | .000 | 3.5 |
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