Jacksonville falls to No. 1 team
- Updated: November 12, 2022
Missed opportunities early cost Golden Eagles in second-round of the Class 4A playoffs; Ogle passes for more than 400 yards in loss
CLASS 4A PLAYOFF SCORES
Anniston 38, Booker T. Washington 20
Andalusia 31, American Christian 7
Montgomery Catholic 44, Jacksonville 27
Handley 27, T.R. Miller 14
Oneonta 34, Priceville 20
Deshler 36, Etowah 33
Cherokee County 42, West Morgan 28
Randolph 47, Dora 37
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
JACKSONVILLE — The home team knew it would take a near flawless game to prevail in its Class 4A playoff game Friday night.
Jacksonville had two golden opportunities to seize the momentum early in the game, but didn’t capitalize and against the No. 1 team in the state that’s a fatal flaw.
The Golden Eagles came up empty on two early red zone opportunities, Catholic-Montgomery scored after both and when Jacksonville did score the Knights answered every time but the last eventually taking a 44-27 victory to end the Golden Eagles’ season.
Jacksonville had a chance to score first, but G Turner was stopped short of the end zone on fourth down from the 1 with 3:35 left in the first quarter. Later, Mason Terrell missed a 30-yard field goal attempt in the second quarter after the Golden Eagles got to the 14.
“We left 10 points on the board right there,” Jacksonville coach Clint Smith said. “If we get those 10, it’s a touchdown game and who knows what’ll happen.”
“They won the game because of that,” Jacksonville quarterback Jim Ogle said. “You play against a good team like that in the second round of the playoffs if you get the ball down there you’ve got to score, at least come up with three, and we couldn’t do either.”
The Golden Eagles (8-4) finally scored when Dee Prothro punched it in from the 1 with 4:05 left in the first half to make it 13-7. The Knights (12-0) scored twice more in the half, including a 42-yard field goal by Under Armour All-American Gabe Russo on the final play, and led at the break 23-7.
Jacksonville did score four touchdowns after its two red-zone denials, but Catholic immediately after the first three and were driving for a fourth time when time expired so the Golden Eagles could never make any headway.
“That’s what a good team does.,” Smith said. “We would score and get closer, but they would never let us get past that point. We gave ourselves a chance. We kept fighting, kept going down and scoring and trying to get some stops, but they’re extremely talented and their speed was definitely a factor from the offensive side of the ball.”
There were a lot of big performances in the game.
Catholic running back Jeremiah Cobb rushed for 302 yards and two touchdowns. The Auburn commitment scored the game’s first touchdown on an 83-yard burst one play after a face mask penalty moved the Knights off the goal line following their first red-zone stop.
“I thank my line for getting me down there,” Cobb said. “It was really important to get up out of that situation and score a touchdown.”
On the Jacksonville side, Ogle passed for 426 yards and receiver Kydric Fisher caught 11 passes for 262 yards and two touchdowns. Both are believed to be school records.
The Golden Eagles’ offense took a hit in the first quarter when Turner was helped off with a left ankle injury and didn’t return. The senior, who scored the winning touchdown in last week’s playoff opener, had 22 yards on seven carries at the time of his injury.
“It’s hard to end the season like this, on a loss, “ he said. “You just have to move on to bigger and better things. It was hard to watch the team struggle knowing that I can’t help them.”
Turner’s departure put more pressure on Ogle and running backs Dee Prothro and Zay English, but they did all they could to keep the Golden Eagles in the game. Ogle was 32-of-47 passing for the game. He was 27-for-39 for 359 yards after Turner left the game.
“G became that guy for us and losing him definitely hurt,” Ogle said. “It puts more on me and the receivers to step up and I think we did.”
It was the 11th time in their history the Golden Eagles have faced the No. 1 team in the state. They are 0-11.
Catholic will host Handley in next week’s third round. The winner will take on either Anniston or Andalusia for a spot in the championship game at Auburn.
“It wasn’t the outcome we wanted, but 4A South is very brutal,” Smith said. “Whoever comes out of 4A South is going to have to earn it. It’s going to be a dogfight all the way.”
Catholic 44, Jacksonville 27
| CATH (44) | JAX (27) | |
| 22 | 1st Downs | 23 |
| 36-407 | Rushes-yds | 27-67 |
| 7-12-0 | Passing (C-A-I) | 32-47-0 |
| 134 | Passing yds | 426 |
| 0-0 | Fumbles-lost | 0-0 |
| 2-51.5 | Punts-avg | 3-34.7 |
| 10-69 | Penalties-yds | 2-6 |
| Catholic (12-0) | 7 | 16 | 7 | 14 — | 44 |
| Jacksonville (8-4) | 0 | 7 | 6 | 14 — | 27 |
C – Jeremiah Cobb 83 run (Callan Gadilhe kick), 3:09 1Q
C – Justin Rose 23 pass from Caleb McCrary (kick failed), 6:19 2Q
J – Dee Prothro 1 run (Mason Terrell kick), 4:05 2Q
C – Jeremiah Cobb 1 run (Callan Gadilhe kick), 1:51 2Q
C – Gabe Russo 42 FG, 0:00 2Q
C – Luke Harkless 26 pass from Caleb McCrary (Callan Gadilhe kick), 9:53 3Q
J – Kydric Fisher 20 pass from Jim Ogle (kick failed), 0:42 3Q
C – Luke Harkless 15 run (Callan Gadilhe kick), 9:35 4Q
J – Kydric Fisher 63 pass from Jim Ogle (Dee Prothro run), 7:51 4Q
C – Luke Harkless 34 pass from Caleb McCrary (Callan Gadilhe kick)
J – Dee Prothro 1 run (pass failed), 4:19 4Q
Haynes helps Handley
BREWTON – Jay Haynes rushed for 231 yards and all four of Handley’s touchdowns as the Tigers ran past T.R. Miller 27-14.
The Tigers (11-1) now travel to top-ranked Montgomery Catholic (12-0) in Friday night’s Class 4A quarterfinals. It promises to be a battle of running backs between Handley’s Haynes and Catholic’s Jeremiah Cobb.
Haynes had 25 carries in the game. He scored on runs of 48, 8, 58 and 12 yards. Quarterback Cannon Kyles accounted for 143 yards of offense (88 passing, 55 rushing).
The game was tied at halftime and Haynes scored both of his last two touchdowns in the third quarter
Handley 27, T.R. Miller 14
| HAND (27) | TRM (14) | |
| 18 | 1st Downs | 9 |
| 40-313 | Rushes-yds | 34-94 |
| 6-14-1 | Passing (C-A-I) | 6-13-1 |
| 88 | Passing yds | 64 |
| 0-0 | Fumbles-lost | 1-1 |
| 2-23.5 | Punts-avg | 4-39.0 |
| 7-60 | Penalties-yds | 3-15 |
| Handley (11-1) | 6 | 8 | 13 | 0 — | 27 |
| T.R. Miller (10-2) | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 — | 14 |
T – Myles Johnson 1 run (Brook Hart kick), 5:17 1Q
H – Jay Haynes 48 run (pass failed), 3:48 1Q
H – Jay Haynes 5 run (Cannon Kyles run), 8:56 2Q
T – Langley Folsom interception return (Brook Hart kick), 0:24 2Q
H – Jay Haynes 58 run (Landon Bozeman kick), 11:42 3Q
H – Jay Haynes 12 run (kick failed), 3:32 3Q
Cornejo comes up big again
CENTRE – It wasn’t quite the game he had in the first round, but Cherokee County junior running back Jacob Cornejo did have another outstanding outing in Round 2 against West Morgan.
Cornejo collected 262 yards on 18 carries and scored four touchdowns in leading the No. 10 Warriors to a 42-28 victory over the Rebels. All four of Cornejo’s touchdowns came in the second half.
Jack Amos accounted for the other two Cherokee County touchdowns. He finished with 83 yards on 11 totes.
West Morgan (10-2) led 7-6 at halftime, but Cornejo was just getting started. In the third quarter he scored on runs of 67 and 12 yards to give the Warriors (10-2) the lead.
The Rebels closed to within 21-13, then Cornejo closed out the third quarter with his third touchdown – a 58-yard run – to extend the Warriors lead to 28-13.
Cornejo and Amos put the game out of reach with their touchdown runs of 43 and 3 yards respectively, giving Cherokee County a 42-20 edge. Peters ran for a 1-yard touchdown run late in the fourth for the final.
Braxton Peters completed 11-of-15 pass attempts for 122 yards and two touchdowns. Jalen Fletcher gained 159 yards on 26 carries with a touchdown. He also caught three passes for 42 yards and two touchdowns.
Cade Hopper completed 6-of-9 pass attempts for 60 yards for the Warriors (10-2).
Cherokee County will travel to Randolph (10-2) in next Friday’s third round.
Cherokee Co. 42, West Morgan 28
| WMOR (20) | CHER (42) | |
| 25 | 1st Downs | 19 |
| 47-258 | Rushes-yds | 37-365 |
| 13-24-0 | Passing (C-A-I) | 6-10-0 |
| 141 | Passing yds | 60 |
| 0-0 | Fumbles-lost | 0-0 |
| 5-27.6 | Punts-avg | 3-35.0 |
| 11-75 | Penalties-yds | 8-95 |
| West Morgan (10-2) | 7 | 0 | 6 | 15 — | 28 |
| Cherokee County (10-2) | 6 | 0 | 22 | 14 — | 42 |
W – Jalen Fletcher 67 run (Jacob Johnston kick)
C – Jack Amos 40 run (kick blocked)
C – Jacob Cornejo 67 run (Jack Amos run)
C – Jacob Cornejo 12 run (Will Frampton kick)
W – Jalen Fletcher 25 pass from Braxton Peters (kick failed)
C – Jacob Cornejo 58 run (Will Frampton kick)
W – Jalen Fletcher 19 pass from Braxton Peters (Jacob Johnston kick)
C – Jacob Cornejo 43 run (Will Frampton kick)
C – Jack Amos 3 run (Will Frampton kick)
W – Braxton Peters 1 run (Ty Jones pass from Braxton Peters)
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