Letting the ‘Dogs out
- Updated: December 2, 2022
MVP Crittenden rushes for 246 yards, 2 TDs as Andalusia runs past Cherokee County in Class 4A championship game; Fyffe beats B.B. Comer in 2A game
CLASS 4A CHAMPIONSHIP
Andalusia 28, Cherokee County 7
CLASS 2A CHAMPIONSHIP
Fyffe 40, B.B. Comer 28
CLASS 6A CHAMPIONSHIP
Saraland 38, Mountain Brook 17
By Shannon Fagan
Special to East Alabama Sports Today
AUBURN – Cherokee County is used to the punishing running style of junior Jacob Cornejo, but on Friday afternoon, another player who wears No. 9 demonstrated how hard he was to tackle.
Andalusia senior Dorian Crittenden rushed for 246 yards on 31 carries and scored two touchdowns to lead the Bulldogs to a 28-7 victory in the Class 4A state title game at Jordan-Hare Stadium. It was the school’s first football championship since 1977 and capped a 14-1 season.
“This has been something 45 years in the making,” Andalusia coach Trent Taylor said. “I can’t say enough about this group. I think it’s just our mental toughness. To be down three weeks ago 21-0 (at Anniston) at halftime and then play a team in the fourth round that beat you soundly (Montgomery Catholic), for these guys to do what they’ve done over the course of the year but certainly through the course of the playoffs has just been remarkable.”
Taylor played on the Bulldogs’ 1977 team that beat Wellborn in the Class 3A title game. Friday’s championship came 45 years to the day of that game.
Crittenden scored both of his touchdowns in the second half on runs of 1 yard near the end of the third quarter and 2 yards with 6:55 to play to put the game away. For his effort, Crittenden earned the game’s Most Valuable Player honor.
“This is the biggest game I’ve ever played in. I don’t even have the words. I’m just so happy,” he said.
Before Crittenden’s second score, the Warriors (12-3) had a chance to potentially make it a one-score game.
With Andalusia ahead 21-7 early in the fourth quarter, Cherokee County moved the ball down to the Bulldogs 26. The Warriors moved into scoring position on back-to-back Cade Hopper-to-Alex Johnson completions that covered 23 and 19 yards.
Hopper attempted a third straight pass on the drive, but sophomore defender Xavier Marshall intercepted the pass to end the threat.
The Bulldogs then ate up more than four and a half minutes on their final touchdown drive following the turnover. Crittenden carried the ball six times in the drive. His touchdown put his team up three touchdowns.
“We were down two scores so we needed to sling it around a little bit just to loosen them up,” Warrior coach Jacob Kelley said. “Cade just kind of pressed a little bit there. Nobody wanted to throw that thing in the end zone more than he did. The kid (Marshall) made a good play. Hat’s off to
them. They executed a little bit better.”
“For him to even be part of the coverage is kind of a unique call for us, to be quite honest,” Taylor said of Marshall’s interception. “We were in a simple Cover 3. He was responsible for the flats. Sometimes it’s not what you do as a coach, it’s what the kids do.”
Andalusia took a 7-0 lead with 1:53 remaining in the first quarter on Jack Lathrop’s 34-yard touchdown pass to Kaden Denson. Lathrop completed 9-of-13 pass attempts for 107 yards and the score. Eight of the catches belonged to Kaden Denson for 106 yards.
The Bulldogs were looking to extend their lead early in the second quarter. They marched down to the Warrior 15, but a high snap on a first-down play resulted in a 14-yard loss. On the play, Warrior junior defensive back Jeb Crane suffered an ankle injury. He was taken off the field on a stretch.
“They reset his ankle on the field,” Kelley said. “He dislocated it. We had a similar injury at practice last year. I know it’s stable. They’re going to do what they need to do to get him on track. I promise you, he’s a tough kid. The one last year was around two months, I think 12 weeks. I know he’ll be ready to roll come baseball season.”
When play resumed following Crane’s injury, the Bulldogs later attempted a 45-yard field goal, but Cason Clarke’s attempt was no good.
The Warriors then put together their only scoring drive to tie the game. They marched 80 yards in 11 plays, capped off by Cornejo’s 1-yard run. Will Frampton’s extra point tied the game 7-7.
Andalusia regained the lead on its ensuing drive. Four straight Crittenden runs went for 60 yards to set up a 7-yard touchdown run by Zerrick Jones, giving the Bulldogs a 14-7 edge with 2:42 remaining in the first half.
The Warriors drove back downfield to the Bulldogs 19, but had to settle for a 36-yard Frampton field goal attempt with 23 seconds to go in the half. The kick missed right, keeping the score 14-7.
The Warriors appeared to catch a break on Andalusia’s first possession of the second half. Junior defensive back Haden Wheeler looked as if he picked off a Lathrop pass at the Bulldog 35, but upon further review, officials ruled the pass was incomplete.
The Bulldogs put together a scoring drive before the end of the third quarter. Crittenden accounted for all 32 yards on a four-play drive, which culminated in his 1-yard score. Crittenden scored again in the fourth for the final margin
Hopper completed 6-of-13 pass attempts for 101 yards for the Warriors. Cornejo collected
87 yards on 18 carries and finished the season with 2,580 yards and 33 touchdowns.
“It’s been a good year. I think we exceeded expectations,” Kelley said. “A lot of thanks to my seniors. I just said goodbye to those guys, so it’s tough. It’s hard to talk about.
“I told them early on in the summer if you want to set a place on fire, be ready to roll against Trion (in the first game of the season). They went to work in the off-season program, and we were ready for it.
“From day one, it’s been a blessing. They’ve been so much fun to coach. They allow us to coach them hard, love them hard. It’s a big family. I spend a lot of time with them. I couldn’t ask for a better bunch, a better city, a better community, than what I’ve got.”
Shannon Fagan is Sports Director of WEIS Radio in Centre. Cover photo by Marvin Gentry.
Class 4A Championship
Andalusia 28, Cherokee County 7
| CHER (7) | AND (28) | |
| 16 | 1st Downs | 20 |
| 37-114 | Rushes-yds | 40-261 |
| 6-14-1 | Passing (C-A-I) | 9-13-0 |
| 101 | Passing yards | 107 |
| 4-0 | Fumbles-lost | 2-0 |
| 5-38.2 | Punts-avg | 2-42.0 |
| 4-30 | Penalties-yds | 8-46 |
| Cherokee Co. (12-3) | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 — | 7 |
| Andalusia (14-1) | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 — | 28 |
A: Kaden Denson 34 pass from Jack Lathrop (Byron Stewart kick), 1:53 1Q
C: Jacob Cornejo 1 run (Will Frampton), 4:32 2Q
A: Derrick Jones 7 run (Byron Stewart kick), 2:42 2Q
A: Dorian Crittenden 1 run (Byron Stewart kick), 0:28 3Q
A: Dorian Crittenden 2 run (Byron Stewart kick), 6:55 4Q
Class 2A Championship
Fyffe 40, B.B. Comer 28
From AHSAA Reports
AUBURN — Brodie Hicks rushed for 235 yards and five touchdowns and Fyffe scored three touchdowns in the final three minutes of the first quarter to take control of the game.
It was the Red Devils’ fourth state title in the last five years and sixth in the last nine. All six titles completed 15-0 seasons. B.B. Comer was playing in the title game for just the second time in school history and the first time since 1995.
A chaotic first half ended with Fyffe holding a double-digit lead. The Red Devils immediately went back to the basics in the second half and clinched the crown.
Fyffe (15-0) took the second-half kickoff and drove 63 yards in 11 clock-sapping plays, including 10 runs, and Hicks scored his fourth touchdown of the night. His five touchdowns in a 2A final broke the old record (4) set by Michael Lindsey of Elba in 2011 and tied by Justus McDaniel of Mars Hill Bible in 2020. He scored on TD runs of 6, 1, 1, 19 and 7 yards.
“We knew we were going to have to run it between the tackles,” Fyffe coach Paul Benefield said. “That’s Brodie’s strong point. … We just mainly ran two of three plays in the second half.”
Hicks’ 45 carries in Fyffe’s 61 total plays to set another Super 7 Class 2A state record. The previous record (31) was set Fyffe’s Dilon Kilpatrick in the 2015 finals.
“It’s tough because you run up the middle every time,” Hicks said. “You run into people’s faces. It’s definitely not fun. You’ve got to suck it up and do it.”
B.B. Comer’s Kamore Harris, a powerful 6-foot-2, 230-pound junior running back, scored on a 67-yard run on the game’s opening minute, but the Tigers later mishandled a kickoff that Fyffe fell on to set up a first-half touchdown. The Red Devils also turned an interception into Hicks’ 1-yard run with 13 seconds to go before halftime to stretch a narrow 19-16 lead to 26-16.
Harris led B.B. Comer (12-3) with 180 yards and touchdowns runs of 67 and 3 yards on 20 carries, and he added 15 tackles on defense. Richard Weed caught a 44-yard touchdown pass and added 14 tackles.Tristan Garrett also scored on an 8-yard run.
“I told my guys, ‘Nobody had you in this,'” B.B. Comer coach Adam Fossett said. “I don’t know that anybody had us past the second rounds. It’s the resiliency of the guys. At the end of the day I will take these guys back home and tell them we love them.”
| FYFFE (40) | BBC (28) | |
| 17 | 1st Downs | 12 |
| 61-277 | Rushes-yds | 28-184 |
| 3-5-0 | Passing (C-A-I) | 6-11-1 |
| 58 | Passing yds | 130 |
| 0-0 | Fumbles-lost | 4-2 |
| 3-34.7 | Punts-avg | 0-0 |
| 4-30 | Penalties-yds | 2-10 |
| Fyffe (15-0) | 19 | 7 | 7 | 7 — | 40 |
| B.B. Comer (12-3) | 8 | 8 | 0 | 12 — | 28 |
B: Kamore Harris 67 run (Devin Harvey run), 11:22 1Q
F: Ryder Gipson 1 run (run failed), 3:16 1Q
F: Brodie Hicks 6 run (run failed), 1:43 1Q
F: Brodie Hicks 1 run (Yahir Balcazar kick), 0:53 1Q
B: Richard Weed 44 pass from Devin Harvey (James Carmicael pass), 10:34 2Q
F: Brodie Hicks 1 run (Yahir Balcazar kick), 0:13 2Q
F: Brodie Hicks 19 run (Yahir Balcazar kick), 5:33 3Q
B: Tristan Garrett 8 run (run failed), 9:27 4Q
F: Brodie Hicks 7 run (Yahir Balcazar kick), 3:57 4Q
B: Kamore Harris 3 run (pass failed), 2:58 4Q
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