Locust Fork Back Grabs Week 7 Spotlight
Locust Fork sophomore running back Micah Stephens scored four touchdowns Friday night on successive offensive plays as the Hornets beat Douglas 42-22.
Stephens, who finished with 203 yards rushing on nine carries, grabs the AHSAA Spotlight for Week 7 of the 2013 football season with his extraordinary accomplishment.
He also edged out outstanding efforts by Marion County senior Ready Swanigan and Smith Station duo Harrison Jones and Devante Marshall for the Spotlight honor.
“We basically ran two different looks of the same play,” said Locus Fork head coach Chris Musso said. “The first time we went to it we were trying to get the defense to change out of a set it had gone to. We scored and so when we got the ball again, it worked again.”
Stephens’ consecutive touchdown feat came over a seven-minute stretch in the first half. The scores all came basically on the same spread formation play. Lining up on the left flank in the double-wing set, he ran to the right and cut off the blocks of pulling guards Dustin McCay and Hunter Gilliland and Preston Broadhead to score his first touchdown late in the first quarter on a 12-yard run. Musso said center Heath Edwards and left tackle Blake Foster sealed off the middle with key blocks and fullback Shiloh Biles led Stephens through the hole with a key block as well.
After forcing a Douglas punt, Stephens sped 30 yards behind the same blockers for his second score. Four plays later, the Locust Fork offense got the ball on downs and Stephens ran 49 yards for a TD. The defense forced a Douglas punt on the Eagles’ next possession and on first down Stephens, picking up key blocks from his big linemen once again, dashed making around right end for 78 yards with 6:49 left in the second period. In four offensive plays, the Hornets had turned a 7-0 deficit into a 29-7 lead.
When Locust Fork got the ball back the next time, Musso said they called the same play again. “We gained eight yards and then we decided to get away from it for a little while,” he said. “We only have five seniors on this team. I can’t tell you how excited our young kids were at halftime. It was just teamwork at its best and turned the game around.”
Swanigan surpassed school touchdown leader Perry Reed’s 39-year old career touchdown record with five touchdowns and 356 all-purpose yards as the Red Raiders beat South Lamar 54-24. Swanigan, who had three TDs as a freshman, now has 81 total after scoring on runs of 62 and 25 yards, a 37-yard pass reception, an interception covering 57 yards, and his final TD on a 95-yard kickoff return to open the second half.
His 336 total yards included 112 rushing on five carries, 37 pass receiving and 207 on return yardage. He also scored once on a 2-point conversion run and booted the Raiders’ only punt of the night for 36 yards.
Jones kicked a 25-yard field goal early in the second quarter for the game’s only points as Smiths Station (7-0) knocked off Opelika (6-1) in a key Class 6A, Region 3 game 3-0. It was the Panthers’ first victory over the Bulldogs since 1994 and only the second in 22 tries in the series. Running back Devante Marshall, who had 166 yards rushing on 24 carries, sped 53 yards on a run to set up Jones’ field goal.
MILESSTONES
Buddy Anderson, Vestavia Hills: The veteran Rebels head coach watched Vestavia Hills beat Carver-Birmingham on Thursday night 56-14 for the 303rd win of his coaching career. All 303 wins have been at Vestavia. The victory moved Anderson ahead of Glenn Daniel of Luverne, who set the AHSAA wins record with 302 victories in his head coaching career. Daniel, a member of the NFHS and AHSAA Sports Hall of Fames, retired from coaching after the 1992 season with a 302-169-16 record in the AHSAA with stops at Pine Hill and Luverne.
Waldon Tucker of Fayette County, who won 284 games at Gordo and Fayette County in the AHSAA, retired in 2010 with a 309-126-3 overall record. His wins included 25 at a non-member school. And Jimmy Moore, who retired at Colbert County in 2001 with a 305-94-6 career record, posted 214 of those wins in Mississippi before compiling a 91-30 record at Colbert County.
Baker Snaps Streak: Baker running back Keyshaun Johnson scored three touchdowns, all on short runs, to help the Hornets beat Murphy 31-20 for the school’s first varsity football victory over Murphy in school history. The Panthers hold a 23-1 edge in the series which dates back to Murphy’s 39-14 win in 1961. Murphy has outscored Baker 796-197 in the 24-game history.
Other outstanding performances reported include:
RUSHING
Matt Hagler, Slocomb: The quarterback rushed for 326 yards and four touchdowns (8, 55, 32 and 25 yards) on 30 carries and intercepted a pass and recorded a sack on defense in leading the Red Tops to a 34-21 win over Geneva.
Brandon Byner, Bessemer City: Piled up 360 all-purpose yards with three touchdowns in a 51-0 win over Jackson-Olin. Byner rushed for 198 yards and two scores (32 and 86 yards), added 112 yards receiving and returned a punt 50 yards for a score.
Jakoby Aldridge, Sweet Water: Rushed for 289 yards and five touchdowns on 30 carries as Sweet Water upset No. 1-ranked Washington County 35-32. Aldridge scored on runs of 4, 39, 82, 16 and 25 yards.
Spence Whittaker, Providence Christian: Gained 241 yards rushing and three touchdowns on a school-record 45 carries in a 28-20 win over Houston County. His 12-yard score in the final two minutes capped a time-consuming march and gave Providence its winning score.
Zacc Weldon, G.W. Long: Rushed for 244 yards and two touchdowns and also had two runs of 26 and 46 yards to set up two of the four TDs scored by quarterback Stetson Payne as the Rebels topped Cottonwood 54-36.
Hayes Battles, Houston Academy: Ran for 243 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries in the Raiders’ 43-20 win over Samson.
Brontae Harris, Hanceville: Totaled 23 carries for 238 rushing yards and scored five touchdowns in the Bulldogs’ 41-35 homecoming in over Winston County. The junior scored on runs of 2, 8, 31, 34 and 43 yards.
Derrick Burns, Tuscaloosa County: Ran for 226 yards and three touchdowns in a 42-28 win over Minor.
Hanson Guice, Barbour County: Filling in for injured quarterback Emanuel Thompson Jr., Guice ran for 220 yards and three touchdowns, including a 20-yard TD run in overtime, as the Jaguars beat Abbeville 26-20.
Dee Williams, Moody: Had 20 carries for 215 yards and two scores (38 and 2 yards) as Moody beat Springville 48-26.
Derrick Burns, Tuscaloosa County: Rushed for 226 yards and three touchdowns in a 42-28 win over Minor.
Frank Moody, St. James: Ran 31 times for 217 yards and two touchdowns in a 28-21 loss to Beauregard.
Brandon Baynes, Tallassee: Rushed for 214 yards on six carries with touchdowns covering 93, 58 and 47 yards as Tallassee beat Alabama Christian 62-7. Teammate D.J. Rivers added 175 yards on 10 rush attempts with four touchdowns (52, 36, 35 and 20 yards) and added a kickoff return of 44 yards and punt return of 37 yards. Both players’ totals came in the first half of the Class 4A, Region 2 win.
D.J. Bailey, Valley: Ran for 211 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the Rams’ 28-7 win over B.T. Washington.
Walter Rutledge, Homewood: Ran for 209 yards on 10 carries with four touchdowns (6, 68, 65 and 18 yards) in the 50-7 win over Sylacauga.
Jacob Carroll, Mountain Brook: Accounted for 292 total yards and two touchdowns in the 34-13 win over Hewitt-Trussville. Carroll ran for 165 yards on 16 carries and scored on an 8-yard run adding 127 yards on 11 of 15 completions, including a 12-yard scoring toss.
Charlie Crenshaw, Wetumpka: His 3-yard touchdown in the third overtime completed a comeback from 21 point deficit as the Indians beat Chelsea 48-45 in triple overtime. Crenshaw finished with 125 rushing yards and four touchdowns. He also had an interception on defense.
Austin Washington, Chelsea: Accounted for five touchdowns in the Hornets’ 48-45 triple-overtime loss to Wetumpka. Washington ran 19 times for 129 yards and four touchdowns (1, 46, 10 and 8 yards) and caught a 26-yard touchdown pass.
Terrance "Tank" Hollingsworth, Berry: Rushed for 196 yards on 23 carries and scored on runs of 98 and 46 yards in a 40-28 win over Lynn.
Jermarcus Brown, Pickens County: Rushed for 186 yards and two touchdowns in a 50-7 win over Hubbertville. He also caught a 14-yard touchdown pass and scored on a 17-yard interception return to finish with four scores on the night.
Sawyer Holland, Decatur Heritage: Carried 15 times for 193 yards and three touchdowns, and added 91 yards receiving in a 40-6 win over Waterloo.
D'Andre Mack, Hartselle: Piled up 233 all-purpose yards including 185 yards rushing and a TD on 19 carries in a 35-7 win over West Point.
Logan Campbell, Cold Springs: Ran 30 times for 174 yards in the Eagles’ 28-6 home loss to Lamar County. The senior quarterback now has 1,319 rushing yards on the season through seven games.
Austin Stiefel, Fyffe: Carried eight times for 123 yards and two touchdowns and caught a 19-yard touchdown pass in Fyffe’s 55-7 victory over Gaston. Stiefel scored on runs of 61 and 19 yards. All his TDs came in the first half and he also made seven tackles on defense.
PASSING
Rashad Louie, Shades Valley: Completed 22-of-28 passes for 390 yards and six touchdowns in a 61-28 win over Gardendale. Louie threw TD passes of 11, 13, 36, 37, 50 and 51 yards and ran for a seventh from 5 yards out. He rushed for 106 yards to account for 496 total yards for the game as the Mounties improved to 7-0.
Dre’Quan Pritchett, Minor: Completed 16-of-39 passes for 356 yards and three touchdowns in the Tigers’ 42-28 loss to Tuscaloosa County.
Michael Barron, Moody: Completed 13-of-15 passes for 325 yards and three touchdowns (74, 1 and 42 yards), ran for another TD and two-point conversion as the Blue Devils downed Springville 48-26.
Reid Rials, Satsuma: The junior quarterback was 23-of-42 passing for 304 yards and two touchdowns and also rushed for 80 yards on 13 carries in the Gators’ 34-20 loss to Citronelle.
Chris Sparkman, Austin: Completed 16-of-24 passes for 234 yards and three TDs (33, 25 and 11 yards) and scored on a 1-yard run in a 41-35 win over James Clemens.
Lucky Travis, Sunshine: Passed for 269 yards and five touchdowns in a 55-9 win over Holy Spirit Catholic.
Michael Lambert, Holly Pond: Threw for 246 yards and three touchdowns in a 47-20 loss to Geraldine.
Jaryus Wilson, Stanhope Elmore: Passed for 245 yards and four touchdowns in a 48-42 come-from-behind win over Thompson. All four TD passes went to Eric Reeves, who finished with nine catches for 125 yards.
Dillon Cambron, Sylvania: Completed a 13-yard touchdown pass with 13 seconds remaining, then added a completion on the two-point conversion lifting the Rams over Pisgah 34-27. Cambron carried 17 times for 84 yards and two touchdowns and completed 10-of-23 passes for 217 yards and three TDs (7, 2 and 88 yards).
Andy Jones, Houston Academy: The Raiders quarterback rushed 19 times for 162 yards and two touchdowns and completed four passes for 114 yards and another TD in a 43-20 win over Samson.
Santiago Taylor, Aliceville: Had 200 yards passing and three touchdowns in a 61-6 victory over R.C. Hatch.
PASS RECEIVING
Antonio Fox, Jackson: Caught nine passes for 224 yards and three touchdowns as the Aggies remained unbeaten with a 42-17 win over previously undefeated Saraland. Fox caught TD passes from Matthew Jordan for 86, 28 and 35 yards.
Tyler Boshell, Satsuma: The junior wide receiver totaled 13 catches for 208 yards and one TD covering 60 yards in Satsuma’s 34-20 loss to Citronelle. He also scored a second TD on a 9-yard run.
Ben Patterson, Priceville: Had 11 catches for 200 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for two more TDs in a 56-45 loss to Haleyville.
Jaylon Jones, UMS-Wright: Caught seven passes for 194 yards, including a 65-yard touchdown, as the Bulldogs beat Clarke County 45-20.
Wheylen Tolbert, Daphne: Hauled in three touchdown passes (34, 65 and 54 yards) as the Trojans beat Robertsdale 43-6.
Zack Manley, New Hope: Caught six passes for 111 yards and a 10-yard touchdown in a 27-20 loss to Plainview.
Terrell Martin, Moody: Caught six passes for 109 yards and a TD in the Blue Devils’ 48-26 win over Springville. Teammate Doug Barnes also had three catches for 100 yards.
DeAngelo Jackson, Wenonah: Caught four passes for 142 yards and two touchdowns covering 64 and 39 yards, threw a 62-yard TD pass and totaled 241 yards of offense in the 37-0 win over Brookwood.
Brian Clark, Clay-Chalkville: Grabbed seven receptions for 115 yards and a touchdown in the Cougars’ 24-21 loss to Gadsden City.
DEFENSE
Ben Mills, Coosa Christian: Had 14 tackles, including a sack and two others for losses, and registered a safety as the Conquerors won their first game of the season with a 26-24 victory over Shades Mountain. Mills also had 20 rush attempts for 183 yards and two TDS and caught five passes for 120 yards to roll up 303 total yards.
Brett Foxworth, Montgomery Catholic: Returned a fumble 100 yards for a touchdown for the Knights in a 46-14 loss to Pike County. Foxworth also caught a 12-yard touchdown pass to account for Catholic’s other TD.
Will Hogan, Holtville: Had 11 tackles, including seven for losses, as the Bulldogs won their first game of the season with a 13-8 decision over Dallas County.
Justin Turner, Good Hope: Had two second-half interceptions and caught two passes for 65 yards, including a 46-yarder to the 1, in the Raiders’ 21-13 road win Cullman County rival Vinemont.
Chris Doster, Enterprise: Registered 19 tackles with two for losses and also caused fumble in the Wildcats’ 21-17 victory over Dothan.
Justin Barton and Dontae Hughes, Pickens County: The two Pickens County teammates had 13 tackles each as the Tornadoes beat Hubbertville 50-7.
Tristan Brust, New Brockton: Totaled 16 tackles in a 58-8 win over Zion Chapel.
Cameron Williams, Bessemer City: Recorded 16 tackles, including seven for loss, in a 51-0 win over Jackson-Olin.
Draequon Murphy, Carver-Montgomery: Returned an interception 98 yards for a touchdown and caught a 16-yard TD pass in a 19-0 win over Lee-Montgomery.
Davonta Williams, Ashford: The linebacker registered 15 tackles, one sack and recovered a fumble as the Jackets beat Bullock County 35-6.
Jake Averhart, Corner: Recorded 14 tackles with a sack and blocked a pair of point-after conversions in the 54-27 loss to Jemison.
Pace Ozmint, Glencoe: Had 11 tackles (two for a loss), an interception and batted away the potential game-tying, two-point conversion pass in the final seconds as the Yellow Jackets beat Cleveland 28-26.
Queneris Pollard, Moody: Recorded 12 tackles with two sacks and three others resulting in losses as Moody beat Springville 48-26.
Waid Miller, Hartselle: Had 14 tackles, including two for losses, as the Tigers beat West Point 35-7. Teammate Jorden Robinson also had 11 tackles, a sack and interception.
Doug Salter, Brantley: Had 13 tackles to lead the defending Class 1A state champion Bulldogs to a 35-16 win over previously unbeaten McKenzie.
Cody Willingham, Plainview: Returned a fumble 62 yards for the winning touchdown with 3:48 left in the third quarter, then intercepted a pass on New Hope’s final drive as the visiting Bears picked up a 27-20 win. He had five tackles total and also ran for a 4-yard TD on offense.
SPECIAL TEAMS
John Baxter, Fairhope: Booted a 44-yard field goal as time expired to give the Pirates a 24-23 road win over rival Foley.
Nicholas Carden, Huntsville: Booted field goals of 22 and 45 yards with the second kick serving as the go-ahead score in a 34-24 comeback win at Pell City.
Terrell McDaniel, Oneonta: The senior returned a punt 64 yards for a touchdown, rushed eight times for 155 yards and TDs covering 20 and 76 yards, and chipped in five tackles and an interception on defense as the Redskins beat Fairview 63-19.
Keenan Lewis, Sardis: Finished with 266 all-purpose yards in the Lions' 61-28 loss to St. Clair County. Lewis rushed 16 times for 102 yards and a touchdown, produced 152 yards and two touchdowns on kickoff returns and caught a 12-yard touchdown pass.
Carter McGill, American Christian Academy: Returned a kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown and also hauled in two TD passes in a 41-19 win over Greensboro.
Jamarius Leatherwood, Sipsey Valley: Raced 79 yards for a touchdown on a kickoff return and also caught a 24-yard touchdown pass in a 41-0 win over Greene County.