Jacksonville Survives

Jacksonville, AL – Class 4A Region 4: Jacksonville falls behind early, scores 31 unanswered points to get past Munford; Handley gets back on track

By Brant Locklier

The football season has passed the halfway point and teams are starting their drive for the playoffs. Class 4A Region 4 may be the deepest region in the state with three teams ranked in the Top Six and the playoff picture is starting to take shape.

Jacksonville fell behind Munford early, then wore down the Lions with 31 unanswered points on the way to a 31-13 victory.

The Golden Eagles improved to 6-2, 3-2 in the region, while Munford fell to 4-3, 2-2, but seemingly locked up a playoff spot with Cleburne County’s win over White Plains, but Lions coach Michael Easley doesn’t want his players taking anything for granted.

“It helps us, but we’ve got to win next week (against White Plains),” Easley said. “I don’t want the kids thinking any other way. We win, we’re in.”

It was defense that led the charge for Jacksonville in the second half as the Golden Eagles found a way to shut down Munford quarterback Sylvester Smith. Smith had 92 yards rushing and two touchdowns in the first half as the Lions jumped out to a 13-0 lead, but he would only get 53 yards in the second half.

The game turned on a 77-yard kick off return by Kydric Fisher in the second quarter. Munford answered with a drive of its own, but a fumbled snap on a field goal attempt gave Jacksonville the ball back.

Freshman quarterback Will Phillips came in for one drive after quarterback Jim Ogle came out with an apparent left left injury with 2:30 left in the half. Phillips led the Golden Eagles to a 21-yard field goal by Mason Terrell as time expired in the half to chop the Munford lead to 13-10 at the break.

The initial word going into the break was that Ogle would be questionable the rest of the game, but the quarterback started the second half and helped complete the comeback.

Ogle gave the Golden Eagles the lead on a 17-yard touchdown pass to G Turner. He fired another scoring pass in the fourth quarter to Fisher and Turner scored on a touchdown run to pull away.

The Golden Eagles finally got the lead late in the third quarter on a 17 yard pass from Ogle to Xzavarious Turner.fired another scoring pass in the fourth quarter to Fisher and Turner scored on a touchdown run to pull away.

Turner ended up with 211 yards rushing. Ogle was 9-of-15 passing for 141 yards. Phillips was 2-of-4 for 12 yards. Smith had 145 yards rushing for Munford.

M — Sylvester Smith 5 run (kick failed), 5:22 1Q
M — Sylvester Smith 5 run (Dakota Frank kick), 9:32 2Q
J — Kydric Fisher 77 kickoff return (Mason Terrell kick), 9:19 2Q
J — Mason Terrell 21 FG, 0:00 2Q
J — G Turner 17 pass from Jim Ogle (Mason Terrell kick), 5:23 3Q
J — Kydric Fisher 63 pass from Jim Ogle (Mason Terrell kick), 9:16 4Q
J — G Turner 1 run (Mason Terrell kick), 6:14 4Q

Handley 48, Talladega 3

ROANOKE — The Tigers scored 28 points in the first quarter and spread the wealth around its running game to get back on the winning track.

Five Handley ballcarriers rushed for at least 55 yards and three of them scored touchdowns as the Tigers churned out 352 yards on the ground. Cardarious Lee was their leading rusher with 74 yards, while Elijah Goss and Jay Haynes had 66 and 61 yards, respectively, and Cannon Kyles and Jamarcus Daniel had 59 and 55.

The Tigers built a 41-0 lead before Talladega finally scored in the final two minutes on Jackson Burel’s 23-yard field goal. But Montrevious Black returned the ensuing kickoff 67 yards for Handley’s final score.

H — Jay Haynes 10 run (Landon Bozeman kick), 9:15 1Q
H — Cannon Kyles 59 run (Landon Bozeman kick), 5:40 1Q
H — Ayden Robertson 19 pass from Cannon Kyles (Landon Bozeman kick), 4:15 1Q
H — Koye White fumble recovery (Landon Bozeman kick), 2:35 1Q
H — Cordan Patterson 5 run (Landon Bozeman kick), 11:50 2Q
H — Cardarious Lee 2 run (kick failed), 4:10 3Q
T — Jackson Burrel 23 FG, 1:40 4Q
H — Montrevious Black 67 kickoff return (Landon Bozeman kick), 1:25 4Q