They Believed

October 23, 2021  
By Al Muskewitz  
East Alabama Sports Today  

Alexandria rises to occasion, sets tone early, wins region title in battle of unbeatens with Leeds

There weren’t many people at the beginning of the season who thought the Alexandria football team could win a region championship.

About the only people who did were the players on the team.

But the Valley Cubs made believers out of a lot of people Friday night when they totally dismantled third-ranked Leeds 43-7 in front of the largest crowd of the year in Lou Scales Stadium to clinch the Class 5A Region 6 title.

“I don’t think when we were sitting in Media Day many people gave us this chance at all,” Cubs coach Todd Ginn said. “I’m really happy for our players because when you work as hard as we do it’s good to be successful.”

The fourth-ranked Valley Cubs (9-0, 7-0) set the tone with four early takeaways that led to a 29-0 halftime lead. Sophomore defensive end Da’markus Williams forced a fumble and an interception on Leeds’ first two possessions and sophomore linebacker Ty Brown had two picks in the Green Wave’s first four possessions.

Antonio Ross scored all three of his touchdowns in the first half, Javais McGhee threw the first of his two touchdown passes and Cleat Forrest kicked a 46-yard field goal. 

“You don’t want to celebrate first halves, but, man, that was a good one,” Ginn said. 

About the only hiccup they had in the half was a fumble in the red zone after a long gain by McGhee and there was some question about that.

“The first half was awesome,” Ross said. “We worked hard all week, put all the foolishness off and came out here and played hard.”

“Our coaches prepared us very well,” Brown said. “They’ve been preaching all week if we just do our job and play our game they were not going to beat us. Not in our house.”

Ross finished the game with 193 yards rushing and the versatile McGhee had 72 yards rushing, 53 yards passing, 43 yards receiving and accounted for three touchdowns.

In addition to his two picks, Brown also had six tackles and a sack in the fourth quarter that killed the Green Wave’s final possession. Williams had a team high eight tackles, including one for loss and a sack.

“We had pressure on us all week; we knew it was going to be a big game,” Ginn said. “It wasn’t a game you could say we’re going to beat these guys if we play mediocre. We knew we had to play well.

“I challenged them before the game. I said don’t let the moment be too big for you and don’t let it pass you by. There are 52 teams that have a chance (to win region titles). We’ve got the chance tonight and let’s go show that we’re ready for it, and they played really well.”

Alexandria 43, Leeds 7

A – Antonio Ross 54 run (kick failed), 8:03 1Q
A – Antonio Ross 10 run (Cleat Forrest kick), 6:28 1Q
A – Connor Hall 5 pass from Javais McGhee (run failed), 0:50 1Q
A – Antonio Ross 5 run (Cleat Forrest kick), 5:59 2Q
A – Cleat Forrest 46 FG, 0:52 2Q
L – Rametrius Yelverton 2 run (Daniel Hood kick), 3:17 3Q
A – Javais McGhee 6 run (Cleat Forrest kick), 11:18 4Q
A – Austin Jeffers 22 pass from Javais McGhee (Cleat Forrest kick), 7:59 4Q