Columbus area high school football roundup: Central bashes Smiths in Backyard Brawl

Although the annual Backyard Brawl had both teams coming in undefeated for the first time in 13 years, the Central Red Devils still dominated the rival Smiths Station Panthers on Friday night.

Junior quarterback Tucker Melton’s 90-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Peter Jakes started Central’s scoring in the first quarter, and the Red Devils commanded the entire game on T.C. Britton Field at Panther Stadium.

Central bested Smiths with a 49-0 victory.

Central (3-0 overall, 1-0 in Region 2-7A), ranked No. 3 in AHSAA Class 7A, started its season by romping over two out-of-state powers: 42-18 against Mays on Aug. 25 at the Cam Newton Classic in Atlanta, then 49-10 against Meridian, Miss., at home Aug. 31.

Smiths (2-1 and 0-1) snapped an 18-game losing streak by opening the season Aug. 24 with a 28-9 home win against Russell County, then shut out Valley 27-0 on the road Aug. 31.

Two quarterbacks shared the driver’s seat for Central’s offense against Smiths: senior Peter Parrish completed 10 of 15 passes for 115 yards and one touchdown, and Melton finished four of seven for 111 yards and the TD to Jakes.

Senior running back A’montae Spivey had 11 carries for 90 yards and three touchdowns. Jakes turned his three catches into 105 yards and the touchdown from Melton, while Eddie Williams added five catches for 39 yards and one touchdown.

The Red Devils greatly outperformed the Panthers in first downs (18-6) and total yards (437-105).

The individual highlight for Smiths was L.C. Harris gaining 67 yards on 21 carries.

Earlier this week, Smiths head coach Mike Glisson told the Ledger-Enquirer that, based on his video analysis, Central looked like the best team in Alabama, regardless of classification. Now, after seeing the Red Devils in person, Glisson gushed, “They’re better than I thought they were. Central has more weapons. They’re just huge on the O-line. They are the real deal. They are well coached. My hat’s off to them.”

Glisson also praised his Panthers.

“We couldn’t have played any harder — no way,” he said. “They played their guts out. … We’re getting better every day, so we’ll bounce back.”

Jordan 22, Kendrick 8

The Jordan Red Jackets (1-2) notched their first victory of the season as the Kendrick Cherokees remained winless (0-4) Friday night at A.J. McClung Memorial Stadium.

Junior running back Jaylon Wyatt broke an 8-8 tie with a 22-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter to put Jordan ahead for good. After the Red Jackets stopped the Cherokees on the ensuing drive, senior quarterback Emmanuel Mann sealed the win with a 9-yard touchdown run.

“The kids believed,” Jordan head coach Joe Kegler said. “They never stopped believing all week. They didn’t’ stop playing, all four quarters.”

Senior wide receiver Cam Greene had nine catches for 148 yards and scored Jordan’s other touchdown.

Leading the Red Jackets on defense, Kegler said, were senior linebacker D’Quandre Sullivan and senior defensive lineman Demeris Riggins.

Kendrick head coach Andre Slappey said the Cherokees “ran out of gas and couldn’t finish it. . . . We didn’t turn the ball over, but every time we got something going, we had a holding penalty or something like that at a critical moment.”

Kegler noted, “Kendrick played hard. We knew they would. Coach Slappey is doing a good job building their program up. We’re just fortunate to come out with the win. . . . We’re excited to turn this into momentum and to get better each week.”

Columbus 46, Westover 26

Westover got on the scoreboard first with a field goal, but Columbus senior Ian Rome ensured that lead was short-lived.

Rome returned the ensuing kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown, sparking the Blue Devils over the Patriots on Thursday night at A.J. McClung Memorial Stadium.

“He jump-started us,” said Columbus head coach Phil Marino.

Columbus never trailed again and led 39-6 at halftime.

The Blue Devils improved to 2-1 overall and 1-0 in Region 1-AAAA. The Patriots fell to 1-2 and 0-1.

“We just played lights-out in the first half,” Marino said. “We turned a couple of turnovers into points, and our defense was outstanding. We just were able to keep them down.”

Columbus senior quarterback Donovan Carter completed 18 of 22 passes for 189 yards, four touchdown and no interceptions. His most productive target was senior wide receiver Caleb Bailey, whose eight receptions totaled 72 yards and three touchdowns. Junior running back Tre Peterson was the standout on the ground with 17 carries for 143 yards and one touchdown.

Senior linebacker Bryce Owens led the Blue Devils on defense with five total tackles, including two sacks.

Shaw 32, Dougherty 12

Benefitting from an early bye week in the late summer heat, the Shaw Raiders showed the stamina to turn a doubtful game into a solid victory Thursday night against the Dougherty Trojans at Kinnett Stadium.

The Raiders held a 12-6 edge after three quarters, but they used a 20-point fourth quarter to pull away from the Trojans.

Shaw improved to 2-1 overall and 1-1 in Region 1-AAAA. Dougherty fell to 0-3 overall and 0-2 in the region.

“Fatigue is a factor this time of year, but nobody got tired,” Shaw head coach Al Pellegrino said. “Everyone contributed. The offensive line was creating huge holes.”

The Raiders opened the season with a 48-0 rout of Kendrick, then were dominated by Northside 48-15, so they used the bye week to change their blocking schemes, Pellegrino said.

“Our running game started to click,” he said. “We had four or five guys that rushed for 70 yards or more. … Our offensive line doesn’t get much limelight, but they did a great job.”

Pellegrino also praised sophomore quarterback Wason Davis for “not making sophomore mistakes and managing the game pretty well.”

Shaw’s defense, Pellegrino said, gave the offense “great field position” and “swarmed to the football. A lot of guys were flying around and creating turnovers.”

Most emphatically was the fumble junior defensive end Michael Jones caused, setting up junior outside linebacker Moussa Nabe’s 26-yard scoop-and-score to seal the win.

Marion County 41, Pacelli 12

In this Region 4-A game Friday night at Pacelli, the Eagles did all their scoring in the first half, and it was plenty.

Marion County (3-0 overall, 1-0 in the region) led 41-0 at halftime and cruised the rest of the way. The Vikings dropped to 1-2 overall and 0-1 in the region.

Travon Mathews and Akeem Slaughter led the Eagles with 148 yards each. Mathews gained his with seven carries, and Slaughter gained his with three catches. Trice McCannon completed five of six passes for 153 yards andthree carries for 57 yards.

Marion County’s leading tackler was Kendrick Hawkins with 10 total.

Northeast-Macon 19, Manchester 6

The teams came in with opposite records — the Manchester Blue Devils had won their first two games of the season, and Northeast-Macon Raiders had lost their first two — but those trends turned around Friday night.

The Blue Devils (2-1) fell at home as they didn’t score until the third quarter and failed to overcome the 12-0 halftime deficit. The Raiders (1-2) scored in every quarter except the third.

Mark Rice, 706-576-6272, @MarkRiceLE.

This story was originally published September 7, 2018 at 10:20 PM.