With the 45-8 defeat of Greensboro on Friday night, Alabama Christian clinched a playoff berth for the eighth consecutive year. Before this current streak of postseason appearances, the football program had qualified for the playoffs eleven times in forty-one seasons and never more than four years in a row. Coach Michael Summers and his staff should be recognized for keeping the streak alive this year considering they replaced roughly 80 percent of the starters from last year’s team including the entire offense. Despite the new starters, this year’s team has the same exact overall and region record through eight games as last year. A remarkable job by the coaches and the players who have stepped up and thrived this season. The ACA nation should celebrate and appreciate the fact we are in the midst of the most successful era in program history.
Every fan should travel with the team at least once when the Eagles play in a small, rural town. Most of the time the PA announcer is worth the price of admission and Greensboro’s voice in the sky did not disappoint. He was really more play by play man than PA announcer as he talked before, during, and after every play. At one point the officials had to send word upstairs for him not to point penalties that were happening during play, especially when no call was made. The game itself seemed to take forever as penalties and incomplete passes stopped the clock constantly. To stretch the time even further, there was no running clock in the fourth quarter despite the thirty plus point lead by ACA.
Now, on to the game. The Eagles received the opening kick and marched 54 yards in seven plays to take an early 7-0 lead. David Ortiz-Ramirez picked up where he left off last week with three runs for 22 yards down to the Raider 32-yard line. With the defense keying on Ortiz-Ramirez, Christian Snipes kept the ball on the read option on two consecutive plays to cover the final 32 yards of the drive, scoring on an eight yard run with 9:54 left in the period. Greensboro’s first play from scrimmage was a big gainer of 49 yards down to the ACA 31-yard line. For an instant, it looked like we might have a shootout on our hands, but a holding call on the next play halted the home team’s momentum and they eventually turned the ball over on downs four plays later. The offense mixed in the pass on the second drive as Snipes completed passes to Bryant Swindle and Ortiz-Ramirez on the first two plays of the possession. The offense drove to the Greensboro five-yard line, but were pushed back by a false start penalty and a negative rushing play. The drive ended with a missed field goal with 5:26 left in the first quarter.
The Raiders offense was forced to punt after three plays and a botched fake punt gave the ball back to the Eagles just five yards from the end zone. Broderick Williams who ran onto the field late just kept on going as he tackled the punter for the eleven yard loss. Christian Snipes scored on the next play and Alabama Christian led 14-0 with 4:12 still left in the first. The home team turned the ball over on downs after just four plays to give the ball back to ACA. Consecutive completions to Bryant Swindle and Mariner Smith moved the ball to the three-yard line. Coach Summers sent William Milner in with directions to get in the end zone after he had a touchdown called back last week. It took two tries, but the senior scored his first career touchdown to extend the lead to 21-0 with an amazing 1:21 still left on the first quarter clock.
The calendar flipped to the second quarter with the Greensboro offense once again on the Eagle’s side of the fifty. A long kick return set the Raider offense up with great field position. Greensboro was able to move to the seven-yard line before the defense stiffened. Jalen Flowers tackled the back for a two-yard loss on first down and William Milner, who was fired up from his earlier touchdown, pressured the QB into a third down incompletion and broke up a pass on fourth down to stop the drive. The offense produced its most impressive drive of the night with an 11-play, 91-yard march to stretch the lead to 28-0. David Ortiz-Ramirez and Christian Snipes handled the ball on the first ten plays of the drive to move the ball to the 15-yard line. Facing a 3rd and 7, Snipes found Broderick Williams in the right flat for the score with 6:02 left in the half. The Raiders again drove deep into enemy territory, but Darrius Gardner ended the threat with a spectacular interception at the three-yard line. Hoping to get one more score before the half, the Eagles were aggressive on offense and moved the ball out to the 33-yard line. On 3rd and 1, Snipes waited patiently for Ortiz-Ramirez to clear his defender and hit him in stride for an apparent score. However, a holding call on the perimeter negated the touchdown, but the first down was made. The most impressive part of the play was the thirty-yard flag toss from the back judge and his keen eyesight on the alleged infraction. The drive ended with a turnover on an old fan favorite, the hook and ladder. With just 16 seconds left in the half, Greensboro threw a long pass that was picked off by Gardner, his second of the half. The Eagles headed to the locker room with a four touchdown lead.
The Raiders opened the second half with another drive into ACA territory aided by a fairly obvious missed double pass by the officials. Despite the non-call, Broderick Williams and William Meeks ended the drive with a third down sack to force a punt. The Eagles first drive ended in a touchdown and was highlighted by a 26-yard run by David Ortiz-Ramirez. William Milner finished the drive two plays later with an eight-yard run for his second touchdown of the night. Down by thirty-five, a desperate Greensboro offense went for it on fourth down on their own 21-yard line on their next drive. The incomplete pass set up Alabama Christian deep on the Raider’s side of the field. At this point, the Eagles started to substitute freely to allow the backups some much needed varsity experience. Tyson Summers connected on a 33-yard field goal to extend the lead to 38-0 with 59.9 seconds left in the third.
A delay of game penalty coming out of the quarter break summed up the night for Greensboro. Lane Smith broke up a third down pass to force another punt. Freshman Noah Shack was featured in the next drive for Alabama Christian as he ran the ball four times in five plays and scored from four yards out for a 45-0 advantage with 8:40 left on the clock. The Raiders finally found the end zone with 6:19 remaining on a 25-yard pass play to cut the lead to 45-8. An Eagle turnover gave Greensboro another chance to score late, but Mekhi Gardner’s third down sack ended any serious threat. The Eagles got the ball back with 3:07 left and kept the ball the rest of the way. Kaiden Green’s 19-yard keeper to convert a third down put the game away for ACA.
Christian Snipes’ seventeen pass attempts in the first half was a season high for the Eagles. The sophomore finished 11 for 18 for 111 yards and a score and was the team’s leading rusher with 98 yards on 11 carries and two touchdowns. David Ortiz-Ramirez finished with 89 yards on 14 rushes while Noah Shack had 78 yards on 10 attempts and a touchdown. William Milner had two scores on just three carries for eleven yards. Bryant Swindle led the receiving corps with four catches for 44 yards while Ortiz-Ramirez added three catches for 25 yards. Mariner Smith, Broderick Williams, TJ Merritt, and Darrius Gardner each caught one pass. Three defenders, Milner, William Meeks, and Lane Smith, led the way with six tackles apiece. Jaylan McCovery added five tackles while Jalen Flowers and Marlon Matthews each had four. Meeks and Broderick Williams combined for a sack while Mekhi Gardenr had one on his own. Darrius Gardner had two picks on the night.
Alabama Christian hosts Southside Selma for Homecoming next week. The winner of the contest will have the number three seed in the Region heading into the playoffs.