Alabama Christian looked like a team hitting its stride last week against Bayside Academy and Friday night the Eagles continued to impress as the high-flying offense overwhelmed Randolph County in a 63-30 shellacking. The unit amassed 534 yards of offense while the point total was the second most in program history and set a new mark for most points in a postseason game.
The Eagles produced over 500 yards of offense on the night.
Randolph County received the opening kickoff and gave the impression they did not want the Eagle offense on the field. The Tigers held the ball for over seven minutes as they marched 55 yards in 13 plays for the game’s first points. After having a flag thrown against them on a 4th and goal from the six yard-line, which negated a touchdown, the home team scored on the next play from the 11 yard-line for the 6-0 lead. ACA’s offense responded quickly with a three-play 62-yard lightning strike of a drive to take the lead for good, 7-6. After having a big gain called back from a holding call, Hayes Hunt connected with Preston Hicks two plays later on a 59-yard bomb for the team’s first touchdown. The long pass play pushed Hicks to the top of the list in career receiving yards in school history. The defense rose up and forced a Randolph County punt with the help of back-to-back sacks by Otasowie Dion and Hicks. The first period ended with ACA leading by one point over the Tigers.
Otasowie Dion sacks the Tiger quarterback.
The second quarter began with another quick ACA touchdown. Corey Landers raced to the end zone on a 39-yard score to extend the lead to 14-6. The run capped a four-play fifty-yard drive. The defense forced a second straight three and out to give the ball back to the offense. The possession started deep in Eagle territory on their own six-yard line. The unit covered 82 yards in five plays, highlighted by a 47-yard pass to Avery Stuart, and looked poised to score again. However, three incompletions in a row forced a field goal attempt, which was no good. It would be the only drive of the night that did not produce points for the Eagles, except for the victory formation to end the game. Randolph County responded to the missed opportunity and narrowed the lead to 14-12 with another extended drive. The Tigers marched 80 yards in 11 plays but failed on the two-point conversion to preserve the lead for ACA with 2:40 left in the half.
Hayes Hunt readies for the snap.
The home team must have been feeling good about their chances as halftime loomed, but little did they know ACA was on the verge of delivering the knockout punch before the half. After the kickoff, the Eagles started on the 50-yard line and completed three passes to Avery Stuart to move the ball to the Tiger 12-yard line. The Randolph County strategy of playing way off on Stuart left him open all night in the short-pass game. On 2nd and 10 from the twelve, Hayes Hunt found Preston Hicks for a touchdown with 1:17 left in the half for a 21-12 lead. It looked as if the home team was going to let the clock run out and head to the locker room down by nine points, but after picking up a first down, the Tigers dropped back to pass again and fumbled as the quarterback tried to avoid the rush. Hicks came up with the loose ball for the Eagles with just 5.3 seconds left on the Tiger 23-yard line. As Alabama Christian prepared for one shot at the end zone they were assessed a delay of game penalty which moved them back to the 28-yard line. Apparently, the extra five yards of real estate was just what the Hunt to Hicks combination needed as the two connected with no time on the clock for a 28-12 halftime lead.
Preston Hicks and company go for the fumbled ball late in the first half.
ACA knew they could put the game away with a touchdown to start the second half and that is exactly what the offense did. They did it the hard way as the drive started on their own three-yard line. Two direct snap runs by Otasowie Dion moved the ball out to the 28-yard line. From there, Hayes Hunt and Avery Stuart connected on three pass plays that covered 62 yards. The last catch was a 25-yard touchdown toss to extend the lead to 35-12. In just five minutes and nineteen seconds of game time, Alabama Christian stretched the lead from 14-12 to 35-12 to take full control of the contest. Dion starred on defense on the first possession of the half for Randolph County as he batted down a pass and later dropped the Tigers back for a three-yard loss on a 3rd and 1 attempt. On fourth down, Josh Kreitz tackled the receiver just short of the first down to give ACA the ball on their own 35-yard line. Stuart caught three more balls on the next drive including a seven-yarder for a 42-12 advantage with 2:10 left in the third period. The touchdown catch was Stuart’s tenth reception of the night which tied the single-game record. The quarter ended with Randolph County driving and Alabama Christian working younger players into the game to gain playoff experience.
Avery Stuart on the move after one of his ten catches.
The home team finished the drive with a score, but once again failed on the two-point conversion. Corey Landers helped the offense respond with consecutive carries on a two-play 55-yard drive to run the score to 49-18. The scoring rush was 48 yards long for Landers. On the ensuing kickoff, the special teams forced a fumble that was scooped up by AC Walters and returned 28 yards for a score, and just like that, the score was 56-18. The Tigers scored on a long pass play to cut the lead to 56-24 with 9:22 left in the game. For the first time all night, ACA took the offense down a gear and worked the clock as they featured backup Jordan Frazier. Frazier carried the ball six times on a seven-play drive and gained 59 yards including a 13-yard touchdown with 5:15 left in the game for a 63-24 lead. Tyson Summers’ ninth PAT of the night was a new record for most extra points in a game. The last score of the night came with 1:45 remaining as Randolph County cut the margin to 63-30. The Eagles ran out the clock in every head coach’s favorite way, the victory formation to extend their season for at least one more week.
Jordan Frazier alludes the Randolph County defender.
The offense leaned more heavily on the passing game Friday night and senior quarterback Hayes Hunt delivered with a career-high 312 yards passing while completing 16 of 21 passes and five touchdowns. Hunt also added 20 yards on the ground on six attempts. Avery Stuart’s ten catches for 188 yards and two touchdowns led the receiving corps. The 188 receiving yards are the second most in a game in school history. Preston Hicks tied his own school record with three touchdown receptions and finished the night with five catches for 125 yards. Corey Landers led the backs with six carries for 98 yards and two scores while Jordan Frazier had six attempts for 59 yards and a touchdown followed by Otasowie Dion with seven rushes for 48 yards.
Josh Kreitz tackles the Tiger receiver for a fourth down stop.
Defensively, Taylor Thompson and Corey Landers led the unit with seven tackles each. William Milner added six tackles while Avery Stuart finished with five tackles. Otasowie Dion had five tackles, two pass deflections and a sack on the night. Five Eagles, Blake Shaw, Preston Hicks, Josh Kreitz, Brady Smith and AC Walters, all had four tackles. Hicks added a sack and the momentum-changing fumble recovery at the end of the first half.
Next week, Alabama Christian will host Pike County in the second round of the playoffs.