ACA let a golden opportunity slip through their fingers as BTW upset the Eagles 42-37 on Homecoming Friday night. The Golden Eagles faced a fourth and goal from the 21 yard line, but managed to complete a pass and score the game winner with 5.8 seconds remaining on the clock for their first win of the season. Alabama Christian could have clinched a playoff berth with a win, but now will have to beat Ashford on the road next week to qualify.
Even though ACA’s passing game struggled, the ground attack more than made up for it. The Eagles rushed for over 400 yards including Jalen Clark’s school record 320 yards on 23 attempts and two touchdowns. Corey Landers also scored twice and rushed for 88 yards on 16 carries. Noah Silmon, who filled in for injured Demari Moore, added 31 yards on four carries and a touchdown.
The defense had difficulty matching up with the skill players for the Golden Eagles. BTW racked up more than 400 yards of offense and kept the Eagles off balance all night. The defense was led by Khalil Jackson with eight tackles and a sack and Preston Perry who ended with seven tackles and a sack. Jack Thomas added six tackles while Kyle Jackson and Jae Nelson both had sacks.
After Alabama Christian turned the ball over to open the game, the contest saw six touchdowns scored on the next seven possessions, with each team scoring three times. BTW scored on drives of 82, 38 and 59 yards for their three first half touchdowns and ACA responded each time with drives of 64, 67 and 57 to match the Golden Eagles touchdown for touchdown. The first half ended with ACA leading 23-22.
In the third quarter the pace of the game slowed a bit as each team handled the ball only twice and just one touchdown was scored by BTW. The score came after a fourth down stop that seemed to ignite the Golden Eagle team. ACA had driven the ball to BTW’s 10 yard line and decided to go for the touchdown instead of the field goal, but the Golden Eagles sniffed out the trick play and stopped the Eagles five yards short of the end zone. In response, BTW took the field and raced through the defense to go 95 yards in only four plays to retake the lead, 28-23.
The fourth quarter started with a great opportunity for BTW to score after their second interception of the night. However, on this occasion, the Alabama Christian defense stood tall and stopped the Golden Eagle effort inside the 10 yard line. ACA’s offense responded with a six play 94 yard march capped off with a Corey Landers 16 yard run to make the score 30-28 in favor of Alabama Christian. Jalen Clark set up the score with runs of 38, 12, 20 and seven yards before Landers punched it into the end zone. BTW answered back in just four plays to once again retake the lead, 36-30. The first play of the drive was the key play as BTW completed a 56 yard pass because the Golden Eagle receiver was able to get behind the defense.
With 5:44 remaining in the game, ACA took the field and Jalen Clark took over the offense. The drive lasted only two plays and 39 seconds as Clark opened up with a 41 yard run and then scored on a 23 yard play to give the Eagles their final lead of the game. Unfortunately, this left plenty of time for BTW to set up the game winning score. Several times during the final drive it looked as if the Eagles were going to stop the BTW drive, but the Golden Eagles made just enough plays to keep the drive going. The final play came on a fourth and goal and covered 21 yards to give BTW the victory.
Next week the Eagles (4-4) travel to Ashford in a key area match up to determine their playoff future.