Beauregard falls in first round
BY DAVID YOHN | FOR THE OBSERVER
BEAUREGARD — Beauregard knew coming into their first round matchup with Eufaula that stopping their running attack would be one of the keys to winning the game. However, the visiting Tigers found success on the ground all night and very rarely even attempted to throw the ball en route to a 30-20 victory that propels them into the second round of the AHSAA playoffs while ending Beauregard’s season.
Prior to the game, Beauregard Head Coach Justin Jones noted that “Coach Jernigan and his staff (at Eufaula) have done a terrific job. They start nine seniors on defense. They’ve got a lot of kids that have played under Friday night lights. When we’ve been successful is when we’ve been able to pass on first down. And then when we’ve played really good on first down and been able to be stingy against the run.”
After having to quickly punt on their initial possession, the home-standing Hornets held the Tigers to just three plays, forcing a fumble as the Eufaula receiver struggled to pick up more yardage after the catch. With 8:31 remaining in the first quarter, Beauregard was set up deep in Eufaula territory following the turnover and quickly capitalized. Quarterback Cub Jones scrambled for eight yards and then found Jermyan Fitch on second down for a 19-yard touchdown strike. Beauregard jumped out to a 7-0 lead, but the Eufaula offense wasted no time evening the game at 7-7 with a sustained drive that covered 73 yards in nine plays. The bad news for the Beauregard defense was that Eufaula ran the ball on every play with the biggest damage coming on a 43-yard reverse on third down.
The Hornets got a big kick-off return from Ka’jaden Holloway but were flagged for holding. Starting at their own 15-yard line, Beauregard held the ball for 13 plays and nearly six and a half minutes before turning the ball over on downs.
Eufaula again found success running the ball, going 63 yards in eight plays. Only once did the Tigers put the ball in the air. With 4:17 remaining until halftime, it seemed that Eufaula would enjoy a 14-7 lead. The Hornets fought back, however, and tied the game up with just 1:04 on the clock. Jones connected with Fitch twice on the drive for gains of six and 12 yards, and later found Aundray Vann from 13 yards out for the touchdown toss. Holloway was instrumental as well, gaining 31 yards on three carries.
The Tigers did show that they could effectively throw the ball, quickly moving from their on 30-yard line to the Hornets’ 29-yard line on three completions and a short quarterback keeper. With just :19 remaining, Beauregard linebacker Calib Piner came up with a big sack that prevented Eufaula from attempting a last second field goal.
The third quarter started out inauspiciously for Beauregard as they could not stop the Tigers’ ground game. Eufaula marched 66 yards on 13 rushing plays, converting a third down and a fourth down play to boot. In addition, the Hornets defense was guilty of two major penalties which allowed the Tigers to take a 20-14 lead after their drive that consumed seven minutes.
Beauregard was again forced to start deep in their own territory following a block in the back call on the kickoff return. Jones had three completions on the ensuing drive, with the biggest gainer being a 22-yard strike to Jeffery Holloway. But the Hornets would face fourth down at the Tigers’ 42-yard line and ended up turning the ball over on downs following a sack.
Starting near midfield, Eufaula picked up a quick 24 yards on a reverse and benefitted from another major penalty against Beauregard. The Tigers could not find the end zone and had to settle for a 26-yard field goal. With 10:31 remaining in the game, the Hornets found themselves down 23-14 and needing something big to happen quickly.
The experienced Eufaula defense would not allow Beauregard to get anything going, and the Hornets were forced to punt the ball back to the Tigers. Eufaula had a long quarterback scramble that resulted in a touchdown called back for a personal foul penalty, and Beauregard forced the Tigers to punt.
With 6:28 remaining, Beauregard was fast approaching desperation time. The Hornets did move the ball from their own 44-yard line to the Eufaula 30-yard line before coughing the ball up as Jones was heavily pressured on a pass attempt.
Eufaula then took a commanding 30-14 lead, going 52 yards in just three plays. The quarterback keeper from 37 yards out was the crushing blow for the Hornets.
Beauregard seemed to have no chance to score again when their kickoff returner slipped down at his own four-yard line. Jones refused to go down without a fight, completing seven passes on the 96-yard drive that trimmed the deficit to 30-20 with under a minute to play.
“We played hard,” said a disappointed Coach Jones. At some point we just have to take the next step from playing hard to playing hard and executing at a really high level. That’s things that we have to grow and learn from as we approach next year. I’m proud of the group of kids that we’ve got.”
Beauregard finishes the season at 5-6, while Eufaula advances to the second round of the AHSAA playoffs to face a very strong Vigor squad.
Auburn begins post-season play with domination of Bob Jones
BY DANIEL SCHMIDT FOR THE OBSERVER
AUBURN — Entering the first round of the playoffs on Friday night, Auburn had overwhelmingly mauled its way through the regular season competition en route to a 9-0 regular season record.
That trend emphatically continued as the Tigers (10-0) sent Bob Jones (6-5) on a lonely three-and-a-half hour bus ride back to Madison after securing a 63-27 victory at Duck Samford Stadium.
Big nights from Jackson Kilgore, who finished the game 13-for-13 passing for 320 yards and three touchdowns, and Omar Mabson, who recorded 179 rushing yards and five TDs on 11 carries, again propelled Auburn. After the game, Auburn head coach Keith Etheredge attributed his team’s victory to continued consistency and efficiency, particularly on the offensive side of the ball.
“I think our guys just get it, and our leaders get it. They want to win,” Etheredge said. “Efficiency is the name of the game. We don’t have many negative plays, and the big thing is that we’ve played 10 ball games, and we’ve turned the ball over twice.”
He then previewed a rematch of the 2022 state championship game with the Thompson Warriors at home next week.
“We’re in a one game season. You have to take them one at a time. Thompson’s got a great football team,” Etheredge said. “Mark [Freeman] has got a ring for probably every finger on his hand, he’s the ring king. We’re going to have to come in there with guns blazing.”
Kilgore said film study in the leadup to the game revealed the Patriots played mostly man coverage, and added players like Peyton Plott, Joshua Askew and Charlie Ward are mismatches in such situations. Yet superstition jokingly played a role in perhaps the best game of his career thus far.
“I told my buddy Ryan that it was the arm sleeve, it was my first time wearing an arm sleeve,” Kilgore said while laughing. “All jokes aside, I owe it all to my guys. They’re making plays. I make a short throw [and] make it catchable, and they’re going to take it, juke five guys and score.”
Bob Jones tested the Tigers’ defensive resolve early, overcoming several penalties to start its first drive and moving the ball 34 yards on mostly runs. Yet the Patriots could not convert on third-and-one after Caleb Sanders lost a yard, forcing the punt.
It only took Auburn three plays to open the scoring, driving 75 yards down the field in 50 seconds courtesy of a 10-yard Mabson run, 24-yard Plott reception and a 41-yard Mabson TD run.
A glimmer of hope shone through on Bob Jones’ next possession as Malachi Foster’s 37-yard reception jumpstarted the drive, but several incomplete passes from Johnny Jackson stalled the drive at the Tigers’ 33-yard line.
Although a holding penalty on Auburn negated a 66-yard TD reception from Plott, a 41-yard reception from Ward set up a two-yard TD run from Mabson to put the Tigers up 14-0 with 3:27 left in the first quarter.
After a second consecutive Patriots drive ended with a turnover on downs due to incomplete passes, it took just one play for Auburn to extend its lead after Mabson scored his third rushing TD with a 67-yard run.
From there, a quick three-and-out from Bob Jones set the Tigers up at their own 49 yard line. In what has been a recurring theme all year, Auburn scored in three plays, highlighted by Askew’s 31-yard TD reception.
Askew, who finished the game with four receptions for 102 yards and that TD, said the wide receiver position room’s versatility and commitment to practicing the right way make the unit tough to stop.
“Our receiving corps is very dangerous, very lethal. We can do everything: jump, block, catch run,” he said. “We just practice like we play the game every day. We work hard in practice, try hard, block, catch everything that comes our way, stuff like that.”
Despite going down 28-0, Rhys Dorsey provided the Bob Jones sideline with some life after taking the ensuing kickoff roughly 90 yards for an electric kickoff return touchdown.
That momentum was short lived, however, as the Tigers marched 80 yards down the field, highlight-ed by a 53-yard reception from Askew, to go up 35-7 courtesy of a one-yard Mabson TD run with 10:10 left in the second quarter.
Following yet another Bob Jones three-and-out and a 66-yard Plott punt return TD wiped out by a block in the back penalty, Auburn continued its quick strike scoring routine. It took the Tigers just one play to extend the lead to 42-7 after Antonio Welch snagged a perfectly placed 51-yard TD reception from Kilgore.
After penalties and a fumble forced a punt and derailed a promising Bob Jones drive deep into Auburn territory, the Tigers ended the first half scoring with a four-play, 76-yard drive highlighted by a 40-yard Plott reception, 25-yard Cash Reif reception and 19-yard TD reception by Ward.
A furious attempt from the Patriots to put additional points on the board before halftime fell short, and both teams entered the locker room with Auburn up 49-7.
To start the second half, a long Plott kickoff return set the Tigers up with premium field position at the Bob Jones 35-yard line. From there, it would take Mabson only two carries to reach the endzone, putting Auburn up 56-7 after rumbling for a 34-yard TD.
Following another Patriots three-and-out and an Auburn fumble at its own 44 yard line, Bob Jones cut into the deficit with a six-play, 41-yard drive that ended with a 20-yard TD reception by Christopher Caterina.
An Auburn three-and-out on its next possession again gave the Patriots premium field position at its own 46-yard line with 9:50 left to play in the fourth quarter. A quick drive, powered by Malachi Foster’s 29-yard reception on the first play, ended with a one-yard TD plunge by Samuel Monroe to make it 56-20 after the extra point attempt failed.
Auburn then scored on one play the very next drive with an improbable, tackle-breaking 62-yard Anderson Waddell TD reception from Crawford Loughridge. The scoring concluded after Caleb Sanders scored a long kickoff return TD to make it 63-27.
The Tigers finished the game with 414 passing yards and 207 rushing yards on 27 total plays, averaging 23 yards per play. Bob Jones finished with 321 yards passing and 84 yards rushing on 59 total plays, averaging 6.7 yards per play.
What’s next
Auburn will remain at home this week as they take on Thompson (8-3), which is coming off a 50-0 victory over the Daphne Trojans and has won four of the last five AHSAA 7A state championships. That includes the Warriors’ 49-24 victory over the Tigers in the 2022 7A state championship game at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Thompson scores an average of 32.6 points per game while allowing an average of 13.2 points per game. According to On3.com, at least nine Thompson players currently hold Division-I scholarship offers.
According to MaxPreps, Thompson is led on offense by sophomore sensation quarterback Trent Seaborn, who has completed 167-of-266 passes for 2,194 yards, 20 TDs and six interceptions; senior running back Michael Dujon, who has 100 carries for 847 yards and 13 TDs; and sophomore receiver Darion Moseley, who has 34 receptions for 549 yards and eight TDs. On defense, senior line-backer Vini Pires leads the charge with 84 total tackles, while senior defensive end Jared Smith and senior safety Anquon Fegans have recorded seven and one-half sacks and four interceptions, respectively.
The undefeated Tigers are in for a dog fight, as each of Thompson’s three defeats this season were decided by a single point in overtime.
