BY DANIEL SCHMIDT
FOR THE OBSERVER
OPELIKA — It was a nearly perfect setting for the 100th football game between Auburn High School (2-1, 1-0) and Opelika High School (2-1, 0-1) on Thursday evening.
An electric Bulldog Stadium was packed until there was standing room only. Cheers and boos filled the stagnant, humid air as the teams exited their locker rooms before the game even began.
In one grandstand sat a sea of red and black, the other blue and white, separated only by the field on which their teams did battle. It was a jarring juxtaposition of sister cities completely different in nearly every way except for their shared passion for celebrating a historic evening.
By the time the final whistle sounded, it was the Tigers who escaped back to Auburn with a gritty 17-10 victory that was reminiscent more of the series’ earliest games at times than one played in the 21st century.
After the game, AHS head coach Keith Etheredge praised his team for its mental toughness and resolve after their lead evaporated early in the fourth quarter amidst big second-half momentum swings.
“To get out of here with this win against a great football team, to get that first region win and to win the Opelika-Auburn game, we’ll take it,” Etheredge said. “I’m super proud of these guys. They work their butts off during the summer and the spring, and it’s for moments like this, to get a win like this. It’s big for us. We’ve still got a long way to go though.”
For do-all junior quarterback Cason Myers – who completed 21 of 34 passes for 262 yards, a touchdown and an interception, ran 10 times for 48 yards and caught a 12-yard TD pass – his first taste of the rivalry was nothing short of spectacular.
“This was crazy,” Myers said. Everybody hyped it up, and I think it lived up to the hype. Right down the road, 15 minutes away, there’s a lot of hate between these two schools. And it’s a historic rivalry. One hundred games, that’s crazy in high school, you don’t see that often. So coming out here and being in this environment, big win, sold out, it’s great for the team.”
On the Bulldogs’ side of the field, the mood was much less jubilant. After letting the last-second defeat sink in, OHS head coach Bryan Moore lamented several self-inflicted mistakes.
He also refused to use starting QB Colby Key’s absence as an excuse after backup QB Fuller Young completed 10 of 19 passes for 55 yards and two interceptions in an admirable relief effort.
“It’s a hard pill to swallow,” Moore said. “Back-to-back years, you’re driving with the ball and probably going to go for two because we didn’t have a lot of firepower left and needed to win it in regulation. Again, it was self-inflicted. Last year it was a batted ball, this year it was a snap. We’ve got a tough group, a resilient group, same as in the first two games. But at some point, we have to play well. The competition continues to get better.”
After AHS won the coin toss and deferred to receive the ball until the second half, the OHS offense faced down a Tigers defense that bared its fangs early and went three-and-out to start the game.
That gave AHS excellent field position at its own 41 yard line less than two minutes into the game, and the Tigers’ strategy was readily apparent: throw the ball around to soften up the Bulldogs’ stingy defense.
The 11-play, 59-yard drive consumed nearly five minutes of game clock and culminated with a well-timed gamble from the AHS coaching staff, which called a reverse pass from Joshua Askew to Myers on third-and-goal from the OHS 12 yard line.
On the very next drive, it initially appeared things went from bad to worse for the Bulldogs after AHS linebacker Greg Williams stepped in front of a Young pass intended for Dre Vann and raced 31 yards across the field for a pick-six.
However, a block in the back penalty during the return and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty during the celebration drove the Tigers back to the OHS 44 yard line. Those penalties, a holding penalty on the drive’s second play and two incomplete passes ultimately caused AHS to walk away empty-handed with 3:10 left in the first quarter.
The Tigers were again gifted amazing field position minutes later after AHS cornerback Cortez Cooks sacked Young for an eight-yard loss to the OHS 2 yard line and Askew returned the ensuing punt to the OHS 31.
In the end, the Tigers again walked away empty-handed after the Bulldogs’ defense stood strong deep in their own territory — a common theme throughout the night — and Joseph Daniel’s 43-yard field goal attempt sailed left of the upright.
That inability to convert sustained drives into points also became a common theme throughout the night for AHS from that point forward.
Following another OHS three-and-out, the Tigers’ offense went back to work with 10:49 left in the second quarter from their own 30 yard line after the punt was muffed and almost recovered by the Bulldogs.
After receiving the ball, AHS put together a quality drive that was highlighted by a pair of 10-yard catches from Antonio Welch and a speed option keep from Myers that resulted in a 12-yard gain.
Nevertheless, the same plus-territory demons that foiled the Tigers earlier in the game haunted them again after a false start on fourth and two from the OHS 21 yard line forced AHS to attempt a 44-yard FG.
That was until Bulldogs’ defensive back Xavier Thomas came flying off the edge and blocked Daniel’s kick — his first of two on the evening — which prompted a massive roar from every OHS fan in attendance with 7:33 left in the second quarter.
Despite the big play, there was little the Bulldogs’ defense or special teams could do to spark their offensive counterparts to life after an initially promising drive ended in disaster.
That came after AHS cornerback B.J. McGhee intercepted Young’s pass at the OHS 29 yard line four plays into the possession. Again, the Bulldogs’ defense was pressed into service deep in their own territory.
Ultimately, OHS only gave up one yard, again forcing the Tigers into a three-and-out and a 45-yard FG attempt. Those watching live must have felt a strange sense of déjà vu after Thomas again blocked Daniel’s attempt in a nearly identical fashion and from a nearly identical distance.
Those kicking woes would be slightly overcome after a five-play, 15-yard Bulldogs drive quickly petered out, and big plays during AHS’ next driving, including a 17-yard catch by Jaeden King and a 41-yard catch from Askew, resulted in a 23-yard Daniel FG seconds before halftime.
That put the Tigers up 10-0 going into the break.
As the third quarter began and AHS was set to receive the ball, the Bulldogs needed to respond quickly to keep the margin manageable for a sputtering offense. And respond quickly they did.
That response came in the form of a fumble on the kickoff after Jalen Nelson barely managed to swipe at the ball and Thomas, who blocked two FGs in the first half, dove onto the loose pigskin.
With the ball at the AHS 24 yard line, OHS looked to finally get on the board with just seven seconds gone by in the third quarter. While the Bulldogs went three-and-out, Reese Beasley managed to capitalize on the excellent field position with a 30-yard FG.
Now down 10-3 with 10:21 left in the third quarter, OHS’ good fortunes quickly became even better after Myers threw into triple coverage on the first play of AHS’ next drive. That resulted in an easy interception for Bulldogs defensive back Braiden Howard, who returned the ball down to the AHS 22 yard line.
Facing an incredibly difficult situation themselves, it was the Tigers’ defense’s turn to bow their backs near their red zone, just as the OHS defense had done for most of the night.
Despite being flagged for pass interference on third and 11, AHS stood firm and forced the Bulldogs into a 30-yard FG attempt, which was no good after the ball bounced off the left upright.
After the Tigers’ next drive ended with a sack by OHS’ Tremaine Thomas, the Bulldogs found themselves with all of the momentum and down by a single possession with 6:58 left in the third quarter.
From that point forward, OHS’ adjustments were simple: run directly at a tiring AHS defense with tempo to wear them out down the stretch. For a time, that strategy worked as the Bulldogs went on a grinding 10-play, 44-yard drive that included a fourth-and-five conversion by Jalynn Washington.
However, that effort was squandered after a snap bounced off Young’s knee and bounced just past the line of scrimmage and directly into Williams’ waiting hands at the AHS 17 yard line with 3:52 left in the third quarter.
Clinging to a slim lead, it looked as though the Tigers would take advantage of their resurgent momentum after they marched down the field with a nine-play, 44-yard drive that got the ball all the way down to the OHS 39 yard line.
Facing a fourth-and-1, the AHS offense then committed its sixth false start of the night to that point, and the drive ended in a punt down to the OHS 14 yard line that was fumbled and nearly recovered by the Tigers.
That was where C.J. Johnson would quickly turn the game on its head for the Bulldogs.
Still down by seven points with 11:41 left in regulation, OHS needed to either go on its longest drive of the night or strike quickly. It was the latter, with Johnson cutting through the heart of the AHS defense on the drive’s fifth play with a slashing 63-yard run that saw him break six tackles, including one at the AHS 10 yard line.
It was the kind of game-altering play the Bulldogs had desperately needed, and it sent those clad in red and black into a delirious rapture. The game was now tied 10-10 with 10:11 left in regulation.
That tie only lasted for four minutes and 54 seconds.
With the pressure now squarely on their shoulders, the Tigers’ offense took the field at their own 20 yard line. By the time they found paydirt, it had become a drive befitting the fourth quarter of the 100th game in series history.
After beginning with a bang with a 15-yard catch from Askew, things began to stall as the OHS defensive backfield shut down the AHS passing game.
Facing fourth-and-4, the Tigers appeared to decide to punt the ball and trust their defense. It was a fake, and a pass interference call on the attempted pass breathed new life into an ailing AHS offense.
Following the conversion, 11 and 10-yard catches from Welch and Cash Reif, respectively, helped overcome second-and-23 and set up fourth-and-1 from the OHS 26. A two-yard Myers run then gave the Tigers what they needed to move the chains, and a 17-yard TD pass to Reif two plays later following a Myers scramble restored AHS’ lead with 5:17 left to play.
Now down 17-10 with time quickly dwindling, the Bulldogs needed to recapture their previous drive’s magic.
For a brief moment, it appeared they had after the three-headed monster of Johnson, Nelson and Jordan Waits powered OHS down to the AHS 8 yard line with nine combined carries for 60 yards.
In the end, the collective effort by the Bulldogs’ running game was all for naught after a bad snap was bobbled around and eventually recovered by who appeared to be Elijah Scott at the AHS 15 yard line with 1:56 left to play.
By that point, OHS was out of timeouts and unable to stop the clock. After several kneel downs by Myers, though, there was still some controversy left before the game was finally over. On the third and final kneel down, it looked as though Myers had fumbled the under-center snap and the OHS defense had recovered the ball right on the goal line with around 30 seconds left.
Instead, the officials ruled Myers down by contact, and the game was over with a most fitting ending.
