BY DANIEL SCHMIDT
FOR THE OBSERVER
AUBURN — Down 21-0 to Vestavia Hills High School with 3:17 left in the first quarter, the Auburn High School football team’s postseason aspirations hung in the balance.
On the sidelines, stunned players convinced each other that they were down but not out with one simple message: “It looks like the last time, but it ain’t gonna be like last.”
That mentality and numerous momentum-flipping plays ultimately carried the No. 4 Tigers (9-2) to an extraordinary 52-41 first-round playoff victory over the No. 2 Rebels (8-3) at Duck Samford Stadium on Nov. 7.
Jaeden King ran 17 times for 131 yards and a touchdown, Antonio Welch caught six passes for 138 yards and a TD and Kollin King recorded an interception for the Tigers.
After notching his 200th career victory, AHS head coach Keith Etheredge was visibly moved when asked about the competitive character his players displayed against a team that beat them 42-14 just 91 days earlier.
“It feels great, man. I mean, for our kids to fight back the way they did, we got down 21-0,” Etheredge said. “A lot of people counted us out. These kids ain’t got no quit over there. They’re going to scrap, fight and do the little things. I’m just super proud of them. We’ve got some stuff we’ve got to work on. But I’m just super proud of them. [VHHS is] a really, really good football team, a really well-coached, tough, hard-nosed, disciplined football team. And we just overcame a lot of adversity. I love to see it out of our kids.”
For all the heroic performances, however, Cason Myers was undoubtedly the star of the show after completing 26-of-33 passes for 329 yards, one TD and one interception and running 27 times for 118 yards and four TDs.
It was an all-time performance from the junior quarterback that propelled the Tigers’ offense to perhaps its best outing of the entire season.
“In my 27 years as a coach, that may be the best outing I’ve had with a quarterback,” Etheredge said. “You don’t even realize he’s got that [many yards] because it looks so easy for him. So I’m really proud of him. He’s an unbelievable athlete. I told you all that he’s probably the most athletic [player], and I’ve coached some really good ones.”
In a game where he could hardly open his throwing hand at one point due to cramping, the quality of preparation leading up to the game made all the difference according to Myers.
“We had two really good weeks of prep,” Myers said. “I think they might have been our best weeks of practice we’ve had all year. And we were really prepared for this game. We came in really confident knowing we could win this game, and getting down early like that, 21 points, it’s tough to come back from that. But everybody still had the right mindset. You can’t see momentum, but you can feel it. So we got some momentum there, and then we just started taking what they gave us.”
For the 6-foot-1, 300-pound King, his game-changing interception early in the second quarter came down to wanting to show the Rebels they didn’t face the Tigers’ best selves back on Aug. 28.
“We just wanted it more,” King said. “We didn’t want to lose at home. We didn’t want to lose again. We just knew the first time we played them, that wasn’t us at all. So when we played them [again], we were just like, we have to do this better and do it right. We didn’t do anything right the first time we played them. So we just had to show them that improvement.”
From the opening kickoff, it appeared VHHS had picked up right where they left off in August after marching 80 yards in eight plays to go up 7-0 with 10:17 left in the first quarter.
Following Carson Purdy’s four-yard TD run, things went from bad to worse for AHS after a somewhat disjointed first drive ended with a fumble at the Tigers’ 38 yard line.
It then took the Rebels only four plays to extend their lead with an 11-yard TD run by Charlie Taaffe with 7:12 left in the first quarter.
Now down 14-0, AHS faced a tall mountain to climb, which only became taller after a second-straight disjointed drive ultimately gave VHHS the ball at the Tigers’ 15 yard line.
Despite committing two false start penalties, the Rebels again needed only four plays to score their third TD in as many drives with a six-yard TD run by Purby with 3:17 left in the first quarter.
After taking possession of the ball at its own 20 yard line, AHS found some life with a 13-play, 80-yard drive that ended with a three-yard Myers TD run. That cut VHHS’ lead to 21-7 with 10:44 left in the second quarter.
With the lead cut to 14 points, King electrified the stadium on the Rebels’ first play on the ensuing drive after tipping a low pass near the line of scrimmage and securing the interception at the VHHS 19 yard line.
From there, it took the Tigers four plays to further cut into the lead with a one-yard TD run by defensive lineman Carnell Jackson.
Following a VHHS three-and-out, the AHS offense tied the game 21-21 with a nine-play, 60-yard drive that ended with a three-yard Myers TD run with 6:08 left before halftime.
Despite the Tigers threatening to score with the ball at the VHHS 2 yard line with less than 10 seconds left before halftime, that was the last time either team scored in the first half.
Following halftime, AHS secured its first lead after a promising drive stalled around the VHHS 29 yard line, and Joseph Daniel nailed a 45-yard field goal two minutes into the third quarter.
However, that lead didn’t last long after Taaffe ripped off a 69-yard run and followed it with a 12-yard TD run two plays later that gave the Rebels a 28-24 lead with 8:41 left in the third quarter.
On the ensuing kickoff, a poorly executed on side kick gave the Tigers the ball at the VHHS 49 yard line. Facing a short field, AHS marched quickly down the field with a six-play drive that ended with another three-yard Myers TD run.
With the Tigers now up 31-28 roughly five minutes into the third quarter, the Rebels eventually tied the game two minutes later with a 35-yard field goal from Sloan Morgan.
It then appeared AHS made a catastrophic mistake after Myers threw an interception that gave VHHS the ball at the AHS 19 yard line and a golden opportunity to take the lead again.
However, the Tigers’ defense stood strong and forced VHHS into a 31-yard field goal that gave the Rebels a 34-31 lead with 2:44 left in the third quarter.
That field goal triggered a scoring onslaught from the Tigers that began with an 80-yard TD pass from Myers to Welch, who caught the ball at the AHS 48 yard line and turned on the jets to complete the 80-yard TD catch.
That play sent the stadium into a crazed delirium and gave the Tigers a 38-34 lead with 8:35 left in the third quarter.
On its next drive, the AHS offense effectively iced the game with a 10-play, 53-yard march that ended with a five-yard TD run by Myers and put the Tigers up 45-34 two minutes into the fourth quarter.
After the defense forced a second-straight three-and-out, an excellent punt return from Cash Reif set the Tigers up at the VHHS 23 yard line and eventually King’s 21-yard TD run.
Following that final AHS TD, VHHS ended all scoring for the evening with an incredible toe-tap Price Lamaster’s incredible 29-yard toe-tap TD catch in the back of the endzone on fourth down.
What’s Next
The Tigers will travel to Baldwin County to face No. 8 Daphne High School in the second round of the Alabama High School Athletic Association 7A playoffs on Nov. 14. The Trojans are currently 9-2 overall and coming off a 43-14 win over Sparkman High School.
So far, DHS has scored 38.1 points per game while allowing 20.1 points per game. In comparison, AHS has scored 31.4 points per game while allowing 16.5 points per game.
