BY DANIEL SCHMIDT
THE OBSERVER
LOACHAPOKA — An apparent game-winning touchdown that a penalty negated and a pick-six moments later ensured Loachapoka High School started its flag football season off with two losses.
The Lady Indians (0-2) fell to Anniston High School (2-0) 33-6 in the first game of a tri-match, and then lost 19-12 to Lanett High School (3-1) in heartbreaking fashion in the nightcap.
Destiney Core recorded an interception and ran for a TD for Loachapoka in a two-way effort, and Jalady Winchester recorded a pick-six.
Mar’Kala Bailey powered Lanett, scoring both of the Lady Panthers’ offensive TDs and intercepting two passes, including the game-winning pick-six.
Loachapoka head coach Ashley Anderson said she was particularly pleased with her defense, and said she would look for continued improvement and more poise from her quarterbacks.
“We’re definitely athletic, we’ve just got to buckle down and do what we’re supposed to do and what we learn in practice,” Anderson said. “I think in the first game [against Anniston], we were really nervous. That second game we came out striking. We went up 12-0, but we’ve just got to go back to the drawing board.”
After losing 33-6 to Anniston in the first game, the Lady Indians raced out of the gate against the Lady Panthers.
Core did the early lifting, intercepting a pass with 9:50 left in the first quarter and then breaking free for a 24-yard TD run just over two minutes later. While the two-point conversion failed, the Lady Indians led 6-0.
The advantage doubled moments later when Winchester stepped in front of a Lanett pass and returned it 21 yards for a TD with 7:17 left to play in the opening period. The extra point was no good, pushing Loachapoka in front 12-0.
That play was part of a broader defensive performance Anderson applauded after Loachapoka was shellshocked by Anniston in the earlier game.
“In the second half of that Anniston game, we only gave up six points, and then in the first half [against Lanett] we gave up 12 points,” Anderson said. “But we keyed in on defense and [the players] keyed in on their job, so I just think we have just a couple of things we need to clean up.”
However, Lanett quickly answered on the ground. Bailey powered through the Lady Indians’ defense for a 43-yard scoring run with 5:27 left in the first, and though the extra point missed, the deficit shrank to 12-6.
It looked as though the Lady Panthers would go on to tie the game a minute later when Jennifer Trana-Hernandez picked off a pass near the Lady Indians’ 17 yard line, but Loachapoka’s defense stood tall and kept its lead intact.
Then Bailey took over. She grabbed her first interception of the game at the Loachapoka 7 yard line with 1:44 left in the first quarter, then cashed it in with a 3-yard TD run with 27 seconds on the clock. The two-point try failed, leaving the teams knotted at 12-12 after a wild back-and-forth first quarter.
After game officials decreased the quarter length from 12 minutes to eight minutes to get the players home at a reasonable time on a school night, the defenses controlled the rest of the way.
It appeared the deadlock would be broken after Vennecia Cobb intercepted a pass near midfield for the Lady Indians with 6:43 remaining in the game, but Loachapoka failed to turn the takeaway into any points.
Then, the Lady Indians seemed to have broken the game open and scored the winning TD when Core made an improbable catch near the sideline and split two Lady Panthers for a 40-plus-yard TD catch with 39 seconds left in the game.
A penalty on Loachapoka negated the play, and then Bailey ultimately had the final word. With 26 seconds remaining, she jumped a route and raced 56 yards for a pick-six, and Tytianna Brown’s extra-point run made it 19-12 to seal the victory for Lanett.
While the Lady Panthers showed resolve to stay in the game and fight back from the multi-score deficit, Lanett head coach Tiara McCullough said she wanted to see better body language from her team moving forward.
“That game was kind of tight and rough because we got tired,” McCullough said. “We’ve never played in a tri-match before, and [our players] were really tired. So to get the win and pull it out, I’ll take it, even if it was by one point or seven.”
The Lady Indians will travel to face Anniston in a rematch on Thursday, Sept. 10, at 5 p.m.
The Lady Panthers will also travel to face Anniston in a rematch on Thursday, Sept. 17, at 4:30 p.m.
