BY DANIEL SCHMIDT
THE OBSERVER
AUBURN — Auburn High School kicked off the Class 6A playoffs with a dream start, running roughshod over an outmatched Baker High School squad in a 43-0 first-round win at Duck Samford Stadium on Nov. 3.
To say the Lady Tigers (12-6) were perfect against the Lady Hornets (1-8) would not be too hyperbolic. Taylor Plott didn’t throw an incomplete pass, and Auburn’s defense didn’t allow Baker to cross midfield, much less score a single point.
Plott went 11-for-11 for 156 yards and four touchdowns, helping the Lady Tigers build a 30-point first-quarter lead before game officials evoked the mercy rule and called the game roughly midway through the third quarter.
“We kind of got on a roll offensively. [Plott] was 11 for 11, and we completed every pass,” Auburn head coach Alison Link said. “I think that helped build a lot of confidence offensively, and defensively, we did the same type of thing we’ve been doing.”
As a team, the Lady Tigers also finished without an incompletion. Auburn was collectively 13-for-13 for 172 yards. Sophie Arrington and Alyssa Kate Jackson each completed their only throw, for 10 and 6 yards, respectively, while Plott added 20 yards on two carries.
TeKaja Thomas accounted for two of Auburn’s TDs and ran for 22 yards on two carries. Plott’s four TD passes went to four different players: Thomas on a lateral, Marley Hunt, Keylee Levett and Arrington.
Nine Auburn players also caught at least one pass. Hunt led the way with three catches for 30 yards, and Harper Wood had two for 20. The Lady Tigers ran for 83 yards on 10 carries, with Reagan Small adding 22 yards on three attempts and Kaleah Palmer picking up 12 on her only carry.
“Once we got on a roll, we kept making passes and our receivers kept catching them,” Plott said. “We’ve got a lot of chemistry, and we just need to keep things going.”
Auburn’s defense kept Baker on its own side of the field all night, finishing with 23 flag pulls, five of them for a loss. Chazlyn Nelson and Palmer led the way with seven pulls apiece, and Nelson recorded two behind the line of scrimmage along with a sack. Palmer also broke up two passes.
Charlotte Hedges and Jada Williams added three flag pulls each.
Auburn struck minutes into the game on a 43-yard hook-and-lateral. Plott hit Hunt with a 6-yard pass, and just before Hunt’s flag was pulled, Thomas raced out of the backfield, plucked the lob out of midair and outran the Baker defense over the final 37 yards. The extra-point pass made it 7-0.
On the Lady Hornets’ next possession, a desperation throw was knocked into the air by a crowd of players. Palmer Brock came down with it at the Baker 34 and returned it to the 25. Two plays later, Plott found Hunt for a 14-yard TD, then ran in the 2-point conversion for a 15-0 lead.
Thomas struck again on the Lady Tigers’ next possession, taking a Statue of Liberty end-around 11 yards for a TD. Plott’s 2-point pass to Jailyn White made it 23-0.
White then blocked a Baker punt, her second block of the night and the more costly one for the Lady Hornets, giving Auburn the ball at the Baker 10. Two plays later, Katie Foster scored on a 2-yard run, and the extra-point pass made it 30-0 after one quarter.
After another defensive stop, the Lady Tigers needed only four plays to cover 57 yards early in the second quarter. Plott capped the drive with an 18-yard TD pass to Levett, and the extra-point run failed, leaving it 36-0 at halftime.
Auburn put an exclamation point on the night coming out of halftime with a long, methodical drive that ended on Plott’s 4-yard TD pass to Arrington. The extra-point pass made it 43-0. Each team had one more possession before the game was called midway through Auburn’s final drive.
“I feel good,” Plott said. “I feel more confident in our team, and that we can just play a lot better now.”
The Lady Tigers advance to face Daphne High School (10-3), which had a first-round bye, in the second round Tuesday, Nov. 10, at Jubilee Stadium in Daphne. That result was not available before the Observer’s Tuesday press deadline. The Lady Trojans opened their season with a 36-13 win over Baker on Sept. 1.
“They’re a good team. Their quarterback gets rid of it quick and is pretty accurate, and they’ve got a couple really really good, quick receivers,” Link said. “If we let them get behind us, they’re going to go. So that’s just really what we’re going to preach this week.”
Auburn swats Baker for opening-round win
