BY NOAH GRIFFITH
FOR THE OBSERVER
LOACHAPOKA — The Loachapoka Indians (2A) put on an offensive clinic on homecoming night, defeating the Beulah Bobcats (3A) by a score of 50-6. Loachapoka improves to 3-3 on the season, while Beulah falls to 1-5.
On Friday night, senior quarterback KJ Carter had a game to remember, displaying his dual-threat weapons in front of his home faithful. He lit up the stat sheet with a 5-for-6 passing performance for 128 yards and two touchdowns. He added 85 yards and three TDs on the ground.
“Just glad we were able to execute. We didn’t have many negative plays — I think just one or two negative plays,” said second-year head coach Branden Hall. “I was excited to see [Carter] hit some deep passes tonight. Whenever we can get him a deep shot down the field, I love to because he uses his legs a lot.”
Carter led an offense that tallied 352 total yards of offense and found the end zone seven times.
After junior running back Lareaco Echols started Loachapoka’s opening offensive possession by taking a punt return out past midfield, Carter led a quick TD drive that he capped off with a QB sneak into the end zone.
A few plays later came Beulah’s one highlight-reel play of the night. Sophomore QB Brody Peacock, starting in place of senior Hunter Duval who exited last week’s game at Glenwood with an injury, lobbed a deep, 50-50 ball up to senior receiver Cam Baker. The Loachapoka defender went for the interception while in one-on-one coverage and missed, allowing Baker to make the leaping grab and outrun the Indian defense for the score.
The extra-point kick was blocked, making it 7-6. Loachapoka responded with six straight unanswered scoring drives to finish the game.
On the ensuing drive, senior WR Travis “Midnight” Andrews (No. 0) took a jet sweep handoff 12 yards to the house. Along with that score, Loachapoka junior receiver Hayden Lipscomb also hauled in a TD with a 55-yard grab in the third quarter.
“Happy to see the offense clicking at this point in the season,” Hall said. “With region play coming up, just want to make sure we have the confidence to perform.”
While the offense continued to make noise throughout the game, the defense started to get stingy after surrendering the 80-yard TD. In the second quarter, the Indians swiped three interceptions on consecutive drives — all followed by immediate TDs on offense.
Starting the second quarter, sophomore Derrion Callaway nabbed a pick, and senior linebacker Jeremiah Floyd and Lipscomb added INTs of their own. After the first turnover, Carter scrambled up the sideline for a 27-yard TD scamper on the second play of the drive. The next two turnovers were followed by TDs on the first snap — a TD pass to Echols and another Carter 18-yard keeper.
After giving up 73 points to Reeltown a week ago, Hall was pleased with the execution from his defense this week.
“Last week against Reeltown we had trouble defensively, so excited for our defense to bounce back,” Hall explained. “Defensive backs were in the right position, and the defensive line did a great job getting pressure on the quarterback on those throws.”
Loachapoka’s 34-6 halftime lead stretched in the second half, with two offensive strikes as well as a safety on a snap over the punter’s head in the third quarter. Along with Carter’s deep ball to Lipscomb, freshman RB T’Marcus Doolittle capped off the scoring with a 20-yard TD rush in the fourth quarter.
After that, the game ended early due to medical services attending to an emergency on the Beulah sideline. With a running clock in the second half, there were less than six minutes remaining in the game when the teams began to shake hands.
With the win, Loachapoka is 3-3 headed into a home matchup with Central-Coosa County. The Cougars are also 3-3 but they are 2-0 in 2A Region 4, so the matchup is an opportunity for the Indians to improve its 1-2 record in region play and gain ground in the standings.
The Indians won the matchup at Central-Coosa last year, 58-20.
“We’re getting better each and every week,” Hall said confidently. “[Central-Coosa] is a very explosive, athletic team. They’re well coached. It’ll be a good test for us.”
On the other hand, it is Beulah’s fifth consecutive loss — the third in a row by 40 or more points. The Bobcats return home next Friday to face BB Comer, who is 1-3 after getting its first win of the season over Childersburg last week, 38-14. Beulah hopes Duval will be back in action after missing the contest versus Loachapoka with an injury.
After losing to Beulah last season, Loachapoka’s win was a step in the right direction as it strives for a winning season following a 5-5 finish last year.
