BY EVAN BROWN
FOR THE OBSERVER
SMITHS STATION — Glenwood School rallied from a fourth-quarter deficit to defeat Loachapoka High School 27-21 in overtime Oct. 29, giving the Gators (5-5) a win on senior night in their final guaranteed game at Sammy Howard Field.
Trey Claridy scored on a keeper with 26 seconds remaining to send the game to overtime, and Nate Malone capped the comeback off with the game-winning touchdown.
“It means a lot,” Noah Cline said. “Every senior wants to do it. Not every senior does it, but we did it. Every time we come back here, we can think about this win.”
Malone ran for 68 yards and three TDs on 19 carries and caught three passes for 47 yards. Claridy completed 9 of 19 passes for 116 yards and ran for 49 yards and a TD on 21 carries. Kason Peterson caught two passes for 31 yards. Defensive stats were unavailable before Tuesday’s press deadline.
Hayden Lipscomb ran for 193 yards and three TDs on 17 carries for the Indians (8-2), who rushed for 332 yards as a team. Lareaco Echols added 139 yards on two carries. Lipscomb completed 5 of 10 passes for 52 yards with an interception.
Peter Chenier led Loachapoka’s defense with nine tackles, two tackles for loss and a forced fumble. Ryquan Butler added eight tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack and a fumble recovery, and Kameron White had four tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack. Qua’Shaun Satterwhite recorded three tackles for loss and a sack, and Jaiden Harvey broke up three passes. The Indians finished with 12 tackles for loss and three sacks.
On its opening possession, Glenwood moved the ball inside the Loachapoka 20 yard line but came away empty after a turnover on downs. The defense gave the Gators another opportunity moments later, as Josiah Clark ripped the ball away from Lipscomb and returned it to the Loachapoka 6 yard line.
Only two plays later, Malone scored his first TD of the night, taking a direct snap out of the wildcat to put Glenwood up 7-0.
The Indians kept turning it over. They drove all the way to the Glenwood 10 yard line before Lipscomb’s pass was tipped in the air and intercepted by Wesley Chambers for a touchback.
A short punt gave Loachapoka another chance to score, but Cline recovered a fumble on a pitch to Echols, giving the Gators their third takeaway of the night.
Following the turnover, Claridy and Glenwood drove to midfield and faced fourth-and-6. The Indians appeared to get a stop with a sack, but a face mask penalty kept the drive alive.
The Gators took advantage, using a balanced run-pass attack to reach the Loachapoka 13 yard line, where Malone ran over a defender for his second TD, giving Glenwood a 14-0 lead it took into halftime.
Loachapoka head coach Branden Hall said the Indians hadn’t trailed at halftime all season.
“We started off slow, man,” Branden Hall said. “We had three turnovers in the first half.”
Despite being down two scores, Loachapoka came out of halftime on fire. An opening 60-yard drive, made up entirely of runs by Echols and Lipscomb, ended with Lipscomb following his blockers into the end zone for the Indians’ first score of the game, cutting the deficit to 14-7.
On Loachapoka’s very next drive, Lipscomb scrambled toward the left sideline and broke free for a 74-yard TD run. A jump pass to Chenier on the two-point try gave the Indians a 15-14 lead.
With the momentum going against them, the Gators attempted a fake punt at midfield, but Loachapoka snuffed it out and forced a turnover on downs. Almost immediately after, Lipscomb took a draw up the middle for a 35-yard TD — his third of the night. While the Indians missed the PAT, they still extended their lead to 21-14.
Branden Hall credited his coaching staff’s halftime adjustments for the turnaround.
“We came out in the second half, man, like a totally different ball team,” Branden Hall said. “I was happy to see our team come out and respond after being down two touchdowns at the half and come out and play the way it did in the second half. So I’m really proud of them the way they responded to adversity.”
Zayden Hart returned the kickoff to midfield for Glenwood, but trouble on a handoff resulted in a fumble, which Butler recovered, giving Loachapoka possession with the lead and only six minutes left.
Refusing to go down without a fight, the Gators’ defense locked in and forced a difficult fourth-and-10. Cruz Hall came in to try to convert, but Rhett English cut off his receiver’s post route for an interception, shifting the momentum.
Glenwood head coach Ryan Nelson said he felt English’s interception gave the offense the opportunity it needed to respond.
“I really felt like our offense said, ‘You know, it’s time,’” Nelson said. “We hadn’t played really well all night. It’s time to go make some plays.”
The Gators took over with four minutes left at their own 42. A screen pass from Claridy to Malone moved Glenwood downfield, and a late-hit penalty against Loachapoka pushed the Gators farther into Indians territory. A combination of runs from Claridy and Malone put Glenwood at the Loachapoka 7 yard line, and with 26 seconds left, Claridy cut up the left side on a keeper for a TD to send the game to overtime.
The Indians started with the ball in overtime, where they were held to a field goal try, which Grey Garner blocked.
On the Gators’ second play of overtime, Malone took the handoff, powered through two Loachapoka defenders and found the end zone to give Glenwood a 27-21 win.
“I got the ball, and nobody was going to take me down,” Malone said. “I had to get in the end zone for my school, for my seniors, for my team.”
The win was especially meaningful for Claridy, who has been around Glenwood for most of his life.
“It means everything. I’ve been here since I was probably three years old,” Claridy said. “My dad and my whole family were in attendance.”
The Gators will travel to Fairhope to face No. 5 St. Michael Catholic High School (6-4) in the first round of the Class Private AA playoffs on Friday, Nov. 6, at 7 p.m.
The Cardinals defeated Glenwood 48-27 in Smiths Station on Oct. 16 in Region 1 play.
“Everybody’s 0-0 right now,” Nelson said. “If we can find a way to continue to get back to work this week and go down to [Fairhope], hopefully we can play a good, clean game and figure out how to win a playoff game. That’s the goal.”
No. 5 Loachapoka will host Meek High School (7-3) at Jones-Tate Stadium to open the Class 1A playoffs on Nov. 6 at 7 p.m.
Branden Hall called the loss to Glenwood a “blessing in disguise” since the Indians hadn’t played four full quarters without a running clock in weeks. He added several players began cramping late in last Thursday’s game since they weren’t used to playing that many snaps.
“It showed us what we can do and what we’re capable of, and also what we needed to see before the playoffs hit,” Branden Hall said.
He said Meek quarterback Evan McCay can run the football and that the Tigers have a defense that swarms to the ball.
“Their defense does a great job getting to the football, so it’ll be a good challenge for us early in the first round of playoffs,” Branden Hall said.
