Morgan Academy Senators experience second heartbreaking loss of 2024 football season

For the second week in a row, a gritty Morgan Academy Senators football team suffered a heartbreaking loss late in the game.

The AISA Class AAA Region 2 Senators, who fell to Monroe Academy late in the fourth quarter 14-7 the previous week, fell to the Fort Dale Academy Eagles 21-20 in overtime on the road Friday night.

The game marked homecoming for the Eagles but was a nailbiter for their fans. The Senators went for a 2-point conversion for the win in overtime but came up short.

With the loss, the Senators are now 1-2 overall and 0-2 in the region. Fort Dale improved to 4-1 overall and 3-0 in the region. 

And the road doesn’t get any easier for Morgan Academy as the Senators will travel to face the 4-1, 3-0 AISA Class AAA Region 1 Chambers Academy Rebels on Sept. 27. The Rebels are the only team to beat Fort Dale this season.

The Senators tied the game with the Monroe Academy Volunteers the week before with 20 seconds left in the first half. But a fumble late in the fourth quarter led to a Monroe touchdown and the loss.

Friday night, the Senators took the Fort Dale Academy Eagles to overtime, only to come up short on a failed 2-point play while going for the win.

Baron Frazer at quarterback for the Senators completed six of 10 passes for 73 yards and rushed 11 times for 31 yards and three touchdowns. Jack Johnson had 15 carries for 26 yards. Speedie Pernell caught two passes for 18 yards. And Wallis Gilmore had three catches for 32 yards.

Friday night, the Senators came from a 14-0 deficit to make it 14-7 at the half when Frazer scored on a 5-yard touchdown run with 33 seconds left in the half. Trevor White added the point after kick. 

The touchdown was set up by a William Ousley-caused fumble and Frazer recovery for the Senators. And with Frazer in at quarterback, he passed to Jack Johnson to about the Fort Dale 4-yard line, which led to the Frazer touchdown run. 

The Senators tied the Eagles when Frazer scored on a 1-yard touchdown run and White’s point-after kick with 11:54 remaining in the fourth quarter. 

Dodging a bullet by recovering a Fort Dale fumble late in regulation inside their own 3-yard line, the Senators held on defensively to send the game into overtime.

Trailing 21-14 in overtime, Frazer added another touchdown run on a fourth-and-goal play from about the one-foot line to make it a 21-20 game. But bravely going for a 2-point play for the win, the Senators came up short, giving the win to the Eagles.

Morgan Academy head football coach and Athletic Director Jacob Webb said of his team since the tragic loss of quarterback Caden Tellier in August to a brain injury suffered on the field, “They’re playing their guts out. They’re leaving everything on the field. We just haven’t in the last couple of weeks been able to find a way to convert that to a win. But that will come.”

He said he graded the team “A for effort.” But said of the loss of Tellier, “They’re going through stuff that kids shouldn’t be having to deal with.”

Webb said once his kids get on the field, “They’re playing their tails off.” And he said, “Now, once we get some things figured out, I think we will get going in the right direction.”

Webb said the Senators played an undefeated Monroe, Fort Dale, whose only loss was to Chambers, and Chambers up next is a perennial power. “We’ve got our work cut out for us.”

While Webb said Jack Johnson, Rhett Thomas and others also played well, he said Frazer scored three touchdowns after being put in a wildcat situation. He said Patrick Johnson has also played well at quarterback. “So,” he said, “we’re going to try to get them both ready… try to find out what each one of their strengths are and what we can do with them and try to move forward in that direction.” 

Webb said, “We played a really dang good football team, and if we get the 2-point conversion, we get the win.” He said of the decision to go for the 2-point play, “You’re on the road, you’re playing a good team like that, you’ve got a chance win it right there. We felt good with the play call, and you know, if we would have had another half second, we probably get open a little better and score.”