The Morgan Academy Senators bounced back from their first loss of the season at the hands of the Patrician Academy Saints last week to defeat the Valiant Cross Warriors for their fifth win of the season 45-12 at home on Friday, Oct. 2.
The AISA Class AAA Region 2 Senators improved to 5-1 overall with the non-regional win over the AISA Class AAA Region 1 Warriors and remain 2-0 in regional play. But the Senators have a date with regional opponent the Bessemer Academy Rebels on the road on Friday, Oct. 9.
“This is a really good win for our kids,” said Morgan Academy head football coach and athletic director Danny Raines following Friday’s game. “Once again, I’m glad everyone got a chance to play. We made some mistakes, but we were able to overcome them. It was good to see the kids have a good time tonight.”
Raines said of the upcoming bout with the Rebels on the road, “Bessemer Academy is obviously a very impressive football team. We are looking forward to having a good week of preparation leading up to the game. I’m so glad for our kids to get to play in such a big game.”
For the Senators Andrew Thomas completed 10 out of 19 passes for 225 yards, three touchdowns and threw one interception. Holt Utsey had 205 all purpose yards, 74 rushing, 44 receiving and an 87-yard kickoff return. Chris Gardner had five receptions for 90 yards with a touchdown.
Also, for the Senators, Scott Lalone had 12 tackles, seven solo and five assists with two quarterback sacks. Josh Brown had 10 tackles, seven solo and three assists. Andrew Morris had six tackles, all solos with five sacks. And Utsey had six solo tackles.
The Senators had two turnovers against Valiant Cross, an interception and a fumble.
Morgan Academy opened Friday night’s contest with a 31-yard touchdown pass from Thomas to Gardner at the 7:15 mark of the first quarter for a 6-0 lead. A 2-point play failed.
John Allen Ingram had a 15-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown to put the Senators up 12-0 at the 3:51 mark of the first quarter. A 2-point play failed.
The Warriors made it a 12-6 contest on a 30-yard pass after a pass reception by the Senators was stripped for a fumble. The point after touchdown kick by Valiant Cross was no good.
But the Senators upped the lead to 18-6 at about the 5:12 mark of the second quarter when Morris got a fumble recovery in the end zone for a touchdown. Again the 2-point play failed.
Morgan Academy took a 24-6 lead into the half when with about one minute left in the second quarter, the Senators scored on a hook-and-lateral play that went for a 50-yard touchdown. Thomas threw the football to Gardner who pitched it back to Utsey for the score. A 2-point play failed.
Valiant Cross opened the second half with a 65-yard touchdown drive to make it a 24-12 contest with 9:37 left in the third quarter. A 2-point play failed.
But if the visitors had any hope of making this game a contest again, that hope evaporated when Utsey took the ensuing kickoff back 90 yards for a touchdown. Wade Mason added the point after kick, and the Senators led 31-12 with about 9:37 left in the third quarter.
The Senators would score again on a 55-yard pass play from Thomas to Brown. Mason added the point after touchdown kick, and Morgan led 38-12 with 2:57 left in the third quarter.
Cobb Beers scored the final touchdown of the night for the Senators on a 1-yard scoring run at the 7:14 mark of the fourth quarter. Mason added the point after kick, and final stood Morgan 45, Valiant Cross 12.
In other AISA football action, the 0-7,0-2 Class A Region 2 Meadowview Christian School Trojans fell on the road to the non-regional Class AA Region 2 Autauga Generals 48-8 on Thursday, Oct. 1.
Rin Hagood scored on a 75-yard touchdown run for the Trojans and Amarii Rucker ran for a 2-point play.
Meadowview Christian School Headmaster, head football coach and athletic director Bob Taylor said, “The kids played hard tonight. They continue to work to get better each week.”
The Trojans will travel to play Snook in a regional bout on Oct. 9.
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