ACA falls to Reeltown in 2nd Round

James Sandlin Takes Reeltown QB for Sack

From staff reports
Published: Saturday, November 15, 2008 at 3:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, November 15, 2008 at 12:13 a.m.

REELTOWN | Willie McKenzie ran for two touchdowns on Friday as Reeltown defeated American Christian Academy 27-10 in the second round of the Class 2A playoffs.

American Christian Academy’s Matt Sandlin completed 22 of 35 passes for 294 yards and a touchdown. Parker Barrineau posted season highs with 9 catches for 149 yards.

American Christian Academy finished the season with a 10-2 record.

“We were young, but we had a strong group of seniors again this year,” said ACA coach Stephen Hooks. “They’ve kind of been in the shadow of the group that graduated last year.

“I was very proud of them. They were a lot of fun to coach. I felt like they overachieved all year long. With a perfect game we could have won tonight, and then there’s no telling what this team could have accomplished.”

Reeltown (11-1) got its first touchdown in the second quarter on a 35-yard interception return by Josh Newman.

ACA answered with a 30-yard field goal by Blake Brenton. McKenzie scored on a 1-yard run with 21 seconds left before halftime as Reeltown boosted its lead to 13-3.

Reeltown added a touchdown in the third quarter on a 37-yard pass from Anarious White to Calan Waver. White ran for a two-point conversion.

Barrineau caught a 27-yard touchdown pass from Sandlin in the fourth quarter. Brenton added the extra point to cut the deficit to 21-10.

McKenzie scored his second touchdown on a 24-yard run with 1:11 left to play.

Ryan Swanger had 15 tackles for the ACA defense. Matt Leddo had 13 tackles, and Connor McKenna had 10. James Sandlin finished with 12 solo tackles.

“I was very satisfied with their work ethic and level of effort all year long,” Hooks said. “It’s a great group of kids.

“They could have talked about how many players we lost from last year and decided we weren’t going to be any good. Their response was the opposite. It’s not about who we lost. It’s about who we are. This group is going to work to get better.”

ACA airs it out against Keith

By Cedrick Alexander, Special to The Tuscaloosa News

Published: Friday, November 7, 2008 at 3:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, November 8, 2008 at 1:22 a.m.

TUSCALOOSA | In the first round of Class 2A playoffs, the American Christian Academy Patriots displayed a dual-quarterback aerial attack to surge past the Keith Bears, 44-14, at Patriot Field on Friday night in a Class 2A first-round playoff game.

ACA will travel to play Reeltown next Friday in the second round.

The Patriots (9-1) began the game with senior signal caller Harrison Pollard at the helm instead of regularly projected starter Matthew Sandlin.

On a drive that began on their own 29-yard line, Pollard orchestrated ACA’s first touchdown drive by putting together a string of throws to Steadman Shealy, Parker Barrineau, and a host of other Patriot receivers resulting in a Mason Hallman touchdown run to cap it off.

In only a quarter of work, Pollard completed 11 of 16 passes for 104 yards and a touchdown pass to Brandon Gottfried with 48.6 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, it was ACA’s other quarterback Matt Sandlin that created havoc for the Bears defense. Sandlin picked up right where Pollard left off, leading ACA’s high-powered, no huddle attack to the finish line.

In Sandlin’s first drive, the junior quarterback led the Patriots on a scoring drive with an assortment of short passes.

Sandlin found Shealy open in the Bear secondary on three separate occasions on this drive, completed a pass to Andrew Chung for a 22-yard reception near the sidelines, and found Brandon Gottfried for a ten-yard reception before a 8-yard Mason Hallman touchdown scamper to put the Patriots up 17-8 in the first quarter.

Coach Stephen Hooks called several of bootlegs and play-action passes to keep Sandlin on the move and the Bears secondary off balance. In three quarters of action, Sandlin finished 12 of 17 for 274 yards.

The Keith High School Bears gave the Patriots all they could handle. The Bears unleashed a three headed monster out of the backfield with senior running back Clyde Moise, junior quarterback Gerald Matthews, and junior Dwan Lewis. Clyde Moise refused to go down on first contact, and after nine carries accumulated 137 yards and a touchdown on the night for the Bears (8-2).

His backfield mate quarterback Gerald Matthews carried the ball on 13 separate occasions for 56 yards. Matthews running capability would account for the only other Bears’ score on the night. Matthews’s touchdown came on a one-yard keeper that made it a 17-14 contest in favor of the Patriots.

“They were keying in on 22 [Moise], all night after watching game film on him all week,” said Matthews. “So the quarterback sweep worked well for us tonight.”

Dwan Lewis was the Bears second leading contributor on the ground after tallying 84 yards on 10 carries for the Bears. The Bears led early in the contest 8-7, after Moise ripped off a 64-yard touchdown run and attached the two-point conversion on a sweep around right end. Nevertheless, the ACA defense would make adjustments that stymied the Bears rushing attack and refused to allow them into the end zone after the first half.

The ACA defense had two huge goal line stands late in the game that solidified the Patriot victory. Matthews failed to get into the end zone on two keepers and fumbled on third down to end the Keith scoring attempt in the fourth quarter.

“[Coach] John Causey called a great game for us defensively,” said ACA head coach Stephen Hooks. “This group is businesslike and we were committed to keeping their backs out of the end zone. We showed great heart in tonight’s victory. Keith’s players showed a lot of class, and we just came out and executed well both offensively and defensively.”

Patriots Squeak by Red Devils

From Staff Reports
Published: Saturday, November 1, 2008 at 3:30 a.m.

MAPLESVILLE | The American Christian Academy Patriots tuned up for the Class 2A playoffs by edging Maplesville 34-33 on Friday night in high school football action.

ACA’s Harrison Pollard and Matt Sandlin combined to complete 20 of 38 passes for 328 yards with three touchdown passes, two to Steadman Shealy.

Maplesville (8-2) pulled to within one point with 5:03 left as Mathew Hamner threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Cedric Bailey. ACA maintained its 34-33 lead as Patrick Altena missed the extra point.

Maplesville got the ball back on an interception, but the ACA defense lead by James Sandlin held on downs at its 25. The Patriots were able to maintain possession and time ran out with ACA inside the Maplesville 5.

Shealy caught seven passes for 138 yards. Parker Barrineau had four catches for 67 yards.

ACA (9-1) took a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. Pollard threw touchdown passes of 51 and 7 yards to Shealy, and Blake Brenton kicked the extra points.

Hamner scored the first touchdown for the Red Devils on a 12-yard run in the second quarter. Maplesville tied it at 14 on Hunter McCay’s 35-yard touchdown run and Altena’s extra-point kick.

ACA regained the lead when Brandon Gottfried caught a 35-yard touchdown pass from Pollard. Brenton added the extra point to make it 21-14.

On the last play of the first half, Hamner threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Clemmons. Altena’s extra point tied it at 21.

In the third quarter, Maplesville went ahead on McCay’s 1-yard touchdown run, but the extra-point kick failed.

ACA’s Daniel O’Quinn scored on a 4-yard run with Brenton adding the extra point. O’Quinn finished with 88 yards rushing.

ACA got its last touchdown in the fourth quarter as Gottfried scored on a 71-yard interception return. The kick failed, but the Patriots held a 34-27 lead.

James Sandlin and Matt Leddo led the ACA defense with 12 tackles each. Ryan Swanger had 11 tackles, and Pollard came up with an interception.

ACA will play at home in the first round of the Class 2A playoffs next Friday. The Patriots will open against Keith.