Who would have thought that a win over PCA in mid-September would be the start of a six-game winning streak. After a 1-3 start to the season against very tough competition, ACA ran the table the rest of the way to finish the regular season at 7-3. Coach Dockins and his staff deserve a lot of recognition for the turnaround along with the players who just kept working. The 52-21 win over Pike Liberal in the season finale was a great close to the regular season.
Alabama Christian has had some games where they started slow and picked up steam as the game progressed. That was not the case on Friday night. The home team never saw what hit them as ACA had their foot on the gas from the start. The defense turned over the Patriot offense on downs on the opening possession as LaDarius Walters tackled a receiver behind the line of scrimmage on a 4th and 1 attempt. After a pass interference call against Pike Liberal, Mason Henry took to the air again and found Beau Gainey for a 21-yard touchdown. It only took the offense 13 seconds to score its first touchdown of the night. On the next play from scrimmage, under heavy pressure, the Patriot quarterback attempted a pass, although it looked more like a two-handed throw you might see at a soccer game, which Mekhi Gardner intercepted. The offense did not turn the interception into a touchdown, but it did lead to a 25-yard field goal by David Johnson to build the lead to 10-0 with 8:09 left in the first. The defense forced its third turnover in a row on the next series as Levi Summers picked off a pass and raced 60 yards to the house for a 17-0 advantage. The Patriots finally scored on a six-play, 51-yard drive to cut the lead to 10 points with 2:41 left in the opening quarter. ACA scored quickly as Micah Merritt capped an 80 yard drive with a 41-yard run to the end zone on fourth down for a 24-7 lead right before the end of the period.
The second quarter did not bring any better fortune to the Pike Liberal offense. On the first play of the quarter, Aiden Whiten sacked the quarterback causing a fumble which was recovered by Hudson Smith at the Patriot’s 14-yard line. Two plays later. Bryson Dabney scored on a 13-yard run to make the score 31-7 with 10:57 left in the half. LaDarius Walters and Andy Fleming combined on a third down sack to stop the next Pike drive. A 34-yard catch and run by Ethan Dabney highlighted the next Eagle possession. The play gave ACA a 1st and Goal at the 4-yard line. Three plays later, Micah Merritt carried the defense into the end zone on a 3-yard ride to extend the lead to 38-7. The defense forced another three and out to give the ball back to the offense around midfield. Four consecutive completions covering 54 yards from Mason Henry to three different receivers gave the team seven more points. The last two plays were back to back 10 yard receptions by Beau Gainey. With 3:53 left in the half, ACA led 45-7. A Charlie Hibbard third down sack ended the next Pike drive and allowed the offense one last shot at points in the half. Unfortunately, for the Patriots the punt was shanked badly and only netted three yards. The Eagles offense only had to cover 18 yards in just over two minutes to score again. The offense worked the clock perfectly and scored with just eight seconds left in the half for a 52-7 lead. Mekhi Gardner did the honors with a 3-yard scoring run. You know things are in control when the bleacher coaches were not offering their expertise as the clock ran down in the half. Since the locker room was too far away, ACA headed to the corner of the field with a whopping 52-7 lead at the half. ACA’s offense was perfectly balanced in the first half. The group had 141 yards rushing and 140 yards passing in the half.
As you might imagine, the second half moved quickly as a running clock was used for both the third and fourth quarters. ACA used the opportunity to give many of their players real game experience. Carlos Smith carried the load on offense with 13 second half rushes. Even when everyone knew he was getting the ball he still managed a respectable 34 yards on the ground. Inexperienced players and communication issues on defense allowed Pike to score a couple of times in the second half to make the score a little more tolerable.
LaDarius Walters led the defense with eight tackles and a sack. Mekhi Gardner finished with six tackles and an interception. Charlie Hibbard had two sacks while Aiden Whiten, Andy Fleming, and Landon Widmer each had one. Levi Summers put points on the board for the defense with his pick six. Mason Henry completed 11 of his 12 passes for 154 yards and two touchdowns. Both scoring passes were to Beau Gainey who finished with three catches for 41 yards. Dee Howze also had three receptions for 19 yards. Micah Merritt gained 93 yards on just seven carries with two touchdowns. Gardner and Bryson Dabney both added rushing touchdowns.