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Cherokee Co. edges Jackson in 4A finals
Published December 5, 2009
TUSCALOOSA — Senior quarterback Coty Blanchard scored a touchdown with 26 seconds remaining to lift Cherokee County past Jackson 31-27 in the Class 4A Super 6 Championship game Friday.
Blanchard, who was named the game’s most valuable player, ran for 100 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries and threw for 187 yards and a touchdown on 14-of-23 passing.
Damion Bracy led Jackson with 169 yards rushing and three touchdown runs on 31 carries. His 9-yard touchdown with 9:04 remaining in the fourth quarter put the Aggies in front 27-24.
Cherokee County started the game-winning drive at its 47-yard line with 3:05 left in the game. The key play of the drive came on a 38-yard pass from Blanchard to wide receiver Gabriel Chambers.
On third-and-goal, Blanchard kept the ball and ran 5 yards into the end zone for the game-winning score.
Both Cherokee County and Jackson finish their seasons with a 13-2 record.
CLASS 1A
Brantley 28, Hackleburg 13: Chase Hall accounted for four touchdowns to lead Brantley High School to the Class 1A state title Thursday with a 28-13 victory over Hackleburg at the AHSAA Super 6 Championship.
Hall connected with Tevin Daniels for a 52-yard touchdown for the game’s first score. He hit the end zone again four minutes later with a 2-yard touchdown to put the Bulldogs in front 14-0.
Then, with less than 30 seconds remaining before the half, Hall found Tory Upshaw for a 55-yard score to take a 20-0 lead.
Hall finished the game 5-of-11 for 120 yards passing and two touchdowns and 95 yards and two touchdowns rushing. He was named the game’s Most valuable player.
Hackleburg quarterback Ryan Bullock finished the game 18-of-35 for 167 yards and a touchdown.
Joe Ingle had 57 yards rushing and a 74-yard punt return for a touchdown, which set a Class 1A, Super 6 Championship game record for longest punt return.
This is Brantley's third state championship (1993 and 1998).
Both teams finished with a 14-1 record.
CLASS 5A
Demopolis 27, Russellville 14: Senior running back DaMarcus James set a new Super 6 Class 5A championship game rushing record Thursday night with 293 yards on 42 carries to lead Demopolis to the state title with a 27-14 win over Russellville.
James, named the 5A MVP, scored one touchdown on a 13-yard run in the second quarter and it was his driving smashes for first downs that helped the Tigers take control in the second half.
Demopolis got a big score late in the first half when quarterback Ben Pettus connected with Larry Cobb for a 48-yard touchdown strike with 42 seconds remaining to take a 13-7 lead into intermission.
Russellville took the early lead on Brent Calloway’s 5-yard scoring run with 11:53 left in the first half. Calloway finished with 142 yards rushing on 20 carries with two scores. His final TD, a 2-yard run, came with 3:31 left in the third period to cut a 12-point lead to five at 19-14.
On the ensuing kickoff Demopolis fumbled and Russellville recovered. Two plays later Joseph Howe’s pass to Ryan Romans to the Demopolis 26 turned awry when Anthony Hardy stripped the ball from the receiver and returned it 74 yards for a touchdown and another two-touchdown lead.
Demopolis, which won the 4A state title in 2004, finished with 332 yards rushing and 106 passing for 438 total yards. Russellville totaled 335 yards.
Howe was 13-of-29 passing for 102 yards. Pettus was 3-of-4 for 106 yards and completed a 59-yard touchdown pass to Jeremy Wallace in the third period.
Michael Davis has 10 tackles and Hardy had nine for Demopolis. Aaron Hollingsworth recorded 14, Jacob Gist 13, Jessie Green 12 and Romans 11 for Russellville.
CLASS 3A
Piedmont 35, Cordova 28, overtime: Christian Cantrell’s fourth touchdown of the day, an 8-yard run off tackle in overtime, gave Piedmont (13-2) its first-ever Class 3A state football championship Thursday as the Bulldogs beat Cordova 35-28.
Coach Steve Smith’s Bulldogs jumped out to a 14-point lead midway through the third period, only to see the Blue Devils (13-2) storm back to send the game into overtime.
Cantrell also scored on runs of 19 and 11 yards and caught a 6-yard pass from 3A championship game MVP Chase Childers for another score.
Childers directed a solid game at quarterback, completing 5-of-8 passes for 56 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 102 yards on 21 carries. Cantrell finished with 108 yards on 14 tries.
Senior Ryan Smith, who quarterbacked the Blue Devils to the 3A title in 2007 and to the finals in 2008, moved to running back for the third title game of his career and finished with 125 yards on 23 carries with scoring runs of 26 and 16 yards. He caught two passes for 59 yards with a long of 44 yards and was 0-of-3 in his spare use at quarterback. He also had an interception on defense and returned a kickoff for 54 yards.
Junior Jake Howton, who missed most of last week’s semifinal win over Luverne with a leg injury, returned to the lineup for the finals and finished with 69 yards passing on a 5-of-7 performance. He also had 73 yards rushing on 12 carries with Cordova’s other two TDs on runs of 8 and 4 yards. His final score came with 7:59 to play in the fourth period to tie the game at 28-all.
Piedmont scored first in overtime, needing just two plays to take the lead. Cordova lost 5 yards on first down in its possession when Luke Smith dragged Howton down behind the line. Smith then sealed the win when he recovered Ryan Smith’s fumble on second down. Terrick Spear had knocked the ball loose.
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