Mobile Christian quarterback Damien Gatson is brought down by a St. Michael defender, sparking a brawl in the third quarter Thursday night at Mobile Christian. Gatson and two Cardinals players were ejected. Below, the fight breaks out among players, including the Leopards’ Damarien Gatson (8), the brother of Damien Gatson, who is to the right of his brother, Payton Smolka (58) and the Cardinals’ Nick Russo (6), Toby Edmiston (44) and Bryce Marston (2). (Helen Joyce/Call News)
By ARTHUR L. MACK
MOBILE — No. 7-ranked Class 4A St. Michael took a wild 45-35 win over Mobile Christian Thursday night in a game in which star Leopards quarterback Damien Gatson and two Cardinals players were ejected following a brawl late in the third quarter.
Gatson completed 5 of 8 passes for 93 yards, including a 60-yard scoring pass to Jason Todd, who rushed for 233 yards on 25 carries and two touchdowns.
Gatson’s 4-yard run gave Mobile Christian a 28-24 lead in the third quarter and Todd added a 36-yard TD run later in the quarter after the brawl to trim the Cardinals’ lead to 38-35 going into the fourth quarter.
Gunner Rivers’ 25-yard touchdown pass to Tucker Tomlinson in the fourth quarter put the game away for St. Michael. Rivers was 16-of-17 passing for 254 yards and two TDs. Noah Moss had 226 yards on 32 carries and four touchdowns for the Cardinals (6-1, 4-1 4A Region 1).
The ejections came after the Leopards recovered a St. Michael onside kick with the Cardinals leading 38-28 on Moss’ 1-yard run. After Gatson gained 5 yards on a keeper, he became entangled in a shoving match with two St. Michael players. Several players on both teams joined in the skirmish before order was restored. After officials conferred, Gatson and two Cardinals players were ejected.
St. Michael coach Phillip Rivers said he disagreed with the officials’ determination as to who committed the penalties and declined to identify the two Cardinals players who were ejected.
Mobile Christian coach Charles Lawson felt nobody should have been kicked out.
“The Alabama High School Athletic Association has to do something about making those types of calls,” he said. “They (officials) said (Gatson) threw a punch. He never threw a punch. When we asked the officials who saw the punch, they never said who did it. With this call, it’s phantom because this is the second time in a week I lost a player because of a call like that and it didn’t happen. It’s tough because it hurt us. We were making a run and we had chance to win the game.”
The defending Class 3A state champion Leopards (2-5, 2-2) lost their fourth straight game.
Incredibly disappointing that after a great game from both teams that featured some amazing performances, the focus of 90% of this article is on a negative moment. Also very disappointing that only one player involved in the ordeal is mentioned specifically by name. Seems to me that is not balanced reporting. Nor is it even accurate, as St. Michaels never recovered an onside kick.
Very disappointed in the Call News for this article that is grasping for clicks while riddled with incorrect information, instead of uplifting the great play of many other student athletes.