Vigor rolls past Williamson; Saraland, Jackson secure region titles
By ARTHUR L. MACK
MOBILE — Two big first-quarter plays by Gerritt Holcombe and Carlos Benjamin were the difference as No. 4 Vigor held off No. 8 Williamson 19-2 in a battle of Class 5A unbeatens at Ladd-Peebles Stadium Friday night.
Holcombe scored on a 65-yard flea flicker pass from Dylan Jackson while Benjamin scored on an 84-yard run and Demetris Johnson added an 8-yard touchdown run to assure the Wolves of the 5A Region 1 title and keep them undefeated at 9-0 overall and 6-0 in region play.
Benjamin had 111 yards on 15 carries, with 97 of those yards coming in the first half, while Jackson, playing for injured starter Sammy Dunn, was 7-of-14 passing for 113 yards.
“We felt that the first 15 plays we scripted had to be big plays,” Vigor coach John McKenzie said. “Dylan’s not really healthy but he’s the best we have right now.”
The Wolves’ defense made big plays as well, sacking Lions quarterback Alvin Dinkins six times for 43 yards in losses. Dinkins, harassed most of the night by Vigor’s defensive front, completed only 11 of 21 passes for 111 yards.
“We have one of the best defenses in the state,” McKenzie said. “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out. I realized the first two or three days of practice we had the best defense in the state.”
“Up front, we weren’t winning,” said Williamson coach Antonio Coleman, whose team fell to 8-1, 5-1. “That’s where the ballgame is won, in the trenches. We had a long night up front.”
The Wolves jumped in front right out of the gate when Holcombe snagged a 65-yard touchdown pass from Jackson off a flea flicker on the second play of the game.
Two possessions later, Benjamin took a direct snap from the Wildcat formation and raced through the Lions’ defense for an 84-yard touchdown run and a 13-0 lead.
“We wanted to give them a look where they saw Greenpants (Benjamin) with the ball and we flipped it back to Dylan,” McKenzie said. “On the second (scoring play), we wanted Greenpants to run some Wildcat and give him some space, so now you got a quarterback running the ball and we had a lot of success with that.”
After the early explosions, Williamson held Vigor to only 28 net yards total offense in the second quarter but couldn’t get anything going offensively.
“They jumped up on us quick with the quick plays,” Coleman said. “They’ve got a pretty good team and we’ve got a pretty good team. But we got in a hole early and offensively we couldn’t get anything going.”
After the Lions turned the ball over on downs in the third quarter, Jackson converted a fourth-and-1 from Williamson’s 9 and Johnson scored on the next play for a 19-0 lead.
The Lions scored late in the third quarter when Benjamin was tackled in the end zone for a safety.
When asked when Dunn will return to the lineup, McKenzie said: “Our last five games are more important than our next two. That’s the answer for you.”
St. Paul’s 31, McGill-Toolen 3
Kenneth Johnson passed for a pair of touchdowns to lead the Saints’ win.
Johnson tossed TD passes of 39 and 40 yards to Tate Johnston and St. Paul’s (7-1, 5-1 6A Region 1) got TD runs of 26 yards from Anthony Frasier and 2 yards from Anthony Jones.
John Vella
Saraland 58, Murphy 7
K.J. Lacey completed 16 of 19 passes for 270 yards and six touchdowns as the No. 1-ranked Spartans wrapped up the 6A Region 1 title.
Lacey threw scoring passes of 4 and 26 yards to Santae McWilliams, 3 and 28 yards to Carson Gill, 29 yards to Caden Kelly and 11 yards to DeShawn Spencer.
Robert Ladnier
Jackson 48, W.S. Neal 0
Landon Duckworth completed 11 of 14 passes for 257 yards and two touchdowns as the No. 1-ranked Class 4A Aggies (8-1, 5-0) ripped the Blue Eagles to secure their second straight Region 1 title.
Duckworth connected with Keeyun Chapman on scoring passes of 30 and 40 yards and added TD runs of 5 and 85 yards.
E.J. Crowell racked up 121 yards and three touchdowns on eight carries, including a 60-yard scoring run in the third quarter.
Eduardo Magana
