Mary Montgomery bolts past Jackson in a spring game that drew college recruiters in droves

 

 

 

 

 

 

By JIMMY WIGFIELD

SEMMES — The meaning of Mary G. Montgomery’s 34-21 win over defending Class 4A state champion Jackson Thursday night to conclude spring practice is open to interpretation.

The Vikings obviously have better depth, so was the final score misleading? The starters vs. starters first half was basically a draw as MGM narrowly won 21-14 on a 14-yard touchdown pass from Shondell Harris to D.J. Broughton with 29 seconds left in the half. It was also an introduction to the rarity at the Class 7A level of someone playing every snap at quarterback and safety. Can Harris do it at a high level?

Are the Aggies so good that no 4A team has a chance to beat them? Elite Jackson quarterback Landon Duckworth played well with almost no pass protection against what has traditionally been one of 7A’s best defenses in the three years under Vikings defensive coordinator Alex Page. Elite running back E.J. Crowell, who was about as rusty as Harris after a spring of running track and had just recuperated from a pulled quad muscle, had just 51 yards on 12 carries in a half but showed more than his superb vision and speed on an 11-yard touchdown run that conjured visions of a tank running through hibiscus blossoms.

“That touchdown, he wanted to get to the end zone,” Jackson coach Cody Flournoy said. “It was pure want-to.”

The want-to extended to the sidelines, which were stuffed with recruiters evaluating top prospects in game conditions, including a couple of former Auburn and Alabama head coaches who are now offensive coordinators — Florida State’s Gus Malzahn and South Carolina’s Mike Shula.

 

The good and the bad

 

MGM coach Zach Golson said before the game he believes this is the best team he’s had since coming to Semmes four seasons ago. After the game, he didn’t back away from that contention.

“The guys showed up with the right mentality and competed and played the game the right way,” he said. “There’s two things — one, we’re very talented and two, the experience. A lot of these guys have been playing for us for three years getting varsity snaps. There are 16 starters back. It’s just the overall talent level, size and speed and then the experience factor. This team’s got a chance to be one of our best. We’ve had some really good teams, so that’s saying something.”

Flournoy also saw that up close but wasn’t about to use it as an excuse.

“They’re big and they gave us trouble all night long on both fronts,” he said. “I look for them to make some noise.”

But Flournoy is more concerned with his team and after the game stewed about a lack of leadership, the poor play of his inexperienced offensive line and launched into a postgame rant that his group — even with elite recruits in four stars Duckworth, Crowell, Keeyun “Red” Chapman and three-star defensive back Jamarrion Gordon — isn’t anywhere near as good as its state championship predecessor, which has the credentials to be considered the best Class 4A team in state history.

“Everybody’s seen the end of the year last year and we’re not close to that right now,” Flournoy said. “It has to do with some intensity. We have a little bit of void in leadership but I think we’re going to be fine. We know that our big-time players can make big-time plays. Red had a big catch over a guy. Landon’s good. E.J. is a threat to break a run all the time. It’s just some little things and that’s what we call a championship level and we’re not there. We don’t have to be there right now. That’s why we play this game. Let’s get it on film. Let’s see where we’re at and then we’ve got two months during the summer that we’re going to work on this thing. We’ll play Saraland in late August and we ought to look a lot better at that point.”

Standing before his players, Flournoy stretched his hand as far above his head as he could to show the level of performance he demands.

“We need to be here,” he said.

Duckworth said the Aggies can get there.

“I feel like we’re better than what we played,” he said. “We can most definitely get to the championship level. I think we could be better than last year’s team. We’ve got a lot of young guys and we’ve got to get them ready. I think we’ll be a pretty good team later on in the season.”

Malzahn and Shula were there to see Duckworth, who has listed the Seminoles and Gamecocks among his final four and said he won’t decide until he after he takes his official visits.

Harris, who got more repetitions at safety during the spring, settled down after his two first-quarter interceptions and stabbed Jackson with 50- and 14-yard slants to the rapidly emerging Broughton, the second one proving to be the game winner. Broughton (6-5, 220) showed breakaway speed on the 50-yarder and splintered the grasp of a defender on the TD reception.

“People see his athleticism,” Golson said. “He’s a super-smart kid. The upside to D.J. is as high as anybody we have.”

Harris and Kamron Smith also scored on a pair of 1-yard runs for the Vikings.

Meanwhile, Crowell — the nation’s No. 2-rated running back who was held to a yard on his first four carries — showed his will to win on the fifth, stomping through MGM’s defense and scoring from 11 yards out after appearing to be stopped twice. Crowell has reclassified and will go to the college of his choice early. That choice will come down to his final five of Alabama (supposedly the heavy favorite at this point), Auburn, Texas, Florida State and Georgia.

Duckworth, who is ranked the nation’s No. 1 dual-threat quarterback by ESPN, completed 7 of 14 passes for 196 yards — seldom with a clean pocket — including a 40-yard TD fade to the 6-3 Chapman, who plays like he is 10 feet tall and sprang over a defender in the end zone.

 

Recruiters turn out

 

Assistant coaches from Alabama, Georgia, Ole Miss, Florida State, Kentucky, South Alabama, Memphis, South Carolina, Southern Miss, South Florida and North Carolina were seen on the sidelines at Grider Stadium. Along with Jackson’s quartet of recruits, they were there to see the Vikings’ Broughton (who has been offered by South Florida); Harris and linebacker Devin Pettway, both of whom have committed to Jacksonville State; and three-star defensive lineman Kaleb Morris, who was recently offered by Auburn.

While Harris and Crowell didn’t play as well as they can, their coaches said they elevated themselves at the right time.

“E.J. just loves football and he wants to play,” Flournoy said. “That’s one of the big things in his recruitment that the coaches notice. It’s like it bothers him when he’s not out here being part of this team.”

Harris might play every snap offensively and defensively this season.

“I was gassed,” he said after Thursday’s game. “But my coach has a good game plan for me, so I’m going to be very hydrated and kept up so I can play all the snaps if I can. If that’s what the team needs me to do, then that’s what I’m going to do.”

Golson said Harris’ lack of repetitions this spring showed against Jackson but he excelled when the MGM needed it most. Trailing 7-0, Harris led scoring drives of 60, 40 and 80 yards in the second quarter, leaning mostly on the running game, before the two game-turning throws to Broughton.

“Shondell is one of the best playmakers in the state,” Golson said. “Once he sees it and kind of slows it down just a little bit, good things are going to happen. I’m glad he’s on our team and I’m looking forward to enjoying his last ride with us.”

Harris said a lack of play at quarterback this spring led to the two interceptions. He was 5-of-11 passing for 101 yards.

“It was a lot of stuff I just didn’t see,” Harris said. “I just had to get comfortable and get used to the game again at quarterback for a whole, like, quarter and a half.”

When he settled down, he and Broughton found the slant route to their liking.

“They left the middle of the field wide open, so we attacked them,” Harris said.

Broughton said the senior players, including himself, Harris, Pettway and seven senior offensive linemen, are taking ownership of the results being posted on Mary Montgomery’s massive new videoboard.

“I feel like the past couple of years we’ve been leaning on the coaches but this year, the seniors are stepping up and leading,” he said.