Gulf Shores takes control in fourth quarter to stun No. 1 Saraland, 34-24; Mobile Christian, UMS-Wright win squeakers
Saraland’s Eddie Turner turns upfield against Gulf Shores Friday night in Saraland. (Todd Stacey/Call News)
By ROBERT LADNIER
SARALAND — Gulf Shores scored 20 unanswered points in the fourth quarter, including a blocked field goal and ensuing 86-yard scoop-and-score, then topped things off with Elijah Malone’s 76-yard scoring run to upset No. 1-ranked Saraland 34-24 Friday night.
“We had plays early in the game where we missed some opportunities,” said Spartans coach Jeff Kelly, who saw a state-leading 41-game home winning streak end. “Credit to Gulf Shores. They played a clean game, they played hard and they deserved to win tonight. They earned the win because they played better than us tonight. In all three phases of the game, we made some mistakes.”
The upset also ended a 30-game regular-season winning streak and a 25-game region winning streak.
“I thought defensively we gave up too many things on third downs for conversions,” Kelly said. “Offensively, we got down into the red zone too many times to not come away with touchdowns. On special teams we had two crucial plays that cost us, one on a punt and one on a blocked field goal.”
Saraland (1-1) opened the scoring with a 29-yard field goal by Pierce Weatherford in the first quarter, then Jamison Roberts (19-of-36 passing for 235 yards) threw touchdown passes of 14 and 10 yards to Chris Cunningham and Sye Byrd, respectively, to build a 17-7 halftime lead.
Roberts connected with Larry Pettway for a 29-yard TD with 5:21 left in the third quarter for a 24-14 advantage before the well ran dry for Saraland.
Janoy Ferguson scored on a 17-yard run early in the first quarter for a 7-3 lead and Malone (7 carries, 131 yards) added a 28-yard scoring gallop early in the third as the Dolphins closed the gap to 17-14.
Saraland lost two fumbles in the second half, including on a punt return that set up Gulf Shores at the 26 before Malone scored on a 6-yard run to make it 24-21.
Malone blocked a 31-yard field goal attempt that would have given the Spartans a 27-21 advantage and Dwayne Prince took it to the house to give the Dolphins a 28-24 lead with 7:29 left.
“Our players have not had a lot of adversity in the past,” Kelly said. “We have to own this and take responsibility for it, then we have to flush it and get back to work.”
Mobile Christian 12,
Cottage Hill 7
MOBILE — Israel Benard’s 48-yard touchdown pass to J.T. Redd with 34.7 seconds left lifted the visiting Leopards to an upset of the No. 3 Warriors.
Benard was 8-of-14 passing for 90 yards and Tristan Aragon added a TD run on a soggy field for Mobile Christian (2-1, 1-0 Class A Region 1).
The win was also emotional, as Leopards offensive lineman Ryder Barstow’s father passed away the day before.
“It comes down to one play,” MC coach Charles Lawson said. “We do a lot of two-minute stuff and I challenged those guys (Benard and Redd). They stepped up as leaders and toward the end of the game they made it happen for us.”
CHCA (1-1, 0-1) was led by Shamar Toodle, who was 7-of-16 passing for 92 yards and a touchdown. Aaron Ward had four receptions for 60 yards and a touchdown.
“It’s tough losing when the defense played so hard,” Warriors coach Carvel Jones said. “But our kids have been through way worse than this. They’re resilient; they’ll bounce back.”
— Arthur Mack
