St. Paul’s quarterback Hayden Fincher keeps for a gain against St. Michael Friday night at St. Paul’s. (Mike Kittrell/Call News)
By ARTHUR L. MACK
MOBILE — St. Paul’s let a fourth-quarter lead slip away and fell to St. Michael Catholic 39-35 at E.E. Delaney Stadium Friday night.
Roberts Law, who stepped in for injured quarterback Hayden Fincher with just under four minutes left in the first quarter, gained 108 yards on 15 carries and scored four touchdowns for the Saints (2-3, 1-2 Class AA Region 1). Law’s touchdown runs covered 1 yard, 2, 6 and 2 yards.
Ty Sellers, who left the game late in the third quarter with an apparent leg injury, rushed 18 times for 129 yards and a touchdown.
The Cardinals (1-3, 1-2) got three touchdowns from Brayden Walton — the last coming on a 7-yard touchdown pass with 1:09 left in the game. Walton also had a 66-yard score on a reverse and a 17-yard touchdown reception.
Nygel Mitchell rushed 22 times for 170 yards and two touchdowns, including a 73-yard touchdown run, and Marshall Pitre, playing in place of the injured Gunner Rivers at quarterback, was 21-of-32 passing for 174 yards and three touchdowns.
“We lost that game in the fourth quarter but our kids played with a lot of heart and played really hard,” St. Paul’s coach Ham Barnett said. “We never worked on (the Wildcat) with Roberts, so we put him out there. It was something we ran in the past a few years ago but he really did a great job tonight. He hit the holes and gave them a lot of problems. Our kids gave a lot of effort. I hate to lose but there were a lot of bright spots. Hopefully, this will help our team grow.”
Law’s fourth touchdown of the night put the Saints up 35-17 early in the third quarter.
Spanish Fort 16,
Blount 0
J.J. Thibodeaux tossed a touchdown pass and the Toros’ defense collected its second consecutive shutout.
Spanish Fort’s defense forced a safety in the second quarter and Thibodeaux connected with Devin McKenzie for a 54-yard TD on the following drive to put the Toros up 9-0 at halftime.
Ya’Lin Lee’s 26-yard touchdown run with 1:08 left iced the game for Spanish Fort (4-1, 3-0 5A Region 1).
Keevaughan Johnson rushed for 94 yards on 23 carries for the Leopards (2-3, 1-2).
— John Vella
Clarke Co. 34,
Chickasaw 6
Isaiah Davis had a touchdown and intercepted two passes to help the Bulldogs rolls past the Chieftains.
Peebo Pugh hit Terry Kimbrough for a 37-yard TD pass on the opening drive and Pugh scored a 4-yard run.
Jonathan Nichols scores on a 30-yard run for Chickasaw but Jayden Gaillard responded with a 75-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.
Davis added a 5-yard TD run in the third quarter and Ja’Marion Jenkins caught a touchdown pass from Pugh to close out the scoring for Clarke County (4-0, 2-0 2A Region 1‚ which won its 30th straight region game.
— Hannah Slayton
