By Chris McCarthy, Publisher
Whatever else transpires over the remainder of the year, the 2024 Coosa Christian football team can say that it ran the table against in-state competition in the regular season.
In a matchup of ranked Class 2A teams, the No 3. Conquerors used a powerful running game to dispatch No. 7 Tuscaloosa Academy, 35-21, on Friday, Oct. 25 in Gadsden.
“We ran the heck out of the ball tonight,” said Coosa Christian head coach Mark O’Bryant. “We weren’t very effective passing the ball, so we felt like we could give (Tuscaloosa Academy) some problems if we got into double tight end (formation), and that’s what happened. Our line opened up some big holes, and Kanon (Wilson) and J’Alan (Terry) did a good job of finding those holes and getting some big yards.”
Terry had 26 carries for 173 yards and two touchdowns, while Wilson gained 144 yards on 19 carries. John David Justus rushed 10 times for 41 yards and a touchdown.
“I just heated up as the game went along, just like everyone else did,” said Wilson, one of the team’s 10 seniors. “We knew that it would be back-and-forth, kind of like the Fyffe game, and we prepared for it and we executed. We just played our hearts out and gave it everything we had. We set a goal to be undefeated this year, and after that loss to Pierce County (in Week 1), we made sure that we weren’t going to lose another game.”
O’Bryant was impressed with the performance of Tuscaloosa Academy senior quarterback Preston Lancaster, who was 18 for 36 in passing for 217 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another score.
“I’ve been saying all year that he’s one of the top three quarterbacks in the state, across classification. If he was 6-2 (in height), he’d could [play at any college] in America.”
Although the Conquerors never trailed during the game, the Knights (7-2, 5-1) stayed within single digits in the first heal and tied the score at 14-14 when Lancaster’s 1-yard touchdown run capped off the opening possession of the second half.
But Coosa responded in kind on the next series, a drive during which Wilson accounted for 42 of the possessions’ 60 yards. Justus and Jorge Cantellano capped off the series with a 3-yard TD run and PAT, respectively, at the 5:05 mark of the third quarter. Cantellano was 5-for-5 in extra points for the game.
The Knights’ ensuing drive was halted after 68 yards and eight plays on an interception by L.J. Mostella at the Conqueror 8-yard line. Coosa drove 92 yards in nine plays to set up Allen’s 1-yard TD run with 8:41 left in the game, making it 28-14 in favor of the hosts.
But Tuscaloosa Academy answered five plays later with Lancaster’s 5-yard touchdown pass to Isaak Edmondson to draw the Knights within seven points.
It was at that point that the Conqueror offensive line kicked it up a notch and the Knight defense began to wear down. Taking over at its own 39-yard line, Coosa put together a 14-play drive that featured four successful third and fourth down conversion attempts while draining off almost six minutes of game time. Facing a fourth down and goal from the Knight 3, O’Bryant decided to forego a field goal attempt – which if successful would have given Coosa a double-digit lead – and instead go for six points. The decision went the Conquerors’ way, as Wilson’s touchdown run pushed Coosa’s advantage to 14 points with 1:58 remaining.
“I felt that (Tuscaloosa Academy) couldn’t stop us at that point, so I just rolled the dice on what we had,” said O’Bryant.
The Knights’ rally attempt on the following possession was short-circuited after four plays when Dylan East forced a fumble that was recovered by Eli Motes at midfield. The Conquerors knelt out the remaining 60 seconds to secure the win.
Clete O’Bryant led the way defensively with nine tackles, followed by Mostella with seven,
Dylan Edwards with six and Kyle Johnson with five. Brayden Williams had two sacks.
After punting on its first possession of the game and coming up short on a fourth down conversion attempt on its second series, Coosa drew first blood when Johnson’s interception midway through the first quarter led eight plays later to an 18-yard touchdown run by Allen.
Tuscaloosa County tied the game at 7-7 at 8:30 of the second period by way of Lancaster’s 18-yard TD pass to Hookena Rigo. But the Conquerors took a 14-7 lead into intermission courtesy of Wilson’s 5-yard TD run with 29 seconds left in the first half.
As the Region 6 champion, Coosa (9-1, 6-0) hosts Red Bay in the first round of the state playoffs on Nov. 8.
“[Tuscaloosa County] is a very good team, and that was a gauntlet for us tonight,” said Mark O’Bryant. “We’ve just got to heal up over the next couple of weeks while we continue to get better.”
