Messenger file photo by Chris McCarthy
By Taylor Beck/For Sand Mountain Reporter
Sardis suffered its second loss of the season on Friday, Oct. 13, as visiting Scottsboro prevailed 41-21 in a Class 5A Region 7 contest at Sardis City.
The Lions (5-2, 1-2), who fell behind 21-7 at halftime, never found a way to stop the Wildcats’ triple option rushing attack and climb back into the game. Sardis allowed Scottsboro to rush for an unofficial total of 377 yards.
“I think they were better coached [and] I think they wanted it more than we did,” said Sardis head coach B.J. Brooks. “They kicked our tails, and that’s on me. I’ve got to do a better job of getting these guys prepared.
“We didn’t always do our job,” Brooks said of his team’s lack of execution defensively. “It’s tough when you play a team that runs the triple option. If you don’t do your job, everybody in the stadium knows it. They may not know who’s got dive or who’s got pitch, but they know somebody didn’t do his job.”
On Scottsboro’s opening possession following a Sardis punt, quarterback Jake Jones rushed for a three-yard touchdown to cap off a four-play, 52-yard drive. The goal line carry was set up by a 45-yard scamper by Jacobi Edmondson, Jr.
Sardis answered with a 12-play, 80-yard scoring drive to tie the game 7-7. With 3:51 to play in the first quarter, Blaze Gerhart (pictured above) muscled his way into the end zone from three yards out.
After Scottsboro’s next drive ended with a punt, Sardis threw an interception on the ensuing possession. Reed Potter picked off the football at the Sardis 27-yard line with 1:01 to play in the opening quarter. On the next play from scrimmage, Edmondson split the Lion defense for a 27-yard touchdown to put Scottsboro back in front at 14-7.
In the second quarter, Edmondson broke through the Sardis defense for his third touchdown of the night. With 3:52 on the clock, Edmondson capped off the drive with a 42-yard TD run to widen the lead to 21-7. Scottsboro rolled nearly five minutes off the clock during the possession.
With 4:57 remaining in the third quarter, Scottsboro’s Jayden Gilbert took a pitch 12 yards for a touchdown to extend the lead to 28-7. The Wildcats drove 92 yards in 12 plays and ran more than seven minutes off the clock.
The Lions used little time to answer on Sardis’ first possession of the second half. With 3:28 in the third quarter, Gerhart capped off a four-play, 80-yard drive with a six-yard touchdown run to cut the Scottsboro lead to 28-14. The score was set up by a 55-yard run by Gerhart on the first play of the drive.
On the following Scottsboro possession, Antonio Brocks rushed four yards for a touchdown to finish off a six-play, 66-yard drive to give the Wildcats a 34-14 advantage with 24 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Sardis blocked the PAT attempt.
The next Lion drive stalled out due to a high snap that put Sardis in a third and long situation that resulted in a fourth down punt. Scottsboro took advantage of the resulting quality field position and scored four plays later when Keelan Alvarez rushed 35 yards for the touchdown and a 41-14 Scottsboro lead with 8:45 to play in regulation.
Sardis scored its final points of the game with less than a minute to play. To finish off a 10-play, 79-yard drive, Chapman threw a five-yard touchdown pass.
Gerhart ran 21 times for 156 yards and caught three passes for 54 yards.
Chapman was 14 of 22 in passing for 153 yards. Lowery had seven receptions for 73 yards, while Morton caught three passes for 26 yards.
Levi Martin finished with 19 tackles.
Next week, the Lions travel to their rivals just down U.S. Hwy. 431 in Boaz for another Region 7 showdown.