Photo: Gadsden City’s Kerrell Yow (right) attempts to run after a catch as Muscle Shoals’ Christian Pritchard (2) defends during the Titans’ 33-28 victory in high school football on Aug. 22 at GCHS. (Chris McCarthy/Messenger)
By Chris McCarthy, Publisher/Managing Editor
Gadsden City’s resilience and mental toughness were on full display on Thursday, Aug. 22.
In a battle of ranked Class 6A teams, the ninth-ranked Titans rallied for a 33-28 season-opening victory over No. 8 Muscle Shoals in high school football at GCHS.
Gadsden City set up the winning touchdown in spectacular fashion. With the Trojans leading 28-27 and GCHS facing a fourth down and 6 from the Muscle Shoals 26-yard line with less than two minutes remaining, quarterback Kai Franklin and receiver Matthew Sparks connected for 16 yards to the Trojan 10.
Senior halfback T.J. Worthy found the end zone on the next play, and following a failed two-point conversion attempt, Gadsden City led 33-28 with 1:19 left in regulation.
Christopher Tomas’ deep kickoff and an outstanding coverage tackle by Ji’Zeric Wynn pinned the visitors at their own 22. Things only got worse for the Trojans from there when two short pass completions by quarterback Sam Clemmons were sandwiched by a pair of bad snaps that lost over 30 yards. The Titan faithful started celebrating in earnest after Clemmons’ pass attempt on fourth down and 21 fell to the turf.
“I thought that the kids played hard, but we as coaches have to do a better job in managing the game,” said GCHS head coach Ali Smith. “But our kids played their tails off against a really good football team, so we’ll take that.”
Trailing 14-7 at halftime, the Titans scored a pair of touchdowns during a span of two minutes and 35 seconds in the third quarter.
Muscle Shoals took the second-half kickoff 37 yards to the GCHS 18, where Jorge Garcia lined up for a 35-yard field goal attempt. But Gadsden City blocked the kick and Kerrell Yow caught the ball in the air and raced 82 yards for a touchdown. The PAT failed but the Titans had closed the gap to 14-13.
The ensuing Trojan possession ended with an intentional grounding penalty on fourth down, giving the ball back to the hosts at the Muscle Shoals 30. Gadsden City faced a fourth and 15 five plays later, but Worthy gathered in a short pass from Franklin and weaved through the Trojan defense for the score and a 19-11 lead at the 5:05 mark of the third period.
Muscle Shoals regained the advantage when Keivay Foster’s interception at the GCHS 21 eventually resulted in Nat Hampton’s one-yard touchdown run and Garcia’s extra point, putting the Titans in a 21-19 deficit.
A 15-yard catch by Keyshawn Curry and a 17-yard run by Worthy helped set up Gadsden City’s next score, a 12-yard strike from Franklin to Alex Swafford with 6:41 remaining in the game. Franklin and Curry hooked up on the two-point conversion for the 27-21 lead.
But Muscle Shoals answered in kind less than two minutes later, as Jaquess Greene capped off a five-play, 68-yard drive with a 31-yard TD run on fourth down. Garcia pushed through the PAT to make it a one-point Trojan lead, which soon disappeared after Worthy’s third touchdown of the night.
Worthy finished with 133 combined yards and three touchdowns. He rushed for 96 yards and two TDs on 19 carries and caught four passes for 37 yards and another score.
In his first appearance as a full-time starter, Franklin was 22-for-40 in passing for 245 yards and two touchdowns.
Sparks had seven receptions for 73 yards, while Yow caught five passes for 74 yards. Swafford had four receptions for 35 yards, while Curry caught three passes for 26 yards.
Greene finished with 118 rushing yards on 10 carries, while Hampton ran 15 times for 58 yards. Clemmons completed 7 of 20 pass attempts for 71 yards.
Gadsden City’s first drive of the season was a success, as a 70-yard, nine-play possession ended with a 2-yard touchdown run by Worthy along with Tomas’ PAT. A 30-yard pass completion from Franklin to Yow set up Worthy’s score. That turned out to be the last score of the first half for GCHS.
On its second series of the game, Muscle Shoals drove 80 yards in 13 plays to the Titan 4, from where Greene found the end zone. Garcia’s extra point tied it at 7-7 with 3:33 left in the first quarter.
The next four Gadsden City possessions ended in two punts and a pair of failed fourth down conversion attempts. In the meantime, Greene’s 55-yard touchdown run early in the second period sent the visitors into halftime leading 14-7.
“Muscle Shoals is one of the top programs in 6A, year in and year out, and [head] coach [Scott] Badsden does a great job of having his players prepared,” said Smith. “They gave us all we could handle tonight. We just have to keep working hard and get better every week.”
