High school basketball did not start on Friday night. But Central-Florence High and Westminster Christian did post a basketball score on the football field.
Central-Florence scored on the final play of regulation and followed with a two-point conversion to escape with a 70-69 victory over the visiting Wildcats. The touchdown came on a 30-yard pass from Jackson Brewer to Drake Dorsett. Jaden Smith then won the game with a two-point conversion run.
Central-Florence had leads of 34-14 at halftime and 54-34 in the fourth quarter. Wildcat quarterback Brandon Musch accounted for 577 yards and nine touchdowns, according to AL.com. The touchdowns put Musch in a tie for second with three other players in AHSAA history. Decatur Heritage quarterback Brayden Kyle holds the record with 11 touchdowns in a 76-60 win over Ragland during the Class 1A playoffs last season.
Central had over 600 yards in offense. The 139 total points scored by both teams is tied for second in AHSAA history. The record was set in 2016 when Childersburg beat Central-Coosa, 82-64.
*Phenix City Central pushed national power IMG Academy in a nationally televised game on Friday night. But the Ascenders found a way to emerge with a 41-26 win.
Central scored on the game's first play when quarterback Jaylen Epps and TJ Parker hooked up on an 86-yard touchdown. After forcing a turnover, Central scored again, this time on a 30-yard run by Karmello English. The Red Devils eventually built a 19-6 lead, but the Ascenders had a 26-19 lead at halftime.
Evan Dickens had three rushing touchdowns for IMG Academy.
*Guntersville did on Friday night what the Wildcats have done a bunch in recent years. The Wildcats won a football game. This time, Guntersville went on the road and ran away from Buckhorn in a 52-21 win over the Bucks.
Since the start of the 2019 season, Guntersville is 25-6. This is the second time in three seasons that Guntersville started the season with a 6-0 record. Last season, Guntersville dropped the opener and then won nine in a row.
*A pair of heavyweights slugged it out on Friday, with three-time defending Class 7A champion Thompson finding a way to knock off defending 6A champion Clay-Chalkville, 17-14. The Warriors' defense forced four turnovers and had a goal-line stand in the final three minutes to snap the Cougars' 20-game winning streak.
Thompson junior running back AJ Green rushed for nearly 150 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
*Daphne won the first half. Spanish Fort won the second half. Spanish Fort won the game, 18-15, over Daphne.
Talk about a tale of two halves. Daphne was in control with a 15-0 lead at halftime. Spanish Fort stormed back, and the winning score, on a 5-yard touchdown run by Sawyer Wilson.
*Austin stared down one of the top offensive attacks in the state on Friday night. The Black Bears shut down a Gardendale attack that averaged 45 points per game coming into the non-region game in Decatur. Austin executed its defensive plan to near perfection and came away with a 17-10 victory.
The game-winning score came on the opening play of the fourth quarter when Austin's Gavin Fuqua raced into the end zone from five yards out. From there, the Black Bears made play after play to keep Gardendale from tying the game. Fittingly, a big defensive play ended the final threat when Austin's Jeremiah Ayers sacked Gardendale quarterback Tyler Nelson at the Black Bears' 30-yard line in the final seconds.
To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email steve.irvine@1819news.com.
Don't miss out! Subscribe to our newsletter and get our top stories every weekday morning.
