Marengo Academy begins post-season play with decisive 60-14 victory

11-5-15 -- Linden, Ala. -- Marengo Academy's Zac Murphy (16) breaks loose for a touchdown to end the first half of play in Thursday's round one AISA playoff game in Linden, Ala. (WAW | Stewart Gwin)
11-5-15 — Linden, Ala. — Marengo Academy’s Zac Murphy (16) breaks loose for a touchdown to end the first half of play in Thursday’s round one AISA playoff game in Linden, Ala. (WAW | Stewart Gwin)

The Marengo Academy Longhorns scored early and often Thursday en route to a 60-14 routing of the Macon East Academy Knights in round one of the AISA playoffs.

“I don’t think we’ve come out like we should the last two games, but we came out and in three offensive plays we had 21 points,” said Marengo head coach Webb Tutt. “We got somewhat lackadaisical on defense and let them score, then after that, it was exactly what we wanted to do.”

The ‘Horns took the opening kickoff and on the opening play from scrimmage, Hayden Huckabee took it 65 yards to put the good guys up by six a mere 11 seconds into the game. The PAT by Robert Tutt was good, and the ‘Horns were up 7-0.

After the Longhorn defense held Macon East to a three-and-out on their ensuing possession, the ‘Horns again put points on the board when Robert Tutt connected with Hayden Huckabee for a 71-yard touchdown reception with only a minute and 33 seconds off the game clock. The Tutt PAT again was good, putting the Longhorns in business, 14-0.

Macon East got on the board at the 6:57 mark when quarterback Rashad Walker found Austin Reese open for a 10-yard catch. The PAT made it 14-7.

Andrew Martin broke loose on Marengo’s ensuing drive, hitting the open field for a 58-yard touchdown run at the 6:38 mark. Tutt’s PAT pushed the lead to 21-7.

The next score for Marengo came when Martin broke through the line again, this time for a 49-yard run and the 11:02 mark in the second quarter. A failed PAT left it 27-7.

Macon East seemed to be putting together their best drive of the night when the Longhorns struck again. Martin intercepted Knight quarterback Channy Blackwell on the Knight 32-yard line and returned the interception back to the 3. Huckabee punched it in from 3 out, and the Longhorns went up 34-7 with Tutt’s PAT.

With a comfortable lead and a defense preventing almost any offensive production from the Knights, Marengo coach Webb Tutt opted to start substituting his starters.

Cameron Peppenhorst found the end zone from 3 yards out with 5:02 to play in the second, and the PAT made it 40-7.

Martin again found himself on the receiving end of an interception, and this time returned it 55 yards for a pick-six. The PAT was good and the ‘Horns went up 47-7.

Rounding out scoring for the first half was Zac Murphy on a 54-yard rush. With the PAT, the Longhorns went to the locker room with a demanding 54-7 lead.

The second half was marked by a running game clock, and after a scoreless third quarter, Macon East’s Javaun Northcutt recovered a fumbled Marengo snap and returned it 21 yards for a touchdown. The PAT gave the Knights 14 on the board and would close out their scoring for the night.

Marengo’s scoring was punctuated by Frankie Martin when he found the end zone from 21 yards out giving the Longhorns a decisive 60-14 win over the Knights.

In the contest, Marengo racked up a whopping 567 yards of total offense while Macon East only found 102 yards on the night.

Andrew Martin led the ground attack with 3 carries for 107 yards, with Huckabee touching the ball five times for 96 yards.

Defensively, Lawson Smyly led the Longhorns with 10 tackles while Cason Cook had nine.

“This [past] week was not a bad week [of practice] but we were indoors twice, so we didn’t get to practice our passing game and defending the pass as much as we would have liked,” said Tutt.

Marengo will host the winner of Friday’s game between Springwood School and Pickens Academy. Marengo knocked off Pickens Academy earlier in the season, 46-14.

“We’re not looking forward to anything but next week. We can’t start looking out past that yet,” said Tutt.