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Familiar road: Longhorns heading back to Troy

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11-11-2016 -- Linden, Ala. -- Marengo Academy's Weldon Aydelott races for his first touchdown of the night against the Abbeville Christian Generals. The Longhorns won the game 42-17.
11-11-2016 — Linden, Ala. — Marengo Academy’s Weldon Aydelott races for his first touchdown of the night against the Abbeville Christian Generals. The Longhorns won the game 42-17.

LINDEN—Riding a second 200-plus yard rushing effort from Weldon Aydelott, the Marengo Academy Longhorns will be back on a familiar road next week. A 42-17 victory over the Abbeville Christian Academy Generals Friday punched the Longhorns’ ticket back to the state championship game for the fourth year in a row. The ‘Horns last returned home with the title in 2013.

Abbeville won the coin toss and elected to receive. The Generals wasted little time as they connected on a 73-yard pass play on their third play from scrimmage with 10:56 to go in the first quarter. The PAT was successful and the Generals jumped out to a 7-0 lead.

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11-11-2016 — Linden, Ala. — Marengo Academy’s Cameron Peppenhorst (45) runs for some of his 71 yards against the Abbeville Christian Generals as D.J. Nettles (61) watches after blocking an Abbeville player. The Longhorns won the game 42-17.

The Longhorns quickly answered on their first possession as well.  Aydelott found the end zone on a 57-yard run with 9:25 to go in the quarter. The PAT failed and the Longhorns trailed the Generals 7-6.

The Generals looked to be headed to the end zone on their following possession, but the Longhorn defense dug in and forced a field goal atempt. The Generals connected on a 44-yard field goal for a 10-6 lead with 6:27 remaining in the first quarter.

Not to be outdone, the Longhorns marched down the field and Aydelott notched his second touchdown of the first quarter on a 3-yard run with 2:31 to go. Aydelott also punched in the 2-point conversion try and the ‘Horns held a 14-10 lead for the remainder of the quarter.

Abbeville got back on the scoreboard early in the second quarter the Generals blocked a Longhorn punt and returned it 52 yards for a touchdown. The successful PAT gave the Generals a 17-14 lead with 10:21 to go in the second.

On their next possession, the Longhorns successfully converted two fourth downs and with 4:49 to go in the half, Aydelott scored yet again on a 9-yard run. Hayden Megginson’s PAT was successful and the ‘Horns claimed a 21-17 advantage that they would not relinquish for the remainder of the game.

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11-11-2016 — Linden, Ala. — Marengo Academy’s Gavin Tate heads up field after catching a pass against the Abbeville Christian Generals. The Longhorns won the game 42-17.

After a Daniel McCray interception and another successful fourth down conversion, the Longhorns were on the move. A holding penalty seemed to move the Longhorns out of scoring range, but Jacob Beck hit Gavin Tate who came down at the 2-yard line where the Longhorns called a timeout with 2.1 seconds on the clock. Behind an unrelenting team effort, Aydelott landed just across the goal line for his fourth touchdown of the first half as the horn was sounding. The successful PAT pushed the Longhorn to a 28-17 lead to end the first half.

The Longhorns would score two more times in the third quarter to push their lead to 42-17. After Austen Day picked off an Abbeville pass, a Longhorn drive seemed to stall at the 15-yard line and the ‘Horns were faced with another fourth down. With most eyes on Tate, McCray made his way to the end zone and hauled in a 15-yard pass from Beck. The PAT was good and the Longhorns stretched their lead to 35-17 over the Generals with 2:03 to go in the third quarter. On the ensuing Abbeville possession, Beck picked off a General pass and took it in for the final score of the night. With 36 seconds to go in the third quarter, Megginson’s successful PAT gave the Longhorns a 42-17 lead. A relatively uneventful fourth quarter passed and the Longhorns were set to make their plans to return to Troy.

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11-11-2016 — Linden, Ala. — Marengo Academy’s Daniel McCray hauls in a touchdown pass from Jacob Beck against the Abbeville Christian Generals. The Longhorns won the game 42-17.

Aydelott tallied 202 yards rushing on 30 carries with four touchdowns and added eight tackles and a sack on defense. “He’s our workhorse,” head coach Webb Tutt said of Aydelott. “Weldon made some big runs after getting hit. The fourth down touchdown at the half was huge and just keeping drives going.”

Cameron Peppenhorst added 71 yards rushing on 17 carries. Collectively, the Longhorns amassed 316 yards rushing on 59 carries on the night. Beck added 131 yards on 4-for-9 passing, including the McCray touchdown catch. The Longhorns totaled 447 yards of offense on the night.

Defensively, in addition to Aydelott, Brad Collins added five tackles. McCray added four tackles, one assist and one interception. Dalton Daniels added four tackles. Collin Sheffield added two tackles, one assist and two sacks.

Marengo Academy will travel to Troy State University on Friday to battle Chambers Academy for the 2016 AISA Class 1A title. The title game will kickoff at noon.

11-11-2016 -- Linden, Ala. -- Marengo Academy's Jacob Beck returns an interception for a touchdown against the Abbeville Christian Generals. The Longhorns won the game 42-17.
11-11-2016 — Linden, Ala. — Marengo Academy’s Jacob Beck returns an interception for a touchdown against the Abbeville Christian Generals. The Longhorns won the game 42-17.