ALJ steamrolls McIntosh

THOMASTON — The Eagles of A.L. Johnson (6-2, 4-2) soared to victory Friday night beating McIntosh by a score of 56-20, thereby solidifying a spot in the Class 1A state playoffs.

“It means a lot;” Coach Mose Jones said when asked about the playoff berth, “it means a lot for our kids. We’ve accomplished one of our goals we set for ourselves at the beginning of the year.”

As hard as it might be to imagine, the score is not indicative to the actual domination displayed by A.L. Johnson. The Eagles outgained McIntosh (1-7, 1-5) by 343 yards between and beyond the hashes, bested McIntosh in seemingly every statistical category except for passing and controlled the clock the entire ballgame.

The Eagles began the rout almost immediately after receiving the opening kick-off. A good return from Warren Boykin would set up ALJ’s offense inside Demon territory at the 29 yard line. In just a matter of four plays, Lawrence Burrell would cross the goal line from 11 yards out. The 2-point conversion gave A.L Johnson an 8-to-0 lead with 10:51 left in the opening quarter.

The Demons’ offense then went backwards three straight plays thanks to good pressure from ALJ’s front seven. The Demons were forced to punt, giving the Eagles good field position once again.

The following drive would be more methodical. A speed sweep, screen pass and smart quarterback play enabled the Eagles to reach the 8 yard line in six plays, setting up a first-and-goal. Kinzell Bridges capped off the drive after he muscled his way up the gut into the end zone from five yards out. Zynell McGhee converted the 2-point attempt and A.L. Johnson led 16-0 with 5:12 left in the first.

The Demons fumbled on the first play of their next series, giving the Eagles the ball right back only eight-yards shy of the red zone.

The Eagles ran six plays in three minutes, culminating in a fourth and goal opportunity at the 6 yard line. Ladarius Carr dropped back amid pressure only to escape the rush by way of some pretty nifty footwork that allowed the senior QB to scramble into the end zone. After another conversion run, this time by Michael Croom, the Eagles’ lead sat at 24-0.

At this point in the contest, A.L.J had ran twenty offensive plays compared to McIntosh’s four.

McIntosh would get off the snide its following offensive possession. D.J Adams got the drive started with a first down completion. He would add to his stats two plays later when he scampered 15 yards for the Demons’ first points of the evening. The failed PAT saw the score at 24-6 with 55 seconds still left in the first.

After another fleet-footed scramble from Carr, Croom finished things off from one-yard out and the score was 32-14 with 8:35 left before the break.

The Eagles struck once more before half by way of a fullback dive to Bridges. Boykin caught the 2-point attempt pass and A.L Johnson took a commanding 40-14 lead going into intermission

The next score wouldn’t come until 31 seconds were left in the third quarter. Croom would put his stamp on the win with a 47-yard TD run. Jeremy Mitchell would make a nice snag on the conversion attempt, giving the Eagles a 49-14 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Burrell led the running attack with 120 yards on 14 carries and one score.

Croom racked up 91 yards on only five carries on his way to scoring one touchdown of his own.

Boykin and Mitchell accounted for 73 of the 75 yards through the air.

Bridges also had an impact on limited carries as he finished with two touchdowns.

Carr had a good night, both on the ground and through the air. He ended the night 7-of-14 with 75 yards as well as nearing the century mark in rushing. Carr was responsible for two scores.

Adams led the Demons, scoring all three touchdowns and finishing 13-for-18, totaling 178 yards and two TDs through the air.

Demarcus Barnes picked up 151 yards on 12 carries. Barnes also led the Demon defense in tackles with 9.

The stage is set next week as A.L. Johnson will host the Marengo Panthers in a county rivalry with playoff positioning on the line.

“They’re a good squad but so are we.” Jones said in response to the enticing match-up next week. “ If we stop the run like we did tonight we’ll be fine.”