ALICEVILLE — The Aliceville High School football team will carry one of the state’s longest winning streaks into Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) Class 2A playoffs next week.
A 2-yard touchdown run by Deonte Taylor as time expired lifted Aliceville past Hillcrest 42-41 in the regular-season finale for both teams. The victory extended the Yellow Jackets’ winning streak to nine games.
Aliceville had 474 yards on 65 plays, while Hillcrest had 431 yards on 53 plays.
For the Yellow Jackets, Demontez Hinton ran 17 times for 139 yards with a 17-yard touchdown. Taylor ran 13 times for 114 yards with two touchdowns. He scored on a 7-yard run.
Javon Phillips and Jamar Richardson also had rushing touchdowns on runs of 31 and 46 yards, respectively. As a team, the Yellow Jackets ran for 411 yards.
Santiago Taylor was 6 of 9 for 63 yards. Jermarcus Garner had two catches for 29 yards. Phillips had an 84-yard kickoff return for another score.
Albert Wells had a team-high 13 tackles, while Avery Bishop added nine. Nicquavious Craig and Albert Wells had interceptions.
Hillcrest led 21-14 at halftime.
Aliceville (10-1) will play host to Luverne (5-4) to open the AHSAA Class 2A playoffs on Friday night.
n Sulligent 28, South Lamar 20: At Sulligent, Alabama, the Blue Devils turned in gusty defensive effort to beat the Stallions in a county rivalry game Thursday night.
Sulligent led 14-7 at halftime and stretched that lead to 21-7 before surviving a late rally.
For Sulligent (6-4), Marco Mastin rushed nine times for 142 yards with a touchdown. Tyreke Metcalfe ran eight times for 118 yards and two touchdowns.
The Blue Devils finished with 354 rushing yards. They completed one pass in the win. Parrish Nails had the other rushing score for Sulligent. The pass was a 33-yard completion from C.J. McLemore to Tito Gilmore.
South Lamar (6-4) received a 12-yard rushing touchdown and a 21-yard rushing touchdown by Buster Griffin and a 65-yard rushing score from Jace Johnson. Griffin also had a pass interception.
Sulligent will play at Tanner (7-2) in the first round of the AHSAA Class 2A playoffs on Friday night, while South Lamar will play at Spring Garden (9-1) in the opening-round of the AHSAA Class 1A playoffs.
n Gordo 62, Pickens County 12: At Reform, Alabama, the Greewave completed a third-straight undefeated regular season by blowing out the Tornadoes on Thursday night.
Senior quarterback Koy Champan was 7 of 9 for 166 yards and three touchdowns for Gordo (10-0). Aaron Steele ran 15 times for 128 yards and three touchdowns. Xavier Lanier had three receptions for 108 yards and two touchdowns.
Essie Davis returned the opening kickoff 70 yards for a touchdown.
For Pickens County (7-3), Zachary Thomas scored on a 7-yard run and threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Tyjavion Ferguson.
Pickens County will play host to Coosa County (3-7) in an AHSAA Class 1A first-round playoff game Friday night.
n Winfield 45, Lamar County 9: At Vernon, Alabama, the Bulldogs were outscored 33-0 in the second half of their final regular-season game.
Lamar County (6-4) will play host to West End (5-5) in the AHSAA Class 2A playoffs Friday night.
n Pickens Academy 58,
Kingwood Christian 14: At Carrollton, Alabama, the Pirates finished the
season at 5-5 thanks to this victory in the regular-season finale of Alabama Independent School Association (AISA) play.
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