CHARLESTON — Focus-wise, it was a complete meltdown.
That’s the best way to describe the Aberdeen High School football team’s 37-6 loss to Charleston here Friday in the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 3A North Half championship game.
Aberdeen came into the game with an 11-3 record and riding an eight-game winning streak. The losses were non-region setbacks to larger classification teams by a total of nine points. But the Tigers, who lost 25 seniors off last year’s team that lost to Collins by eight points in the 2014 state championship game, dominated the senior-laden Bulldogs.
Aberdeen coach Eric Spann said his team fought hard but couldn’t recover from an early 16-point deficit.
Charleston grabbed an 8-0 lead three minutes into the game. It added a second touchdown and its second two-point conversion late in the first quarter to take a 16-point lead.
“We don’t handle adversity well, and we never recovered from the early deficit, both of which came on fourth-down plays,” Spann said. “I’m proud of my team because they fought hard, and when they play hard for four quarters, I’m always proud of that. We had a good year and had a good run with eight wins in a row.”
Although the Bulldogs played hard, the game took an ugly turn when several Aberdeen starters completely lost focus and showed more fire squabbling among themselves, running their mouths about the officiating, complaining about being compared to a teammate, demanding to take a bigger role in the offense, bickering with Charleston fans standing behind the Aberdeen bench, and having testy exchanges with assistant coaches than they did trying to end a three-game losing streak to Charleston.
That’s not to say fingers should be pointed at the entire team, for it was only a handful of seniors who shoulder the blame for their lack of leadership, but as one veteran sideline observer said following the game, “That’s pretty much been the book on Aberdeen for a lot of years. Give them a one- or two-touchdown lead and they’re hard to beat, but when they start squabbling among themselves, it’s all over.”
Although Spann didn’t address his team’s lack of focus, he admitted the Bulldogs lost their poise.
“No doubt, we lost our poise,” Spann said. “That’s one thing I’m not proud about.”
Trailing 24-0 at halftime, Aberdeen played without Memphis commit Jerrick Orr, who sat out the second half after catching one pass for 10 yards the first two quarters.
In its three previous playoff wins, Aberdeen had outscored Belmont, Water Valley, and Cleveland East Side 122-25, but it couldn’t get going against Charleston’s relentless defensive pressure.
Adversity, as Spann described it, hit early and often.
On the Bulldogs’ first play from scrimmage at their 19-yard line, quarterback Tramonte Prather was sacked for a 6-yard loss. The Bulldogs also were penalized half-the-distance after Prather tried to get rid of the ball to avoid the sack.
Three plays later, a Travion Williams’ punt return set the Tigers up at the Aberdeen 31. An incomplete pass and two Billy Kimble runs netted but 4 yards, but quarterback Ahmad Alexander found Williams on a 27-yard touchdown pass on fourth down. He added the two-point conversion pass to Tyjour Jones for an 8-0 lead.
A second three-and-out gave Charleston the ball at midfield and the Tigers mounted a 12-play, 51 yard march. Rickey Sutton capped the drive with a fourth-and-7 run from the 12. Deantre Prince added the conversion to give the Tigers a 16-0 lead with a little more than a minute-and-a-half left in the first quarter.
Starting at its 17, Aberdeen responded with a 13-play drive that stalled at the Charleston 37 and set up a fourth-down punt that was downed at the Tiger 12.
Eight plays later, aided by two unsportsmanlike penalties on the Bulldogs for cursing and a 41-yard Kimble run, Charleston took a 24-0 lead on a 3-yard plunge by Craig Buckley and a conversion.
The Bulldogs came to life briefly in the second half with a three-and-out stand to start the quarter, followed by a 24-yard Prather to Dorian Fields pass completion to the Charleston 38. But Prather fumbled while being dropped for a 16-yard loss to end the threat.
On the ensuing series, Charleston reached the Aberdeen 14, but Kimble fumbled at the 12 and Cameron Blaylock turned the scoop and scoot into an 88-yard touchdown with a little more than two minutes left in the third quarter.
Three minutes into the fourth quarter, Craig Buckley ran through no less than four or five tacklers en route to a 35-yard touchdown. Williams’ interception set up the Tigers’ final score — an Alexander keeper on third-and-eight from the 18. Jadarius Bradford added the kick.
Offensively, Prather and Byron Butler didn’t have time to sneeze and were under constant pressure. They were sacked no less than a half-dozen times for 51 yards in losses. Combined, they threw for 102 yards and an one interception.
As for the running game, Donte Carter led the way with 28 yards on eight carries. He was one of two Bulldogs to finish with positive yardage. As a team, the Dogs garnered -15 yards.
After coming in averaging almost 375 yards per game, Aberdeen finished with 87 yards.
“The biggest thing was we just couldn’t block No. 22 (Tyjour Jones, a 170-pound defensive end),” Spann said. “He gave our offense trouble all night long.”
Despite the 31-point differential, Spann felt his defense played well.
“I thought the defense did a good job,” Spann said.
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