A-J rally falls short in state playoff game

The Wildcats trailed 21-0 before fighting back to within six points in a 33-21 loss to Mt. Carmel in the quarterfinals of the Class 3A high school football playoffs at The Pit last Saturday afternoon.

“I’m so proud of our kids,” A-J football coach Brett Detering said. “They continued to scratch and claw. There was no quit in them. It was a fight to the final whistle.”

The Wildcats finished as the last team from deep Southern Illinois to remain  in the playoffs and ended their season with a 9-3 record.

The Golden Aces, 11-1, advance to play Greenville in the Class 3A semifinals next week.

The Golden Aces wasted little time at the outset, displaying a potent rushing attack.

Three plays into the game, running back Dallas Cook broke free and ran  deep into Wildcats territory before being knocked out of bounds by A-J’s Jaden Ayers.

Six plays later, Cook scored on a 2-yard run. Pete Condol’s extra point kick gave the Golden Aces a 7-0 advantage with 8:32 remaining in the first quarter.

After A-J failed on a fourth down conversion play, Mount Carmel took over posession but were forced to punt. A good punt forced the Wildcats to begin their next drive from deep in their own territory.

A-J quarterback Brady Wright was sacked near the goal line forcing the Wildcats to punt, giving the Golden Aces good field position.

Mount Carmel quarterback Sheldon Hannah scored on a 3-yard run following a 9-play drive. Condol’s kick boosted Mount Carmel to a 14-0 lead with 9:32 remaining in the second quarter.

Faced with a fourth down and short yardage situation on the next drive, A-J quarterback Wright was stopped short of the first down.

Following a brief drive by the Golden Aces, Nathaniel Wagner broke free for a 52-yard TD run. Mount Carmel lead 21-0  with 5:57 remaining in the first half.

The Wildcats offense then came to life following a nifty kickoff  return by Brent Taylor. Twelve plays later, Wright scored on a 7-yard TD run. Ayer’s extra point kick pulled A-J back to 21-7 with 41 seconds remaining in the first half.

A-J’s Dalton Baker then intercepted a Hannah pass to halt the Golden Aces as time ran out in the first half.

The Wildcats had to punt on their first possession of the second half and the Golden Aces’ offense went back to work.

Levi Laws scored on a 6-yard run to cap a seven-play drive. The conversion run failed but Mount Carmel had soared ahead 27-7 with 8:14 remaining in the third quarter.

Fueled around a 57-yard pass from Wright to Ayers, the Wildcats moved deep into Golden Aces territrory but were halted by a deflected pass on a fourth down.

A fired up Wildcats defense then forced Mt. Carmel to punt from deep in their own territory. A-J’s Taylor returned the punt all the way to the Golden Aces’ 11-yard line.

On the ensuing play, Wright scored despite being hit by several tacklers behind the line of scrimage. He plowed his way through to the goal line to pull A-J to 27-14 with 4:03 remaining in the third quarter.

“Wright got hit at the line of scrimmage and our line was still on their blocks and it was a big pile moving toward the goal line,” Detering said.

On their first play following the kickoff, the Golden Aces fumbled and Taylor recovered for A-J. Six plays later, Wright connected with Ayers on a 13-yard TD pass. Ayers’ extra point kick pulled the Wildcats to 27-21 with 1:07 remaining in the third quarter.

“We felt getting it down to 27-21 in the third quarter, we’re right back in it,” Detering said. “But we knew they would go back to the things they did in the past (first half).”

On the next drive, A-J’s Judah Walker stopped Cook to force a fourth down and short yardage situation near midfield. On fourth down though, the Wildcats couldn’t stop Cook from picking up the first down.

On the very next play, Cook broke loose for a 47-yard TD run to close out the scoring with 10:54 remaining in the game.

“It was fourth and one and we needed a stop on that drive,” Detering said. “It just didn’t work out. We were a couple inches short once or twice.”

The Wildcats were halted on their next drive by an incomplete pass on fourth down. Andrew McMahan then sacked Hannah to stop the Golden Aces on their next drive.

In the waning minutes, Wright was halted on a fourth down and short yardage situation to thwart the Wildcats final drive of the game.

The Golden Aces held the ball the rest of the way to run out the clock and preserve the win.

Golden Aces fullback Cook rushed for 106 yards.  Running back Wagner also had a big game, rushing for 159 yards and scoring on a pair of lengthy touchdowns.

“We were concerned about the strength of their offensive line and how good they were,” Detering said. “We were a little bit undersized and we knew they had a good fullback, but the halfback had a much bigger day than we thought he would.”

Wright was A-J’s leading rusher with 28 yards, and was 19 of 37 passing for 240 yards.

Ayers had 102 yards on 6 receptions, Baker had 34 yards on 4 receptions, Jay Kemp had 32 yards on 2 receptions and Taylor had 26 yards on 5 receptions.

“When you make the playoffs you know your season is going to end with a loss if you don’t win it all,” Detering said.

“I hate to see a season come to an end because of the relationships with the players and the way they’ve committed to the program. Our kids are very deserving and certainly worked for this.”