OFFENSIVE FIREWORKS
Scottsboro holds off Boaz in region scorefest
For a second straight season, Scottsboro opened region play with a win over visiting Boaz in an offensive shootout.
Scottsboro senior quarterback Jake Jones accounted for 361 total and four touchdowns as No. 6-ranked Scottsboro outscored Boaz 42-35 Friday at Trammell Stadium in the Class 5A Region 8 opener for both teams.
Jones rushed for 226 yards on 25 carries and three touchdowns for Scottsboro (3-0, 1-0.) He completed 12 of 15 passes for 135 yards and a touchdown.
“No 7 (Jones) made some big throws, made some big runs,” said Scottsboro head coach Tyler Vann. “Our offense ran the ball well…we were efficient in early downs. No. 14 (Cohen Thompson), No. 12 (Tyler Shelton)n made some big catches, No. 23 (Jayden Gilbert) made a big catch that was a huge play.”
The game was a game where for two and a half quarters neither defense could stop the other team’s offense. Scottsboro scored on every possession except for the last one of the game when they ran out the clock.
Boaz quarterback Tyler Pierce passed for a school single-game record 315 yards and four touchdowns. He completed 14 of 21 passes.
“I don’t know that Tyler Pierce missed a throw all night,” Vann said. “Gutsy win against a really good offensive team.”
The first big break for a defense came with the Scottsboro leading 35-28 when Scottsboro’s Ty Fowler intercepted Pierce. Following the interception and a penalty, the Wildcats begin their next scoring drive from the Boaz 46. Jones scored his third touchdown of the game on a 3-yard run with 11:07 left in the game, and Cole Raeuchle added the point after to increase the lead to 42-28.
“Huge play to make that pick and flip the game,” Vann said Fowler’s interception.
Boaz (2-1, 0-1) cut the lead to 42-35 on the ensuing possession on a 10-yard pass from Pierce to Jakai Hudgins with 4:51 left.
Scottsboro received the opening kickoff and needed only five plays to score on a 60-yard run by Jones. Boaz answered with an eight-play drive that was capped with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Ty Sullivan. Jose Arreguin kicked the first of his five PAT’s. Jacobi Edmondson scored the next Wildcat touchdown on a 1-yard run on the next possession as Scottsboro regained the lead 14-7. Boaz needed only two plays to tie the game as Pierce threw a 78-yard touchdown pass to Hudgins.
Scottsboro was up next to score as Jones threw a 23-yard scoring strike to Cohen Thompson. Boaz tied the game on a 2-yard run before Scottsboro took a 28-21 lead at the half on a Jones 3-yard run with 24 seconds left in the half.
“I thought we did a good job of controlling the clock (before the half) and got it under 25 seconds,” Vann said. “I didn’t want to see them get it back with 45 seconds (or more) left (in the half).”
Boaz tied the game at 28 on the first possession of the second half as Pierce threw to Sage Bennet from 22 yards out, but Scottsboro regained the lead for good on the ensuing possession on an Edmondson 3-yard run with 5:56 left in the third quarter.
Childers finished with 102 yards on 18 carries for Boaz (2-1, 0-1). Hudgins caught nine passes for 196 yards.
The two teams combined for 894 total yards, Scottsboro with 455 totals yards while Boaz had 439.
› Ricky Smith is a sports correspondent for the Sentinel’s sister newspaper, the Sand Mountain Reporter in Albertville.
