Snook Christian 45, Abbeville Christian 42

Eagles secure playoff spot in first season of AISA competition

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SUMMERDALE, Ala. — The Snook Christian Academy Eagles survived an offensive juggernaut to secure a spot in the AISA Class A playoffs with a 45-42 victory over Abbeville Christian Academy Friday night at Summerdale Middle School.

“This is a huge win for us,” said Snook Head Coach Keith Smith, who led his team to the playoffs in just its second year of existence. “I am super proud of these kids. We’ve battled through a lot of injuries this season and a lot of these kids never left the field tonight, playing every down on both sides of the ball. That’s hard to do. We don’t have a lot of quantity, but I’ll put the quality of our players up against anybody.”

The two teams combined for 874 yards of offense, scoring a total of 87 points, 28 in the first quarter alone.

Quarterback Camaje Casey led the way for the Eagles, rushing for 162 yards on 14 carries and three touchdowns, while completing 4-of-8 passes for 137 yards and two scores. Garrett Phillips and La’Darious Roper caught a touchdown pass each with Phillips adding a rushing touchdown, finishing with 94 yards on nine carries.

But in a game with so much offense, one yard made the difference between the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat for the Eagles.

After the Generals knotted the score at 42 a piece with 10:12 to go in the fourth quarter, the Eagles marched 52 yards in seven plays, including a 15-yard run by Casey and a 33-yard pass play from Casey to Roper.

“We had the ball, first-and-goal at the 5 and I thought we could just punch it in from there,” Smith said. “But Abbeville did a good job stopping the run (allowing just one yard in three plays). I thought about going for it, running a toss sweep and taking our chances. We had a kick blocked last week and that was in the back of my mind also. But we’ve got a good kicker and I had faith that he would come through for us.”

His faith was justified as Gavin Tooley’s 20-yard fieldgoal split the uprights, giving the Eagles a 45-42 lead with 6:38 to play.

Abbeville would take over on their own 45-yard line and go 43 yards in 11 plays, but the drive would stall at the Snook 12. With a third-and-seven, the Eagles were able to flush the General quarterback out of the pocket and force an incompletion.

A final pass attempt on fourth down sailed over everyone’s head and a penalty against the Eagles resulted in the ball being placed half the distance to the goal, one yard short of a first down, giving the Eagles back the ball with a minute and a half to play.

The Eagles (2-7 overall, 2-2 in Class A Region 1 play) will close out the 2018 season on the road against Crenshaw Christian Academy (7-1, 4-0) Friday night before traveling to Bratt, Florida, to take on Northview Oct. 26.