RSS Feed
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Bears win state for second time
The Bears came out slow, but kicked it into high gear just before halftime. “We had a lot of poor field position. It seems like we got the ball on the 20 every time and gave it to them on the 40,” said Leroy Head Coach Danny Powell. The first score of the 2A state championship game came by the Woodland Bobcats on a 9- yard touchdown pass from Trae Strain to Brandon Nunn. Robert Benefield added the Bobcat extra point to give Woodland the 7-0 lead with 9:28 remaining in the second. Woodland’s drive was 11 plays for 64 yards and taking up 5:27 of time. Woodland took advantage of a Bracey fumble midway through the second quarter. The Bobcats drove the ball down to the Leroy 7-yard line before a huge fumble by Strain. Joe Fields picked up the fumble caused by Bryan Lankford, tossed the recovery to Chris Weaver who took it 93 yards for the touchdown. Paul Gartman’s PAT failed, sending the score to 7-6, still in favor of Woodland.
The Bears came out after the half with a huge scoring drive, driving the ball for close to seven minutes. Their final score came when Bracey hit a 6-yard touchdown with 5:46. Leroy’s two-point conversion failed, the score was 12-7 in favor of the team from south Alabama. The Bears would hold off the Woodland Bobcats in the fourth quarter taking home their second state title in three seasons. Leroy’s Ronald Bracy was awarded the Most Valuable Player Award after carrying the ball 20 times for 96 yards and one touchdown. The 93-yard fumble return by Chris Weaver and Joe Fields was the longest return in Super 6 history. The previous record was a 91-yard kick off return by
The game was the lowest scoring 2A championship game since Southern Choctaw defeated Lineville 12-6 in 2002. “These were two really good defensive teams going at it,” said Coach Powell. “Our defense came up wih two big plays to score one touchdown and set up another, and we ran just enough to keep us in the game.” “I thought I was going all the way. I heard him call my name after my recovery and I was going to go on about my business, but as soon as I felt homeboy catch up to me, we made eye contact and I pitched to him,” said Joe Fields about to big fumble recovery. “I have been playing video games all my life and I have always dreamed of a play like this. I have known him [Weaver] since I was knee high to a grasshopper and I knew it was him.”
“This was a very defensive game and we had our opportunities to stay in it, but we fell to them at the end,” said Woodland Head Coach Larry Strain. Although the game was won for the Bears, the celebration would be delayed due to two devastating events following the game. The father or Leroy’s Craig Weaver suffered a severe heart attack following the game. CPR was administered at the scene until EMTs arrived. He was rushed to Princeton Hospital in downtown Birmingham and is reportedly in stable condition.
On the trip home, the team bus was involved in an accident on Highway 5 in Kimbrough at the intersection of Highways 5 and 162. Although no one on the bus was injured, the driver of a 1969 Chverolet, Jessie Gladden of Safford, was injured and taken to the hospital.
|
for larger version       |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
)
)
)
)
)
