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Bears advance to semi-finals
"They had a real good football team," Leroy coach Danny Powell said. Things started out shaky for Leroy as the Bears fumbled the opening kick off to give the ball to Lanett on the Leroy 40-yard line. A costly block in the back cost Lanett a shot at a touchdown and forced a 45-yard field goal attempt that fell short of the goal line. Leroy took over on their 20- yard line and marched 80 yards with Clint Moseley capping the drive with a 25-yard touchdown pass to Steven Scoggins on the Bears' first offensive possession of the game. With kicker Paul Gartman sidelined due to appendicitis, the Bears opted for the two-point try and was unsuccessful. With Leroy leading 6-0 to start the second quarter the Bears were forced to punt on a fourthand 3 from their 38-yard line. Moseley's punt only traveled 11 yards to set up the Lanett Panthers with great field position at the 47-yard line. After two incomplete passes, LaMarcus Wright found Jaun Booker for a 43-yard completion to the Leroy 4-yard line on thirdand 10. Wright snuck in a few plays later to put the Panthers on the board. Leroy's Josh Trotter blocked the extra point to keep the score tied 6-6 with 9:14 left in the first half and it remained that way at intermission. Lanett struck first in the second half when Wright connected with Meiko Jones for an 18-yard TD to put the Panthers up 12-6 with 6:36 to go in the third quarter. The two-point attempt was no good. Phillip Ervin sparked the Bears on the ensuing kick off when the talented sophomore raced 38 yards to set up Leroy with a first-and-10 at the Panther 28-yard line. Detrick "D-Train" Powell trucked in from 2 yards out a few plays later to tie the game 12-12 with 3:32 left in the third. The Leroy special teams struck again on their ensuing kick off when Jerome Taylor stripped the ball from the Panther runner to give the Bears' offense possession at the Lanett 27. Lanett's defense stood tall and forced Moseley into an incompletion on fourth-and-15 to force the turnover. Neither team managed another score the rest of the way sending the game to overtime tied 12-12. Lanett won the coin toss and elected to go on defense to start the overtime period. On first down from the 10-yard line, Michael Bracy galloped for 8 yards to the 2. Powell was stuffed for no gain on second down to set up a third-and-goal. After a 5-yard illegal procedure against Leroy, Moseley sprinted in from 7 yards out on third down to put the Bears on top 18- 12. The Panther defense stuffed the two-point. On the Panthers' first possesion in the overtime period, they were flagged for a chop block on Leroy's Patrick Wilson on first down. It turned out to be a huge penalty forcing them into a firstand goal from the 25-yard line. The Leroy defense batted down four straight pass attempts to preserve the win and send the Bears to the Alabama High School Athletic Association's semi-final round for the fourth straight year. "It is good that we didn't play our best game but found a way to win, but we are concerned that we played like that this late in the season We will have to do a much better job Friday night." coach Powell said. Leroy will meet up with 10-2 American Christian Academy in Tuscaloosa Friday night. The Patriots have only lost one game on the field and that was to the Sweet Water Bulldogs 40-7 in week 10. The other loss for ACA was due to a forfeit against Montgomery Catholic because of an ineligible player. They won the game on the field 18-0.
"They have a really good football team. Their quarterback (Brad Smelly) is outstanding. He threw for over 400 yards last week. He is also one of their better defensive players. He is committed to Alabama as a linebacker or tight end. After his play the last two weeks he may get a look at quarterback," Powell said of the Scout.com two-star athlete.
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