This past Thursday night, the Choctaws played host to the Montgomery Academy Eagles in the first round of the AHSAA Class 4A playoffs. It didn’t take long for everyone in attendance to see that Bibb was in no mood to let the Eagles hang around for a long period of time.
The Eagles received the opening kickoff and on the third play of the drive, CJ Morrow tipped an Eagles pass right into the arms of his teammate Brayden Cash. Cash returned the interception 34 yards to set the Choctaws up at the Eagles 17 yard line. Jordan Leverette hit Jay Harris with a quick pass and Harris raced untouched into the end zone for a touchdown. Kevin Duran extra point was good and Bibb was up 7-0.
Both defenses settled in and held the offenses at bay in the next few series. Following an Eagles punt, the Choctaws took over at their own 34 yard line. The Choctaws would go on a 7 play 66 yard drive. Most of the yards were picked up by Harris as he quickly had the Choctaws on the Eagles side of the field. Leverette dropped back on the seventh play of the drive and found Antonius Steele for a 31 yard touchdown reception. Duran again nailed the extra point to make the score 14-0.
On their next drive the Eagles got a quick first down and looked like they were settling down. However on the next play, Parker Cook dropped back to pass and was flushed out of the pocket and as he tried to find running room he was crushed by Ty Burkes and Dylan Goode causing him to fumble the ball. Lyndon Hood recovered the fumble to give the Choctaws the ball at the Eagles 45 yard line.
It took the Choctaws just three plays to cover the 45 yards. After Leverette picked up 17 yards, Harris did the rest as he broke free for a 28 yard touchdown run. Duran was again true on his extra point to move the score to 21-0.
The Choctaws defense again forced a three and out to give their offense possession of the ball again. The Choctaws started the drive on their own 10 yard line. Leverette and Harris both began to find openings and Bibb found themselves on the Montgomery Academy side of the 50. A few plays later, Leverette found Steele open again, this time for a 25 yard touchdown connection. Duran extra point was right down the middle and the rout was on as Bibb led 28-0.
The Eagles had found moving the ball against the Choctaws defense to be very hard on this night. And things were about to get even worse for them. After a pick 6 was called back due to a penalty, the Eagles had a first and 10 from their own 43 yard line. An errant snap over Cook’s head was picked up by Xavier Rhine who returned the fumble 42 yards for a scoop and score. Following Duran fifth extra point, Bibb led 35-0 with just under 3 minutes to play in the first half.
The Choctaws defense decided that they weren’t through harassing the Eagles in the first half and on the first play of their next drive, Morrow mad an over the shoulder catch for an interception. Morrow got behind a wall of blockers and returned the interception all the way back to the Eagles 12 yard line. Harris took the handoff on the first play from scrimmage and went untouched up the middle for his third touchdown of the night. Duran extra point made it 42-0 as the game went into halftime.
Bibb received the kickoff to start the second half and took over at their 39 yard line. Harris picked up 32 yards on three carries and Leverette did the rest as he broke free for a 29 yard touchdown run. Duran made it 49-0 with his extra point.
The starters were removed from the lineup at this point and the Choctaws began to empty their bench on both sides of the ball.
The Choctaws scored their final touchdown when freshman running back Kizyas Clark reversed field and broke a few tackles and raced 40 yards for a touchdown. Duran made his eighth extra point of the game to make the score 56-0.
The Eagles scored with under three minutes to go in the game when Cook hit William Hardin for a 21 yard touchdown reception. The extra point was no good making the final score 56-6 in favor of the Choctaws.
Leverette was 6 of 10 for 104 yards and 3 touchdowns. With his three touchdowns, Leverette became the season record holder for the most touchdown passes in a season at Bibb with 20.
Harris finished the night with 117 yards on 14 carries and 2 touchdowns.
Clark finished the night with 91 yards on just 6 carries and one touchdown.
Leverette added 82 yard on 7 carries and 1 touchdown.
Steele had 2 catches for 61 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Luke Thompson and Ty Burkes led the way on defense with 8 tackles each. Daniel Stringfellow and Trashun Griffin added 6 stops with Griffin recording a sack on the night. Jacob Steele added 5 tackles on the night.
Bibb held the Eagles to -11 yards rushing and just 136 yards of offense on the night.
The Choctaws rolled 444 yards of offense on the night.
Bibb moves to 10-1 on the season and advances to the second round of the playoffs. They will host Jacksonville High School this Friday night at Choctaw Stadium with kickoff slated for 7 pm.
