The Apalachee High School football team’s road woes continued last Friday much to the dismay of head coach Shane Davis.
The Wildcats were stunned 28-21 by Cedar Shoals as AHS fell in Region 8-AAAA play for the second time in as many weeks in Athens. The loss dropped AHS to 5-3 overall and in region play with two games remaining in 2010.
“Maybe I’ve talked about us not playing well on the road too much,” Davis said. “Fortunately, the loss didn’t do much in terms of hurting our playoff chances. However, last Friday was a result of a total lack of enthusiasm from the head coach on down. It starts at the top. It is my job to put a team on the field that is ready to play with passion. We were not ready to do that last week.”
Cedar Shoals, which had lost five straight games entering Friday’s contest, was able to capitalize on special teams miscues by Apalachee, including a blocked punt for a score.
The Jaguars jumped out to a 7-0 lead when Tydrius Bolton went three yards after recovering a blocked punt less than three minutes into the contest. The Wildcats answered, however, on a 7-yard run by Zay Henry with 5:29 left in the first.
AHS would take the lead on a 4-yard run by freshman Stanley Williams with 1:04 left in the quarter and continued to hold that advantage until halftime.
Cedar Shoals would not go away, however, and scored two touchdowns in the third quarter, the first coming on a 22-yard run by quarterback Shaquille Gatlin at the 10:19 mark of the third quarter to even the score.
The Jaguars took the lead on a 1-yard plunge by fullback Adrian Washington with 4:44 left in the third quarter, a drive set up by a Wildcat fumbled punt.
The Jaguars would take a two-touchdown advantage following another special teams miscue by Apalachee. The Wildcats, while attempting another punt, had a snap sail wide of punter Guy Hunt giving Cedar possession at the AHS 27.
The Jaguars would then cash in on a 4-yard run by Washington for a 28-14 lead with 10:27 left.
AHS would pull to within a score on a 10-yard pass from Clint Ashe to Jermaine Smith with less than a minute left but would be unable to recover the enusing onside kick.
The loss overshadowed another strong rushing performance by Wildcat Alex Camp, who finished with 103 yards on 14 attempts. Henry finished with 77 yards while Williams totaled 72 yards on the ground.
Smith hauled in eight catches from Ashe for 76 yards.
“Our coaches and players have always prided ourselves on always being mentally prepared every Friday in the five and a half years we have been here,” Davis said. “I thought we had a good — not great — but good week of practice. We were not overly down about the Clarke Central game. We also had good workouts in the weight room. It’s not about we who are playing but about what we have to do when we take the field. We were not ready to play Friday night and I take the responsibility for that.”
AHS will look to end its two game losing streak this Friday when it hosts Winder-Barrow for the annual Battle of Barrow contest at 7:30 p.m. at R. Harold Harrison Stadium. It will be one of two regular season games remaining in 2010 for the Wildcats who are hoping to qualify for the postseason once again this fall.
