Prattville ends Auburn High's dream season

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PRATTVILLE — There were few answers.

Few answers for Prattville’s offense and even fewer answers to the Lions’ stout defense.

And by the end of Auburn High’s 42-0 drubbing at the hands of Prattville in the third round of the Class 6A playoffs, there were no definitive answers to why the Tigers stumbled so badly.

“That’s just a very good football team — just a complete team in all phases,” Auburn head coach Tim Carter said. “We couldn’t make any plays to put pressure on them, and you have to do that to have a chance.”

And Auburn’s chances vanished early, as the Lions led 21-0 at the end of the first quarter and 35-0 at halftime.

Auburn was able to muster just 41 first-half yards, while Prattville used big plays to rack up more than 200 in the first two quarters.

“The kids were trying, but they were putting some pressure on us,” Carter said. “(Quarterback) Calvin (Jenkins) put some passes in there, but we couldn’t hang on to them.”

Auburn’s magical season comes to and end with a 12-1 mark — the loss ended the best season in AHS history. The Tigers’ senior class also leaves as the winningest senior class in school history.

“It was a great year,” Carter said. “This isn’t the way we wanted to end it, but the future is bright and the program is heading in the right direction.

“With the seniors, I can’t tell you how much they mean to me because of how far they’ve come. They were role players last year, and led us to the undefeated season this year.”

Prattville started fast, forcing an Auburn punt on the game’s opening drive. Then, the Lions struck big with a 36-yard pass from quarterback Sam Gibson to Cornelius Fenderson down to the Auburn 19.

Gibson put the Lions on the board five plays later with a 4-yard scamper.

The first play of a drive proved to be big once again for the Lions on their next possession.

Following another Auburn punt, Jerodis Williams broke loose for 63 yards down to the 29. Three plays later, Williams broke free again, scoring from 26 yards out to make it a 14-0 game with 1:48 to play in the first.

Things got worse for Auburn right after the Lions’ touchdown as a three-and-out led to another punt. But the punt didn’t get off as, for the second times in as many weeks, Prattville blocked a punt and returned it for a touchdown and the 21-0 lead.

In the second, Gibson again hit Auburn deep on the first play of a drive, this time finding

Taylor Harris for 49 yards down to the 7.

On the next play, Gibson was heading into the end zone, but fumbled at the 1. However, the ball bounced right to Earl Lucas, who recovered the loose ball for another Prattville touchdown.

Williams, an Alabama-Mississippi All-Star selection, who finished with 155 yards, tacked on his second touchdown of the night later in the second, scoring from 5 yards out with 2:52 to play in the half.

For the game, Prattville tallied 362 total yards, while Auburn managed just 78.

Latrell Jenkins was Auburn leading rusher, carrying 11 times for 23 yards.

Calvin Jenkins tallied just 3 yards on 15 carries and was sacked six times by the Lions’ defense.

He didn’t fare much better in the air, completing just 5-of-23 passes for 40 yards.

tpeavy@oanow.com | 737-2568