By BRET H. MCCORMICK, Journal Sports
Bodie Van Dyke specializes in onside kicks.
He’d been executing them to near perfection all season long, stealing possessions for Alexandria Senior High time and time again.
His first attempt Friday night did not go as planned, but he got a chance to make up for it with a second opportunity and the Trojans trailing by six in the quarterfinals of the Division I Select playoffs.
When they needed his flawless execution the most, Van Dyke kicked the ball into Karr’s front line and dove after the football. He came out of the bottom of the scrum with the football and handed it to an official, but the officiating crew ruled Karr had recovered the kick.
That allowed the Cougars (11-1) to run out the clock on a 40-34 victory to knock ASH out of the playoffs and advance to the semifinals.
“‘Coach, he took it from him. They had it,’” Bachman said when asked what explanation he was given by officials. “All I can tell you is I called him this morning and said, ‘Bodie, I just need to know, no bullcrap, did you take it from him?’ He told me, ‘Coach, I had it the entire time.’”
Bachman lamented the Trojans’ lost opportunities, which included an inability to score at the end of the first half and three straight empty possessions in the third quarter as the game got away from them.
ASH (8-5) went three-and-out on its first possession of the second half, turned the ball over on downs in the red zone on its second possession and then went three-and-out again late in the quarter.
After a late second-quarter touchdown by star receiver TaRon Francis gave the Cougars a six-point lead at the half, Karr made it 20 unanswered with two more TDs in the third quarter as John Johnson hit Oliver Mitchell for a 7-yard score and Daejawn Smith took a draw and raced 43 yards for a touchdown.
“We had a couple of opportunities to really flip the game,” Bachman said. “Credit to their kids, they made some plays.”
Trailing 40-20 heading into the fourth quarter, the Trojans didn’t quit.
Senior quarterback Ty Feaster hit Darius Washington for a 70-yard touchdown on a play-action post route with 6:25 remaining in the game. Washington caught the ball near midfield and outran his defender to cut the Cougars’ lead to 40-27.
The Trojans cut the deficit to 40-34 with 59 seconds remaining when JT Lindsey finished a 12-play drive with a 4-yard touchdown run, setting the stage for the onside kick drama.
“I knew Alexandria would be tough, especially with the quarterback they have,” Karr coach Brice Brown said, according to Crescent City Sports. “We’ve faced good quarterbacks, but he can throw it to the field, to the opposite hash, and their offensive line is good and they have speed. We knew it would be a tough, four-quarter game and it was.”
The Trojans scored on each of their first three possessions of the game as they traded touchdowns with the Cougars, who scored the first four times they had the ball to take a 26-20 halftime lead.
Lindsey caught a 4-yard pass from Feaster in the corner of the end zone to cap a 13-play, 72-yard drive and tie the score at 6 in the first quarter.
Feaster finished off another 13-play drive, this one covering 76 yards, when he plowed in from 1 yard out on a QB sneak to tie the score at 13 early in the second quarter.
While the first two possessions featured ball-control offense that kept the ball out of Karr’s hands and allowed the Trojan defense to stay fresh, the third drive lasted just three plays when Lindsey took a toss and burst through the Karr defense for a 75-yard touchdown run.
Johnson threw for 307 yards and three touchdowns on 16-of-21 passing to lead the Cougar attack. Francis, a junior LSU commitment, caught two touchdown passes, while Smith rushed for two scores.
“I thought the quarterback played really well,” Bachman said. “He put the ball in some tight windows.”
In the first half, the Trojans ran 29 plays and gained 238 yards of offense. They finished the game with 444 yards.
Lindsey rushed for 177 yards and had three total touchdowns, while Feaster completed 18 of 27 passes for 220 yards and two touchdowns. Feaster also rushed for 45 yards and a touchdown. Washington was the Trojans’ leading receiver with nine catches for 125 yards and a TD.
Bachman said he was disappointed to see the season end for a special group of Trojan seniors, including Feaster and others such as receiver EJ Scott, center Cam Calderon, defensive tackle Jeremiah Jeffers-Wright, linebacker Omarion Ford, free safety Jason Blackwell and cornerbacks Amyrion Mingo and Jaylin Johnson.
“I’m very proud of this group,” he said. “This group has been incredible. This group is super competitive. They rose to the occasion week after week. This is one of those groups that’s really hard to say goodbye to. It’s hard to see all those high-character kids go out the door.”