Sylacauga’s explosive second quarter steers it past Holtville

It took seven minutes and eight seconds for Sylacauga to turn a 2-0 deficit into a 28-9 blowout.

Holtville, playing with its backup quarterback and without its fastest player in Weston Tubbs, fell 35-16 on the road Friday after a 28-point second quarter slam down by the Aggies.

“I’m thinking, ‘We’ve gotta get something to change the momentum.’ And we didn’t,” Holtville coach Jason Franklin said. “We didn’t ever change the momentum there with those turnovers.”

Junior running back Shawn Brackett put up 52 rushing yards and 106 yards receiving. Sylacauga senior running back Maleek Pope led the way for the Aggies with 99 yards on 13 carries and one touchdown before exiting with an injury.

The Bulldogs’ defense started out the night well enough. Pope had been causing the unit to bend but it didn’t break in the first quarter, pinning the Aggies’ offense deep in its own territory one drive to set up a snap over the opposing punter’s head for a safety.

Trouble started creeping in on the ensuing possession.

Sylacauga dove on a bobbled snap to get the ball back and converted a fourth-and-1 on a 35-yard dash up the middle by running back J-Qwon Brownfield. It was 7-2 Aggies with 7:27 to play in the first half.

Holtville couldn’t field a mortar kick the following kickoff and gave the ball back to Sylacauga once again, who capitalized on a third-and-goal give off-tackle to Pope from six yards out.

“We, collectively, made too many mistakes,” Franklin said.

It took all of one play for the Aggies to score their next drive, with quarterback Brayson Edwards slinging the ball up the right sideline to wide receiver Bill Lauderdale behind a busted coverage to score a 65-yard touchdown with 2:57 left until halftime.

An interception thrown the following possession by the Bulldogs, their third and final turnover of the period, allowed Sylacauga to score in two quick passes against a tired defense. The latter was a 16-yard strike on a fade route to wide receiver Quindavius Swain to set the score at 28-9 with 19 seconds until intermission.

The Aggies had just completed a 28-point second quarter.

“We’ve gotta get back and find something more consistent on the offensive side,” Franklin said. “We’ve gotta figure that out. Then our defense played pretty well. They’ve played pretty well the last couple weeks, we’re just not helping them out.”

Holtville tried to mount a response, cutting the lead to 14-9 at one point after a 39-yard completion from quarterback Dalton Yarroch to wide receiver John Williamson set up a one-yard touchdown dive from Brackett. 

Brackett opened the second half with an impressive 23-yard catch-and-run during which he broke countless tackles, taking the ball inside Sylacauga’s 40-yard-line, but a sack the next play stalled out the Bulldogs’ drive.

Edwards found Swain again for a 50-yard score early in the fourth quarter, Brackett added a touchdown for Holtville six minutes later to set the final tally at 35-16.

Sylacauga could have extended its advantage on two touchdown runs of more than 50 yards had both not been called back for holding.

Holtville, who has already qualified for the playoffs, closes its regular season at home against Reeltown Oct. 29. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.