By Alaina Denean Deshazo
The Selma Times-Journal

McAdory showed why it’s on its way to the class 6A playoffs Friday, while Selma made the kind of mistakes non-playoff teams tend to make.

McAdory (5-3) scored on both offense and defense in a 38-14 win over Selma (1-7). The Saints remained winless in class 6A, region 4.

“We had an opportunity to establish momentum running the ball, we missed key blocks. We made some adjustments and took advantage of what they were giving us,” said Selma coach Keon Handley. “We know that we are young, and we are going to make some key mistakes, but we got to be able to play through them.”

With less than four minutes off the clock, McAdory (5-3) scored on a 12-yard pass from Malcolm Askew to Willie Langham. After the extra point, the score was 7-0 with 8:40 left in the first quarter.

On Selma’s first possession, the Saints went for it on fourth down, but ended up turning the ball over to the Yellow Jackets on their own 34 yard line.

McAdory capitalized on the turnover with an 8-yard run from Phillip Brown to make the score 13-0 with 5:23 left in the first.  The extra point attempt was no good.

With 9:06 left in the second quarter, Selma snapped the ball over Tyreshon Freeman’s head, but he was able to beat the defenders to the ball and toss it to Gabriel Wade, who ran it 55 yards for the Saints only touchdown of the first half.

After a blocked extra point, the score was 13-6.

The Yellow Jackets were driving the ball into Saints territory when Askew was intercepted by Selma’s Rondarius Sanders. The Saints couldn’t move the ball and was forced to punt. McAdory blocked the punt and recovered it at the 1-yard line.

“Turnovers have been a hindrance to us,” Handley said. “We have to learn to take care of the ball.”

The Yellow Jackets Brown ran the ball in for a 1-yard touchdown.

After the extra point, the score was 20-6 with 6:28 left in the second.

McAdory score again with its last possession of the half on an 11-yard pass from Askew to Dakota Chapman. An extra point put the Yellow Jackets up 27-6 at the half.

Selma’s defense held McAdory on downs midway through the third, giving the Saints the ball on their own 2 yard line. On the first play of the drive, Selma fumbled the ball in the end zone and the Saints were tackled for a safety to make the score 29-6.

McAdory had to punt on its next possession, but the Yellow Jackets pinned Selma inside their own 5-yard-line.

A Selma ball carrier was again tackled in the end zone, giving McAdory safeties on back-to-back possessions. The score was then 31-6 with 3:01 left in the third.

Selma threw two more interceptions but got the ball back late and scored on a 13-yard quarterback keeper from Freeman. A 3-yard pass from Freeman to Kordez Ervin put two more points on the board for the Saints. The score was then 31-14 with 4:31 left in the game.

With only 9.2 seconds left in the game, McAdory’s Devin Hackworth put one more touchdown on the board with a 30-yard run. The extra point was good making the final score 38-14.

“We blocked a punt, we got two safeties and we hit a long pass for an easy score. We didn’t really drive the ball tonight against Selma,” said McAdory head coach David Powell.

“They really came out hard tonight and they made us fight for the win.”

Selma will host Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa next week in the Saints’ final region game of the season.