Trailing 28-0 with less than a minute left in its season, Central Christian could have packed up its tent, leaving Autauga Academy to celebrate an AISA playoff win.

Instead, the Warriors went on one last frenetic drive, trying to end the season in the end zone.

Starting at their own 32, quarterback Tee Woods hit Bradley Savage on a 10-yard curl. Savage broke a tackle and cut back inside to the middle of the field.

At the 50, he bounced like a pinball off a handful of tacklers and one of his own blockers and found another seam. He raced for the end zone with time running out.

As he broke inside the 10, Autauga speedster Sam McCaskey came into the picture. McCaskey wrestled Savage to the ground at the 2-yard line with nine seconds to play.

After a CCA timeout and a false start moved CCA back, coach Dayton Dawkins called a draw to Eric Curtis.

Curtis, who’d been blanketed all night, found some running room and hit pay dirt. The score cut the lead to 28-6 with two seconds left and the CCA faithful celebrated like they’d just won the ball game.

Instead, Autauga ran out the clock and ended the Warriors’ season.

“We had a good season,” Dawkins said. “I’m proud of ’em. I thought they played hard all year, we just ran into a buzz saw.”

The Warrior were manhandled in a game that featured more flags than the U.N. Both teams had a player ejected. The home-standing Generals controlled the line of scrimmage from the start and left the Warriors to play catch-up.

“We just didn’t play with intensity and enthusiasm,” Dawkins said. “You’ve got to block and tackle.”

For most of the night, Autauga blocked and tackled better than the Warriors. The Generals dominated the game statistically, racking up more than 300 yards on the ground.

An 86-yard romp with a minute left helped Levi Razick to lead all rushers with 118 yards and a touchdown. Sam McCaskey added 91 yards on the ground and returned a punt 70 yards for a score.

Oscar Washington and Aaron Anderson combined for another 100 yards on the ground and quarterback Jesse Dailey ran for 28 in the winning effort. Dailey also threw for 89 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

After being held to 10 yards of offense in the first half, the Warriors found some life in the second, but it was too late.

Simuel Walker led with 35 yards on the ground. Curtis had 11 yards and a touchdown.

Quarterback Tee Woods went 9-of-22 for 159 yards, but the majority of those came after the game had been decided.

Woods’ favorite target, Ben Fleming, had five catches for 82 yards. Bud Schultz had two catches for 12 yards.

On defense, Clayton Smith led the effort and was often the Warriors saving grace.

Woods recovered a fumble and Savage had an interception in the losing cause.

Autauga scored in the first quarter despite a tough goal-line stand by the Warriors.

After allowing Autauga to march down the field, the Warriors bowed their backs and forced a fourth-and-goal at the four. Dailey kept the ball on a quarterback sweep and dived for the pylon and the score.

The General defense forced a punt and Smith boomed one deep. McCaskey muffed the kick, but scooped it up and danced through the Warriors coverage like MC Hammer.

McCaskey hit his stride and 70 yards later the Generals led 13-0.

The teams went to the half at that score.

Coming out of the half, the Warriors tried to gain some momentum but a defensive back fell down as Dailey lobbed a ball from the 50.

The ball was caught for an easy score.

The two-point conversion made it 21-0.

The score stayed that way until the exciting final minute of play when the team’s traded scores.

“It was a nice way to finish,” Dawkins said of CCA’s late score. “There are a lot of teams out there that wanted to play one more Friday night.”