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BESSEMER – When the final whistle sounded, the Rebels of Besser Academy had defeated the Morgan Academy Senators by the final score of 40-20 Friday night in round one of the AISA Class AAA playoffs.

The homestanding Rebels simply made more plays than Morgan Academy. Bessemer Academy took an early lead in the first quarter on a 37-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jacob Rowell to Tyson Smith on the Rebels’ first possession.

On Morgan’s first offensive series of the game, the Senators drove into Bessemer territory only to have Smith intercept the pass and return at 92 yards to put the Rebels up 14-0.

Bessemer added two second-quarter touchdowns to take a 27-0 lead.

Morgan finally got on the board with 28 seconds to go before halftime with a 31-yard touchdown pass from Patrick Johnson to Jack Johnson.

In the second half, Bessemer’s ground game took control. Caleb Wheeler scored on long runs of 62 yards and 53 yards to put the game away. Wheeler had 150 yards rushing on just 11 carries.

Morgan was led by the backfield duo of Johnson and Johnson. Running back. Jack Johnson ran for 85 yards on 25 carries, and quarterback Patrick Johnson completed six of nine passes for 47 yards and two touchdowns. He was intercepted twice. t

The loss moves Morgan Academy’s record to 4-6 to close out the season. Morgan’s biggest highlight of the second half was a 50-yard fumble recovery and return by senior defensive tackle Jake Sams.

He was tackled at the 1-yard line, but lined up at fullback the next play and scored on a short run for his first varsity touchdown.

Bessemer advances to the second round of the state playoffs to face Fort Dale Academy, who defeated His Valiant Cross Academy 21-8. The game will be played in Greenville.

 

Bullet Hand with WALX-FM contributed to this story. All of Morgan Academy’s football games are broadcast live on 100.9 Alex-FM and live streamed on the Internet.