By By Jason Hughes/Special To The Star
Nov. 10, 2001
YORK, Ala. On a cool night that saw both teams go over 150 yards rushing, it would be the Longhorns of Marengo Academy emerging victorious 14-9 over Sumter Academy here Friday night. Marengo advances to the State Championship game, where the opponent will be Wilcox Academy.
The Eagles opened the scoring on a 20-yard field goal from Bip Burage. The field goal came after the Sumter County offense moved the ball 73 yards.
After a bad snap on a punt, the Longhorns would answer in the second quarter when senior Andy Gates barreled in from eight yards out, giving Marengo a 7-3 lead.
Sumter immediately drove the ball inside the red zone, but a Shane Martin pass was picked off in the end zone and returned to the 28-yard-line by Lane Miller.
The Longhorns methodically drove 72 yards to pay dirt, capped off by a Paul Mascarella one-yard sneak. In addition to scoring, Marengo left the Eagles less than a minute to answer, and the score remained 14-3 as the teams entered the locker room.
Chase Schroeder raced in from four yards out on a reverse on the initial drive of the second half, capping a 61-yard drive for Sumter. The PAT was blocked, and the score stood at 14-9. Marengo would never threaten the Eagle end zone again, however Sumter would have golden opportunities fall by the wayside in the game's final stanza.
The first was a first-and-goal from the five that resulted in a missed field goal. The second was a game-ending drive that saw Roy McDaniel haul in a fourth down pass from Martin in the end zone. However, McDaniel could not stay in bounds and the game would end with the Longhorns kneeling to run out the clock.
Sumter Academy led every major offensive category, including a great 216-yard rushing performance. Senior Chase LaCoste led the way with 119 yards on 16 carries, while sophomore Andrew Poole chipped in with 87 yards on 15 carries.
The Marengo running game found success as well, as the Longhorns piled up 158 yards on the ground. Patrick Cannon paced Marengo with 107 yards on 11 carries. Eric Wilkinson also turned in a solid game,
rushing for 45 yards on 12 carries.
Martin completed 5-of-16 passes for 77 yards to lead the Eagle air attack. The Longhorns only completed one pass in two attempts; a 30-yard strike from Mascarella to Chase Jones that set up Marengo's second touchdown.
McDaniel led the Sumter receiving corps with three catches for 57 yards.
Sumter out gained Marengo 293 to 188 in total offense. The Eagles also tallied 13 first downs to the Longhorns' 10. Both teams were evenly
penalized (Sumter 7-45, Marengo 8-60). The turnover battle saw Sumter lose the ball once on an interception and Marengo lose the ball once on a fumble.