Wings clipped in first round
Published 12:00 am Saturday, November 13, 2004
Fort Dale came into the nights game off a convincing victory over Mobile Christian a week prior, as did Edgewood. The Wildcats clawed their way to a No. 2 finish in the region with a victory over Pike Liberal Arts School.
This was also the first round of the AISA playoffs with the winner of the game advancing to face Faith in round two.
Saturday night, Edgewood punched their ticket into the second round with a convincing 28-7 victory over Fort Dale.
The Eagles were put out of the playoffs while the Wildcats gear up for a trip to Mobile Thursday.
In the game Edgewood was led by their 2000-yard passer, Phillip Moore.
Friday night, was Moore's birthday and he went out and got him a birthday present – life after the first round.
In the game, Fort Dale pressured Moore early forcing an errant pass. The wobbly-ball was tipped by an Eagle defender before falling into the lap of senior Bert Rice. From there, it wound up in the hands of another Eagle, but was stopped due to an inadvertent whistle.
After conferring on the middle of the field, the refs decided to take the possession away from the Eagles and give the ball back to the Wildcats.
Moore led his troops down the field before finally punching it into the end zone for the sore. With the point after, the Wildcats took the lead, 7-0.
The score stayed that way despite Fort Dale moving the ball up the field only to be set back with a penalty.
Edgewood added a second score late in the second quarter.
Moore was operating out of the shotgun and connects with Chezz McCann down the sideline.
McCann shakes one tackler and then sprints his way into the end zone for the touchdown. The point after split the uprights and the Wildcats lead swelled to 14-0.
The Wildcats put a third score on the board before the half. This play coming with some trickery.
Moore and the green and gold were lined up in the shotgun, he sprints out to the end as a wide receiver and Chad Masmann replaces him. Masmann takes the snap and fires it to Moore who is in the end zone for the touchdown. Following the PAT, Fort Dale found themselves down 21-0.
"I don't think we played really good," said James Sampley, coach of the Fort Dale Eagles. "But they've got a good football team and they'd played well enough to win. They have a lot of big play potential and they did a good job. I know it wasn't the best result, but in any tournament only one team wins in the end. In AAA this year, there is only going to be one team to win. It hurts, but you keep your head up and keep going."
The Eagles opened the second half with some bad news for their defense. Team tackle leader, Brady Newton was out of the rest of the game with a concussion.
Fort Dale used some trickery of their own and opened the second half with an onside kick that was recovered by the Eagles. Their possession didn't last long. Fort Dale turned the ball over when David Moore threw deep into the secondary. He finished the night with three thrown interceptions.
Midway through the third quarter, Edgewood added yet another score. This one, like the others was set-up by a long pass from Moore to McCann. McCann was forced out of bounds at the one. Moore lined up under center and took the snap, turned around and handed the ball off to Josh Cain. Cain dove into the end zone for the score.
The score reached it's final tally near the end of the third quarter.
Fort Dale finally was able to put a score on the board. The Eagles were driving and moving the ball down the field thanks to the legs of horses Tim James and Chuck Barrett.
James crossed the goal line for the touchdown. The point after was good and the game was at it's final tally of 28-7.
Statistically, the Eagles once again relied on their ground game. Fort Dale rushed for 212 yards, led by James and Barrett.
James finished the night with 24 carries for 122 yards and Barrett carried the ball 17 times for 77 yards.
David Moore finished the night 2-of-9 with three interceptions and 49 passing yards. The longest pass play of the night came when James connected on a half-back pass to Adam Moore that set up the only Eagle touchdown of the night.
For Fort Dale, that ends their season. Edgewood has renewed life. They will advance to the second round and will travel to Mobile to face Faith Academy.