Pirates defeat Aggies 31-10 to win 84th Backyard Brawl
By TAYLOR BECK, Sports Editor
ALBERTVILLE — For three quarters Friday night, the 84th edition of the Backyard Brawl felt like a tug-of-war with no side giving much ground. Then the fourth quarter arrived, and Boaz ripped it away.
The Pirates erupted for 21 unanswered points in the final period, capitalizing on Albertville miscues to sail past the Aggies, 31-10, and claim their third straight rivalry win.
Boaz was able to capitalize on Albertville’s mistakes, scoring 14 points off turnovers. Through two games this season, head coach Luke Pruitt’s defense has allowed just 17 total points while producing four takeaways.
“Proud of our guys [on defense],” Pruitt said. “They come to work every day — both sides of the ball do — but the guys are bend don’t break, and they go over there and get corrections, and I’m proud of the way they played. Overall, when you play your rival, you just want to come out with a win. You know, an ugly win is a win, so I’m proud of our guys for that tonight.”
Boaz’s Sage Bennett (12) hauls in a 26-yard touchdown just before the half, sending the Pirates to the locker room with a 10-3 lead, a lead they would never relinquish. Photo by Taylor Beck l Sand Mountain Leader
The opening half was a defensive slugfest. Albertville (0-2) struck first when kicker Philipp Jahn drilled a 31-yard field goal with 4:42 left in the first quarter. The Aggies’ defense held Boaz scoreless until late in the second, when Acson Aristhene capped a 69-yard Pirate drive with a 33-yard field goal to tie it at 3-3.
Moments later, Boaz flipped the game. With just over a minute to play before halftime, Pirate defender Peyton Knight pounced a fumble by Albertville quarterback CJ Zuniga at the Aggies 36.
The turnover set the stage for Boaz quarterback Beau Bennett to connect with Sage Bennett for a 26-yard touchdown as time expired, sending the Pirates to the locker room with a 10-3 lead.
“We overcame some adversity in the first half,” Pruitt said. “We had some mistakes we had to overcome. I’m proud of the way they put a drive together before halftime and answered right there. They did a good job there.
“In the second half we did better. We still had to overcome some penalties, but proud of our guys for continuing to fight and persevere there. That’s one of our core values is perseverance, and we did that. We overcame some adversity there, and that’s always good.”
Neither side scored in the third quarter, but the floodgates quickly opened in the fourth.
Boaz running back Presley Fant muscled his way into the end zone on a 4-yard run with 11:56 to play, stretching the Pirate lead to 17-3. After Albertville turned the ball over on downs, Fant struck again, racing 55 yards down the sideline to make it 24-3 with 6:28 left.
The Aggies’ struggles deepened when Boaz’s Cooper Whorton intercepted Zuniga and returned it into Albertville territory. Moments later, the Bennett-to-Bennett connection clicked again — this time a 16-yard touchdown with 3:30 remaining — to put the game out of reach at 31-3.
Albertville added a score late to cut into the Boaz lead 31-10. Zuniga threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Cobi Watson, capping off a quick 4-play, 63-yard drive.
Offensively, Boaz outgained Albertville 313-184.
The Pirates had 159 total rushing yards and 154 passing yards.
Fant led the way with 23 carries for 160 yards and 2 TDs on the ground. Brady McInerney added 14 yards on 3 touches. Beau Bennett and Sage Bennett combined for -15 rushing yards.
Beau Bennett finished the game 17-of-25 passing with 154 yards and 2 TDs. Sage Bennett racked up 122 receiving yards and 2 TDs on 9 catches. Dayton Porter had 5 catches for 17 yards, and Fant had 3 catches for 15 yards.
Albertville finished with 127 rushing yards and just 57 passing yards.
Collin Parker led the Aggies in rushing with 68 yards on just 7 carries. Eguensley Cerant added 34 yards on 10 carries, Sweatt had 17 yards on 3 touches, Imani Techeira had 16 yards on 2 carries, and Jakari Kirkland had 6 yards on 3 carries.
Zuniga finished the game 8-of-19 passing for 57 yards.
With the win, the Pirates improve to 2-0 on the season and will begin Class 5A, Region 8 play next week against Scottsboro (1-1).
Albertville falls to 0-2 under first year head coach Adam Winegarden. The Aggies jump into Class 7A, Region 4 competition next week against Florence (0-2).
The Aggies’ Brandt Sweatt Jr. (11) looks for running room against Boaz as the Pirates defense closes. Photo by Taylor Beck l Sand Mountain Leader
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