By DRUW GIAMALVA, Sports Editor
DOUGLAS — History was made on Friday night at Arthur Jarvis Stadium as the Douglas Eagles locked up a No. 2 seed in the Class 5A AHSAA Playoffs following their 26-13 victory over the Arab Knights. With the win, Douglas has earned the right to host their first-ever playoff game in school history.
“This means everything for this community,” Douglas head coach Brandon Lyles said. “It means a lot to these players and coaches. Looking back when I took this job, I knew that there’s this sense of pride in this community and to be able to come out of a game like that against Arab and see the fight and enthusiasm of this community, it just makes us want to keep going.”
In 51 seasons as a football program, Douglas will be making their fourth postseason appearance. This will be Douglas first playoff appearance since 2021 and their second appearance led by Lyles. Douglas finishes with a Class 5A, Region 8 record of 6-1 and improves to 8-1. Arab falls to 8-2 and finishes with a 5-2 region play record.
The battle for the No. 2 seed between the Eagles and the Knights began with Douglas on offense first. Douglas would have a slow start to the game as a loss of yardage on a run play and a penalty would force the Eagles into a third and 18 situation. A facemark call on Arab would make it easier as it became third and three. Douglas quarterback Baker Lyles would rush in a first down on the next play. The Eagles would continue to dominate in the run game as Lyles and running back Judson Murray would produce multiple first downs. Douglas would score their first six points thanks to a 15-yard touchdown pass from Lyles to Noah Williamson. The PAT would be no good.
After a three-and-out on Arab’s first drive, the Eagles would start their second drive at the 28-yard line. After driving to near midfield, the Eagles would have two massive mistakes as a big loss of yards on a run and an unsportsmanlike conduct flag would force them into a second and 45. Despite the massive distance, Lyles would produce two big runs on second and third down to give Douglas the first down. After leading them down the field, Lyles would end the drive on a 1-yard rushing touchdown. A good 2-pt conversion run by Lyles would put them up 14-0.
On the Knights second drive, it was quarterback Nic Stephens and running back Mason Ingram who would help drive the Knights down the field. After multiple first down runs by Stephens and Ingram, Arab would face a fourth and eight at the goal line. Arab would be denied any points as Casey Campbell would intercept a pass by Stephens. Douglas would take a 14-0 lead into halftime.
Arab would start the second half on offense. The Knights would start the third quarter on a long drive that lasted 14 plays and would nearly eat up seven minutes of game time. The drive would be led by Stephens who would produce two first downs through the air. The drive would be capped off by a 9-yard touchdown pass from Stephens to Tucker Willis to make it a 14-7 score.
Douglas would respond right back to Arab as Lyles would begin their next drive with a first down pass to Bryce Hatley. After first down runs by Lyles and a facemask call on Arab, Lyles would extend the Douglas lead to 20-7 with a 2-yard rushing touchdown.
After a turnover on downs by Arab, Douglas would again extend their lead as Lyles would rush in a 37-yard touchdown to put them ahead 26-7 with under seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
In a last effort for a comeback, the Knights would cut the Douglas lead to 26-13 with a 20-yard touchdown pass from Stephens to Tucker Willis with 2:19 remaining.
The Douglas would recover the onside kick and run out the clock on Arab to claim the No. 2 seed in the Class 5A AHSAA Playoffs.
“We are not done yet,” Brandon Lyles said. “We got to get healed up and ready to go next week to Etowah. We will get to host a playoff game after that. I am just super proud of these guys.”
Douglas will close out their regular season next Friday as they travel to Etowah. Arab’s regular season is over and they have locked up a No. 3 seed in the Class 5A AHSAA Playoffs.
Douglas quarterback Baker Lyles finished with four total touchdowns in the 26-13 win over Arab on Friday night. DRUW GIAMALVA l The Leader
