Pirates prevail in 85th Backyard Brawl,28-7
By DRUW GIAMALVA, Sports Editor
BOAZ — The Boaz Pirates kept their winning streak over the Albertville Pirates intact on Friday night as the Pirates took home their fourth straight victory over the Aggies in the 85th annual Backyard Brawl with a 28-7 victory at L.F. Corley, Jr. Stadium.
“You throw the records out when you are playing in the Backyard Brawl,” said Boaz head coach Luke Pruitt. “Everybody’s got an opportunity to win the game and Albertville has improved. We challenged ourselves this week as we had too many penalties last week but we only had five tonight. We won the turnover battle tonight and that’s what you have to do to win a rivalry game like this.”
With the win over the Aggies, the Pirates improve to 3-1 for the year while staying perfect in Class 5A, Region 8 play at 2-0. Albertville falls to 2-2 for the year and 0-2 in Region 8 play.
The 85th Backyard Brawl started with Boaz on offense first. The Pirates had a balanced attack that saw multiple first down plays through the air and on the ground. The drive started with a first down run by running back Dayton Porter that was followed up by two passing first downs from quarterback Beau Bennett to Porter. After another first down pass from Bennett to Jay Patterson, Boaz cashed in their first touchdown of the night from 4-yards out with Porter scoring. The Pirates would take a 7-0 lead after a good PAT by Andrew Pena.
The Aggie’s first offensive drive would start off strong with quarterback CJ Zuniga tossing a first down to Gabriel Cruz. The drive would continue with a great run game by receiver Cam Ballinger and running back Eguensley Cerant to put the Aggies in the redzone. The drive would have a disappointing end for Albertville as a recovered fumble by Boaz’s Griffin Lee would give the Pirates the ball.
After the Boaz offense failed to capitalize on the forced turnover, the Pirate defense continued to make big plays as Brantley Berry would intercept an Albertville pass to give Boaz the ball.
With the second chance given by the defense, Boaz took advantage of the turnover with another score to make it a 14-0 score. The score would come from running back Mac Thompson who rushed in the touchdown from 2-yards out. Boaz would take a 14-0 lead into halftime.
Entering the second half, the Aggies had control of the ball. Albertville would capitalize on their first opportunity of the second half with a big time touchdown pass from Zuniga to Brandt Sweatt from 25-yards out to make it a 14-7 score.
With the momentum shifting, the Pirates offense needed a big drive to keep the Aggies out of the game. Boaz would go on to have a big drive that was capped off by Thompson’s second touchdown of the night from 4-yards out.
After forcing an Albertville punt, Boaz would keep adding to their lead as Porter would cash in his second touchdown of the night from 15-yards out to give the Pirates a three-touchdown advantage over Albertville.
Boaz would shut the door on Albertville with a final interception by Cooper Whorton to cap off a 28-7 victory over Albertville.
“Our defense did a good job tonight,” Pruitt said. “I think they were averaging 30 a night and we held them to seven points.”
Leading the Pirates was Porter who finished with 19 carries for 153 yards and two touchdowns. Porter also led in the receiving game with five catches for 64 yards. Bennett would finish 17-23 passing for 164 yards. Thompson would rush six times for 38 yards and two touchdowns.
The Aggies would be led by Cerant who finished with 24 carries for 129 yards. Zuniga completed 12 passes for 147 yards and a touchdown. Sweatt would have three catches for 38 yards and a touchdown.
The season doesn’t get any easier for the Pirates as they travel to face Lee-Huntsville in a Region 8 matchup next week.
“Lee has a lot of speed,” Pruitt said. “We’ve got to go on the road and it’s an hour drive. We got to manage the trip there and go into a hostile environment. We just have to take care of the football and take care of business.”
Albertville will celebrate Homecoming next week as they host Douglas in a Region 8 matchup.
Albertville receiver Cam Ballinger finished with four catches for 50 yards against Boaz on Friday night. By DRUW GIAMALVA | The Leader
Boaz running back Dayton Porter leans on a block from lineman Ronney Seneres. Porter finished with 217 total yards and two touchdowns in the 28-7 win over Albertville on Friday night. By DRUW GIAMALVA | The Leader
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