Vincent defeats Montevallo in overtime
Published 12:44 am Friday, October 30, 2009
Vincent High School freshman Anterio Rogers is used to seeing his older brother get all of the headlines.
After all, Anterio didn’t even start the season as a member of the varsity team.
Yellow Jackets’ senior running back Juwan Rogers will have to learn to share the spotlight with Anterio, the third-string quarterback, after he led Vincent to a 37-35 overtime win Thursday night over rival Montevallo in the Shelby County Reporter Game of the Week. The younger sibling led Vincent on a fourth-quarter touchdown drive, completed an overtime touchdown pass to Devanta Williams and found Keyon Wallace open in the end zone for the game-clinching two-point conversion.
“That was a pretty gutty performance by (Anterio),” said Vincent coach Dwight Spradley. “He’s got pretty good bloodlines.”
Rogers’ heroics capped a hard-fought win by the Yellow Jackets. Vincent entered the contest already missing a few starters due to injury, and saw three more go down during the game with bumps and bruises. Ben McKinney, who replaced starting quarterback Michael Kelley a few weeks back, left the game with an injury early in the fourth quarter.
The Vincent defense ran the length of the field in celebration after Montevallo quarterback Kevin Callender’s pass on a two-point conversion attempt to tie the game fell to the ground.
With all of the injuries, Spradley said the Yellow Jackets probably couldn’t have survived more than one round with Montevallo in overtime. With kicker Brett Frizzell injured, Spradley said the decision to go for two in overtime was an easy one.
“We had to take our chances,” Spradley said. “We knew our best shot was to go for two.”
Montevallo struck first in the opening quarter with a 2-yard run by Garrius Chappell with four minutes remaining. Vincent rallied to take the lead just before halftime when Wallace caught a 14-yard pass from McKinney with 1:38 left in the first half. McKinney ran in for the two-point conversion to give Vincent an 8-7 lead at the break.
The Yellow Jackets (7-3) added to their lead with 8:29 remaining in the third quarter. McKinney scored on a 2-yard run and Frizzell added the extra point to give Vincent a 15-7 advantage. Montevallo tied the game with Callender’s 5-yard touchdown run and his pass to Dwaine Conwell for the two-point conversion with 6:07 remaining in the third quarter. Vincent regained the lead following Juwan Rogers’ 4-yard touchdown run with 1:54 left in the third quarter.
The Bulldogs (4-6) rallied to take a 22-21 lead with Callender’s 2-yard touchdown run and Brett Gray’s extra point with 8:23 left in the game. Juwan Rogers scored on a 12-yard touchdown run and added the two-point conversion with 5:43 remaining to give Vincent a 29-22 lead.
R.J. Scaife caught a 60-yard touchdown pass from Callender and Gray added the point-after-touchdown with 1:13 remaining to send the game into overtime.
Anterio Rogers hit Williams on a 10-yard fade route and Wallace reeled in the pass from Rogers for the two-point conversion to give Vincent a 37-29 lead in overtime. Montevallo’s Scaife responded with a 10-yard pass from Callender for a touchdown. Callender’s two-point conversion pass was incomplete, which sealed the Yellow Jackets’ victory.
Montevallo coach Mike Reynolds said the game mirrored the Bulldogs’ season. The Bulldogs have also been hit hard by injuries, including a wrist injury by leading receiver Brandon Lilly two weeks ago.
“I tell my kids they get too excited when good things happen, and too emotional when bad things happen,” Reynolds said. “We’ve just been inconsistent.”
Both teams will be on the road for the first round of the playoffs next Friday night. Vincent travels to Reeltown for a first-round matchup in the Alabama High School Athletic Association Class 2A playoffs.
“It’s going to be a tall order,” Spradley said.
Meanwhile, Montevallo will travel to Cordova in the first round of the Class 3A playoffs. Cordova reached the Class 3A championship game a year ago, but Reynolds said the Bulldogs are confident heading into the game.
“We expect to win,” Reynolds said. “That’s what I expect.”