Keith falls to region foe A.L. Johnson
Published 1:07 am Saturday, October 3, 2015
By Justin Fedich | The Selma Times-Journal
With five minutes left in the game, the Keith Bears drove down to the A.L. Johnson 3-yard line with hopes of cutting a 12-point deficit in half with a touchdown. Four plays later, quarterback Brian Crum was recovering his own fumble at the 35-yard line for a turnover on downs.
That’s how the night went for the Bears (1-5, 1-3) as they fell 20-16 at home to the A.L. Johnson Eagles (1-4, 1-0) in a class 1A, region 4 matchup Friday. Keith had plenty of opportunities to win a game that would go a long way in positioning the Bears well for the playoffs, but they let it slip through their hands.
“We just blew too many opportunities,” said Keith head coach Harry Crum. “It must have been 15, 16, 17 plays that we just botched. Dropped balls, fumbled balls, missed passes in the end zone. We just didn’t take care of it.”
A.L. Johnson got off to an early lead when Jeremiah Smith recovered a Domonique Jones fumble 50 yards for a touchdown to take a 6-0 lead with 8:02 remaining in the first quarter.
“This was one of the most important games because it had playoff implications and I knew these guys were going to be up,” said A.L. Johnson head coach Johnney Ford. “They’ve been playing really hard and we came and did what we were supposed to do.”
Keith didn’t back down early, however. The Bears answered quickly when Travis Goldsby ran for an 8-yard touchdown with 5:53 left in the first quarter.
Keith’s Denzel Bryant intercepted a pass on A.L. Johnson’s next drive, but the Bears were stopped on a turnover on downs on their next drive.
Keith had its opportunities to score in the second quarter, but two Ja’Quan Lipscomb touchdown rushes were called back due to penalty. Lipscomb and Goldsby also dropped passes in the end zone, squandering a chance to extend a lead over the Eagles.
Unable to capitalize on its opportunities, Keith turned it over on downs inside the red zone with under a minute left in the second quarter, coming away with no points and taking an 8-6 lead into halftime.
It only got worse for the Bears in the second half. The offense stalled through much of the third quarter, and the defense let up a touchdown drive, capped off by a Lewis Anderson 5-yard touchdown run that allowed A.L. Johnson to take a 12-8 lead late in the third quarter.
Keith’s offense opened the fourth quarter with a fourth-and-21 deep in its own territory. The punt flew straight up in the air and landed on Keith’s 5-yard line. A.L. Johnson’s Desmond Mair, who filled in at quarterback when Edward London was injured on the first play of the game, scored a 2-yard rushing touchdown for the Eagles.
“He’s probably one of the better athletes in the school. I knew if he came out playing hard, then we would be in good shape,” Ford said.
Anderson added the two-point conversion with 9:49 remaining in the fourth quarter to take a 20-8 lead over the Bears.
With two big rushes from Keith’s Jeremiah Campbell, the Bears drove down to the 3-yard line. They lost 32 yards on the next three plays and their chances at a comeback were all but over.
Jones, who had been quiet all night, opened the next drive with a 70-yard rushing touchdown, but a failure to recover the onside kick sealed the fate of the Bears.
“They hung around, they believed they could win, they won,” Crum said.
Keith is at Marengo next Friday. A.L. Johnson plays its second region game at home against Linden next Friday.