By JOSH FRYE
News Sportswriter
The Escambia Academy Cougars suffered their first loss of the season at the hands of the Autauga Academy Generals, who defeated the Cougars, 31-17, last Friday (October 8) in a heated and emotional game between the top 2 best teams in AISA Class 2A, Region 2.
The Generals scored first, scoring on a 28-yard strike with 3:29 left to go in the opening quarter. After an extra point kick, Autauga held a 7-0 advantage. With 30 seconds to go in the first, EA’s Landon Sims put the Cougars on the board with a 36-yard scramble. Sims also booted the extra point and EA tied the Generals, 7-7, at the end of the first.
During the second quarter, Autauga again struck first with a 9-yard touchdown pass. After booting the extra-point kick, the Generals led, 14-7.
With just over 3 minutes left to play in the half, Sims connected with Maliki Haynes on a 15-yard pass, and after a Sims extra-point boot, the Cougars again tied Autauga, 14-14. The Generals, determined to have the halftime advantage, booted a long, 41-yard field goal with 52 seconds left in the first half and Autauga retired EA to the locker room at halftime with a 17-14 advantage.
During the second half, neither school gained ground on the scoreboard during the third quarter, but things began to bust loose during the fourth quarter as Autauga head coach Bobby Carr was ejected with just under 9 minutes left to play when he was angered by a questionable hit by an EA player on a Generals lineman. Following the Carr ejection, EA’s Sims tied the contest for a third time when he booted a 42-yard field goal with 6:22 left in the game. Despite the hard-fought effort from the Cougars, Autauga again broke free on a 29-yard strike into the endzone with just under 6 minutes left to play. With 3:24 left in the game, the Generals sealed the win with a 38-yard run, followed by a successful extra-point boot.
With the loss against rival Autauga, the Cougars fall to 6-1 on the season and 2-1 in the AISA Class 2A, Region 2 and will be placed second in region standings, with only 1 region game left to play against Southern Academy on Friday, October 22. This week EA will host Lighthouse Christian for homecoming in Canoe this Friday, October 15.