MONTGOMERY, Ala. — With one second on the clock, a stiff wind whipping across the field and the ball spotted on the left hash, McGill-Toolen’s Ollie Poiroux had plenty to calculate. The Ollie Poiroux field goal that followed, a 22-yarder that split the uprights as time expired, gave the No. 2-ranked Yellow Jackets a 16-14 win over No. 5 Montgomery Catholic on Friday, Oct. 16.
The kick kept McGill-Toolen unbeaten in Class AA Region 1 play and set up a winner-take-all region championship game against UMS-Wright next week in Mobile.
It was the second time this season Poiroux has won a game with the clock at zero. In September, just two weeks after joining the team, he made a 32-yard field goal as time ran out to beat St. Michael 20-17.
A kick built on angles and wind
The final attempt was anything but routine. The wind, which at times approached gale force throughout the night, was blowing across Poiroux’s face, and the sharp angle from the left hash made it easy for a right-footed kicker to pull the ball to the left.
Poiroux said he adjusted his approach to account for both factors.
“The wind was going a bit left,” Poiroux said. “I really had to place my plant foot a little bit more to the right so I could get a little bit more of that hook with the wind and everything. I had double ice, too, so I had a lot of time to think about what I was going to do.”
That extra time came courtesy of the clock management at the end. McGill-Toolen coach David Faulkner called timeout with one second left, and the Knights followed with two timeouts of their own before Poiroux finally got his chance. He drilled the kick, and his teammates poured onto the field.
The moment carried added significance because Poiroux’s night had not started cleanly. In the first quarter, one of his extra-point attempts caromed off the left upright. He said that kick struck his ankle, but he had no doubts when he lined up for the winner.
“I knew I had to get it back for my boys,” he said. “This has been the best team ever. They’re fighters. They’re so resilient and I had to do it for them.”
The drive that set it up
McGill-Toolen took over trailing 14-13 with 2:21 left and the wind at its back in the fourth quarter. The Yellow Jackets put together a 10-play, 59-yard drive that used every bit of the remaining time.
The march nearly stalled early. Facing fourth-and-9 at their own 37, quarterback Davis Fisher calmly found Kaden Thrash in the middle of Montgomery Catholic’s zone for a 12-yard gain to keep the drive alive.
Three plays later, on third-and-12, Ladarien Miller slipped out of the backfield, caught a swing pass from Fisher and raced 39 yards down the sideline to the Montgomery Catholic 14 with 39 seconds remaining. Kevin Daughtry carried twice to move the ball to the 5, positioning Poiroux for the decisive attempt.
“We felt like we had plenty of time,” said Faulkner, who is off to the best start of his four seasons at McGill-Toolen. “We were really stalled there and Davis did a great job of finding Ladarien open in the flat and then Ladarien does what Ladarien does. Ollie did the rest. We had a tremendous amount of confidence in Ollie and we felt like once we got in his range, he would make the kick. This wind was treacherous, so you had to take advantage of it when you had it in your back and we were able to do that.”
Ground game controls the night
For most of the evening, McGill-Toolen leaned on a punishing rushing attack. The Yellow Jackets ran 52 times for 270 yards, most of it between the tackles, and held the ball for 32 minutes and 29 seconds.
Daughtry led the way with 183 yards on 24 carries and touchdown runs of 40 and 51 yards. His 51-yarder came off right tackle with 6:51 remaining and put McGill-Toolen ahead 13-7.
The Yellow Jackets dominated the first half statistically, outgaining the Knights 168 yards to 16. Montgomery Catholic’s defense kept the game close, though, stopping McGill-Toolen at the 23 and the 11 to limit the damage before halftime.
“We needed to do a better job in the red zone in the first half and maybe we’ve got a better lead at halftime,” Faulkner said. “We’re going to get better and they’re going to get better. We may see each other again.”
Defensively, McGill-Toolen held Montgomery Catholic to minus 20 rushing yards, a figure that included two high snaps that cost the Knights 40 yards.
Knights rally behind faster tempo
Montgomery Catholic responded in the second half by speeding up its offense. Quarterback Will Blackwell, who leads Class AA in passing yardage, threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Tymori Player in the third quarter to give the Knights a 7-6 lead.
After Daughtry’s long run restored McGill-Toolen’s lead, Blackwell answered almost immediately. Throwing into the wind, he lofted a 68-yard touchdown pass that floated down to Elijah Nunnelly with 6:11 remaining, putting the Knights in front 14-13.
Blackwell completed 16 of 26 passes for 152 yards after going just 4-of-12 for 18 yards in the first half.
“We’re just trying to get more snaps,” Knights coach Aubrey Blackwell said. “They limited us so much. We only had three snaps in the first quarter. We just we decided we’re going to pick up our tempo. We’ve got the athletes to do it. We’ve got to get them chances to make big plays and that’s what you saw there.”
He also praised his quarterback’s toughness against a McGill-Toolen pass rush that sent extra defenders.
“Will hung in there tonight and took a lot of shots,” coach Blackwell said. “They were bringing six when we were empty and he was getting hit every time and delivering the ball, especially on those two drives where we scored. I’m proud of the toughness he showed to stay in there and hang in the pocket and deliver the throw.”
Another close call for Montgomery Catholic
The loss was the third straight for Montgomery Catholic by six points or fewer. The Knights fell 24-21 to Briarwood on another late field goal and lost 33-27 in double overtime at UMS-Wright the previous week. Montgomery Catholic is now 5-4 overall and 4-2 in the region.
Coach Blackwell said the result came down to one breakdown at a critical moment.
“You definitely like the situation you’re in,” he said of holding the lead with 2:21 left. “You have an opportunity there on third down and long to make a play and we busted the coverage. Regardless of that, our kids played tough against a group that has a school that’s almost four times our size, with four times the roster and after we lost a defensive lineman early, so we had to play two linemen both ways all night. We did that against a former 6A program and we held it all the way down to the wire.”
“My heart breaks for them,” he added. “We’ve been so close the last three weeks. This is a young football team with a lot of juniors and sophomores, so I don’t want their spirit to be broken.”
What’s next: UMS-Wright at Lipscomb Field
McGill-Toolen improved to 7-1 overall and 6-0 in Class AA Region 1. The Yellow Jackets will host No. 3 UMS-Wright, also 7-1 and 6-0 in the region, on Friday, Oct. 23, at Lipscomb Field in Mobile with the Region 1 championship at stake.
UMS-Wright reached the title game by shutting out St. Paul’s 31-0 on Friday. The matchup pits McGill-Toolen’s ball-control rushing attack against a Bulldogs team known for a fast-paced, no-huddle offense, and Faulkner said the outcome may hinge on which side can dictate the pace.
“It’ll be a contrast in styles and the way we both approach the game and it’ll really be who can get the game played at the tempo they want it played at,” Faulkner said. “They’ve got an excellent football team, so we’ll have to play at our best next week. It’ll be a chance for a region championship, so I’m sure both teams will come in ready to play.”
