Football Friday Night: Vols advance, Woodland falls to Hubbertville in first round of playoffs

Clay Central scored three touchdowns in the game’s first six minutes against a jittery Sipsey Valley team, and the Vols went on to claim a 48-7 first-round playoff win Friday in Lineville.

Zion Newell scored three touchdowns, and Taylor Boyd added 92 rushing yards and two touchdowns on nine carries as the Vols moved on to round two for the second straight year and 12^th time in the school’s 14-year history.

And they did it without starting quarterback J.T. Wilkerson, who sat out with a leg injury and forced Central to use a combination of J.D. Hall and Hudson Foster to take the snaps. Both of those players had moments of brilliance in a game in which the Vols got more help than they needed from a turnover-prone Sipsey Valley team.

Central opened with an emphatic first drive, marching 57 yards on four plays and taking a 7-0 lead thanks to a 6-yard touchdown run from Hall.

Sipsey Valley botched the ensuing kickoff return and was forced to set up shop on its own 11-yard line. After a penalty backed them up five more yards, Newell jumped a screen pass in the flats and returned it six yards for a touchdown and a 15-0 Central lead less than three minutes into the game.

The next possession for Sipsey Valley was a three-and-out, and in a play that became a theme of the game for the Bears, the punter fumbled the snap and was unable to get a kick away. That gave Central a first down at the Bears’ 14-yard line. Boyd needed just two carries to cover that distance and put the Vols up 22-0 with 6:45 left in the first quarter.

From there the rout was on. Another fumbled punt snap set up a 35-yard touchdown pass from Hall to Newell to give Central a 28-0 lead just before the end of the first quarter. Boyd’s second touchdown run, a 9-yard score midway through the second quarter, gave Central a 34-0 lead going to halftime.

And the second half began much like the first. The Central defense forced another three-and-out, and for a third time Sipsey Valley’s punter fumbled the ball and was unable to get a kick away. The Vols recovered on the 1-yard line and punched it in with a Kam Mullins touchdown on his only carry of the game.

Central’s final touchdown came on a 10-yard pass from Foster to Newell with 5:20 left in the third quarter to put the Vols up 48-0.

Newell caught two passes for 45 yards and two touchdowns, had a 32-yard run on his only carry of the game and came up with the pick six early in the contest.

Daylon Houston carried his weight in the Central rushing attack as well. He did not have a touchdown but he ran 10 times for 91 yards.

Sipsey Valley running back Isaiah Bennett entered the game as one of the state’s most productive running backs. He ran for over 2,000 yards and 20 touchdowns during the regular season, but was a non-factor Friday. Central held him to nine yards on seven carries and one catch for two yards before an injury sidelined him for the entire second half.

Hall went 3-for-5 for 70 yards and a touchdown and added a touchdown run. He also caught a pair of passes from Foster for 13 yards.

Foster was 5-for-6 for 43 yards and the touchdown strike to Newell.

Central will be at home in round two. The Volunteers will host Andalusia, which defeated UMS-Wright 28-25 in double overtime in their first-round matchup.

Hubbertville 67, Woodland 27

Woodland fell behind by three scores early and never could dig out of that hole, and the Bobcats saw their season end in a 67-27 loss at Sipsey Valley. Woodland finishes the year with a record of 4-7.