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By Fred Guarino

The Lowndes Signal

Everybody got into the act Friday night, Sept. 29 when the Alabama Independent School Association (AISA) Lowndes Academy Rebels defeated the Wilcox Academy Wildcats 48-0 for homecoming 2017.

Making the night even more special, Hannah Rogers of Lowndes Academy, presented the flag for the National Anthem on horseback. And the Rebels won the toss, receiving a special commemorative coin provided by W.D. Arthur. The coin was a “Special Agent, Special Inspector General Afghanistan Reconstruction coin given to Arthur by a friend, he said, is in Afghanistan as a special auditor.

While the Rebels remain 0-2 in Class A Region 1 play, the confidence boosting win against Wilcox Academy improved the Rebels to 2-3 overall. The Rebels will return to regional action Friday, Oct. 6 at Abbeville.

Lowndes Academy head football coach Bob Taylor said of the Homecoming 2017 contest,  “It was a good win. The kids played really hard. They got after it. We played on all cylinders tonight. I’m proud of that.”

Taylor said he got everybody into this game and played a lot of people early. And he said of the shutout, “Defensively, it was probably the best game we’ve played this year.”

Taylor said the Rebels tweaked some things offensively, that Mason McCurdy did a good job at quarterback and Jon Johnson did a good job running the ball. And he said, “Those guys up front did a really good job blocking for us also.”

The Rebels put up 461 yards of total offense, getting 18 first downs, while holding the Wildcats to 103 yards total offense and just five first downs for the entire game.

Lowndes had 167 yards passing and 294 yards rushing while Wilcox was limited to 60 yards passing and 43 yards rushing.

The only real negative was that the Rebels were flagged 11 times for 88 yards in penalties while Wilcox was only flagged twice for 15 yards.

The Rebels got off to a quick start when Jon Johnson raced 31 yards for a touchdown and kicked the extra point to put Lowndes Academy up 7-0 at the 11:09 mark of the first quarter.

The Rebels upped their lead to 13-0 at the 6:37 mark of the second quarter when Buddy Johnson took in a 4-yard pass for a score from McCurdy.

McCurdy put the Rebels on the scoreboard again at the 4:13 mark of the second quarter when he kept for an 11-yard touchdown run. And Brian Rayburn connected with Jon Jonson for the 2-point conversion to put the Rebels up 21-0.

Unfortunately a penalty on the 2-point play resulted in the ejection of a Lowndes Academy player.

Jon Johnson put the Rebels up 28-0 on a 21-yard run and point after touchdown with 1:59 left in the half. And that was score at halftime.

The hits just kept coming against the Wildcats as Jon Johnson next scored on a 64-yard run and Buddy Johnson added the point after to put the Rebels up 35-0 with 5:34 left in the third quarter.

Christian Barkley got into the act when he upped the Rebels lead to 41-0 on a 32-yard touchdown run of his own with 1:16 left in the third quarter.

And the scoring came to a merciful end for the Wildcats when John Morgan scored for the Rebels on a 63-yard touchdown run with 3:34 left in the game.

On the night McCurdy was eight for 11 passing for one touchdown and 121 yards for the Rebels while Jon Johnson was two for two passing for 46 yards.

Also for Lowndes Academy Jon Johnson had seven carries for 122 yards and three touchdowns, John Morgan had nine carries for 72 yards and a touchdown, Barkley had four carries for 63 yards and a touchdown and McCurdy had eight carries for 42 yards and a touchdown.

Brian Rayburn had four pass receptions for 107 yards while Buddy Johnson had three catches for 27 yards and a touchdown for the Rebels.

No less than 12 Rebels had tackles in the game on defense.

Calhoun fell on the road at Wilcox Central High 51-0 while Central High also fell on the road to Monroe County High 40-20.