Dothan beats Jeff Davis, makes playoffs

Dothan’s seniors won their last home game Friday night, clinching a playoff berth and a near-complete reversal from last year’s 1-9 season.

The Tigers got big plays in the pass game and a big goal-line stand in the third quarter on the way to a 21-6 win over Robert E. Lee.
Dothan (7-3) will play at Prattville in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs.

“Our guys stuck with it. It wasn’t pretty, but Robert E. Lee had a lot to do with that,” Dothan head coach Kelvis White said. “The defense played hard tonight, and the offense got it done.

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“It’s a great tribute to these seniors who worked so hard to get us in the right direction.”

Senior quarterback Jay LeGrand was 13-of-16 for 172 yards and three scores as the Lee defense held the Dothan run game in check.

Dothan’s Jafee Flowers picked off two passes, and the Tigers recovered another fumble deep in Lee territory.

“We had a couple of busted plays on defense,” Lee coach Larry Ware said. “But had we done what we were supposed to do offensively, we would have had a chance. We just had some execution issues. We threw the ball into their hands a lot and fumbled here and there, and you can’t do that.”

Dothan scored on its first drive when LeGrand hit Marcus Smith for a 14-yard touchdown pass. Ryan Mullins’ extra point gave Dothan a 7-0 lead.

Lee got on the board in the second quarter when Allen Moore scored on a 19-yard touchdown, but the 2-point try failed.

The Tigers tried a fake punt on their next drive, but upback Brandon Knight was stuffed for a loss. Three plays later, Flowers intercepted his first pass.

On the first play, LeGrand hit his ninth straight pass to start the game, hitting Barnard McGhee in stride for a 73-yard touchdown pass.

Dothan took a 14-6 lead into the half.

A big play came on Lee’s first possession to start the second half. Lee had fourth-and-goal from the 2 and appeared to score a touchdown, but Dothan had called timeout before the snap.

On the retry, Lee quarterback Cody Ellis fumbled the snap and Dothan took over.

“We put in some offensive line seniors that don’t normally play on the defense and challenged them to come up big,” White said. “(Calling timeout)
was planned. We wanted to see what they were in. It made me look pretty smart.”

Ellis fumbled later in the third quarter, and Dothan’s Bryant Huff recovered and went in from 72 yards out, but the play was called back because of a Dothan block in the back.

Dothan took over at its 40 and went up 21-6 on LeGrand’s final touchdown pass, an 18-yarder to Devon Fields as he eluded pressure on a third-and-10 play.

“The offensive line gave him time versus a very good Robert E. Lee defense,” White said. “They only give up 10 points a game and we scored 21, so we doubled that. They’re a playoff team, and we’re hoping to be a playoff team.”

For the Generals, Ellis hit 9-of-22 for 115 yards, and Christopher Pettway ran for 73 yards on 17 carries.