Dothan falls to Prattville

PRATTVILLE — Dothan jolted Prattville on the first possession Friday night.

But the three-time defending Class 6A state champions weren’t stunned long. The Lions reeled off 43 points in the first half and cruised to a 50-13 win in the first round of the playoffs.

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“(Postseason experience) makes a difference,” Prattville coach Jamey DuBose said. “Our guys have been in these situations before and they know how to come out and execute. Emotion makes a difference early in the game, but we teach our guys that we have to survive that initial emotional wave.

“We made a couple of mistakes early, but we settled down and executed after that.”

The win was the Lions’ 51st straight in-state victory and 16th straight payoff win. Prattville (9-2) will host Central-Phenix City (10-1) in the second round.

Dothan, making its first playoff appearance since 2001, ends the season at 7-4.

A muffed punt by Prattville set up Dothan’s first score. Jay Legrand hit Brandon Knight for a 10-yard scoring strike and a 7-0 lead less than four minutes into the game.

“We weren’t really bothered by the early score,” Prattville quarterback and LSU commitment Sam Gibson said. “We muffed a punt and they had good field position. I told our offensive line we were going to score and we were going to score fast.”

On Prattville’s first play from scrimmage, Gibson connected with Earl Lucas on a short pass. Lucas turned it into an 80-yard touchdown.

“It was nice to be able to answer like that,” DuBose said. “My hat is off to our offensive coaches for those early calls. We needed to hit a big play like that.”

The Lions scored three more times before the quarter was up, including twice in less than a minute. Gibson hit Dalton James for an 18-yard strike before defensive back
Jacoby Browder returned an interception 25 yards for a score.

Browder’s pick was the first of three for Prattville. Linebackers Qushaun Lee and Stabler Ingram came up with the other two.

Gibson finished with 151 yards passing and three touchdowns on a 6-of-10 night. Backup quarterback Justin Thomas added a 70-yard touchdown run to make it 40-7 in the second quarter. The Lions finished with 434 yards of offense.

Devon Fields scored Dothan’s final points on a 3-yard run with 3:52 to play.