Enterprise buries Jeff Davis in stadium’s final game

ENTERPRISE — Someday, there will be sentiment attached to Enterprise’s dominating 40-0 victory over Jeff Davis on the night the Wildcats closed out 54 years at venerable Bates Memorial Stadium.

But Wildcats coach Kevin Collins said his team couldn’t afford to get caught up in the nostalgia and emotion of the event. Too much was riding on the game’s outcome.

“This was like a playoff game to us,” Collins said after Friday night’s victory. “That was our focus. We’ll remember the important stuff about this at a later date. We just needed to get a win tonight for the playoffs.”

Mission accomplished. The Wildcats earned the No. 3 seed and will visit Wetumpka in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs next week.

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Former Enterprise Wildcats Carlos Robinson and Harrell Thompson, as well as former "Big Blue" band member Ricky Adams sit down on the old concrete steps to share their memories of times in "the hole," and the people who contributed to the rich history in R.L. Bates Memorial Stadium.

To view our multi-part video interview with them, or the video from the game, please visit our video page or see them on youtube channel at youtube.com/enterpriseledger.

Enterprise finished the regular season with six consecutive wins and a 7-3 record. Friday’s outcome wasn’t in doubt for long. The Wildcats took the opening kickoff and went 65 yards in 12 plays on a drive that took 6:20 for a 7-0 lead. They pulled away in the second quarter by scoring 16 points with two touchdowns and a safety in a bizarre 32-second span.

That early 23-0 advantage allowed a huge crowd to relax and enjoy the festivities that surrounded the game. The 1979 state championship team was recognized after the first quarter. Every former Wildcat was invited to come onto the field in halftime ceremonies.

“We had to win this game,” senior offensive lineman Christopher VanLoon said. “Just to close out everything that’s happened for 54 years. Everybody played awfully hard tonight.”

But there was a price to pay. Starting sophomore quarterback Rhett Harrelson was injured early in the second quarter. He completed a pass under pressure to Trent Goforth for 26 yards but landed hard on his shoulder.

Preliminary reports indicated a shoulder separation that could sideline him three or four weeks, although Collins said there were other tests to conduct.

Enterprise turned to backup senior quarterback Tyler Warren.

“I was very pleased with the way Tyler Warren (played) with limited snaps this year,” Collins said. “He’s a senior. He had an opportunity. His team needed him to come in and produce, and he certainly did tonight. I thought he handled the offense well.”

In fact, Warren’s first pass Friday came on third-and-15 from the Jeff Davis 30. Randell Solomon streaked up the right sidelines and Warren hit him in stride for the touchdown with 9:12 left in the half. D.J. Kober’s extra point made it 14-0.

A penalty on the kickoff return backed the Vols up to their own 11-yard line. On first down, quarterback Douglas Brown took a keeper around left end. Jason Jordan hit him, and the ball squirted back. Brown recovered the loose ball in the end zone for a safety.

Jeff Davis kicked off and Enterprise senior Eric Hill caught a short kick in the middle of the field on the dead run. He never stopped, never slowed, never even made a cut and went the distance right up the middle of the field for a touchdown. It was 23-0 with 8:40 left in the first half.

“We hadn’t had a kick returned on us all year,” Jeff Davis coach Travis Pearson said. “Enterprise is a good football team, and we had our work cut out. … We just shoot ourselves in the foot so much. … It’s just growing pains.”

Kober made a 22-yard field goal as time expired to give the Cats a 26-0 halftime edge.

JD ran just 11 offensive plays for 40 total yards in the first half.

That cushion allowed Warren to run the Enterprise offense conservatively, but efficiently. That meant handing it off to Willie Curry, who had two 5-yard touchdown runs — and much more. Curry’s 80-yard run up the middle set up his second scoring play late in the third quarter that gave Enterprise a 33-0 lead.

Another 80-yard run — this one by senior Jeno Bourne — came with 10:18 left and was the game’s final score.

“He is a kid that has accepted a role for us primarily as a blocking back and has done a great job for us this year,” Collins said of Bourne. “For us to get him the ball and let that pay off with the long run on the touchdown, I think the coaches were as excited for him (as he was).”

Bourne said he was determined to score on the play.

“I was like, no, no, he’s not going to catch me,” he said. “I’m honored to be in the last class to play in The Hole. It was loud. The whole night it was loud.”

Another senior, Vinny Carnazza, carried his senior sign out of the stadium.

“Last one in The Hole,” he said. “It’s a big deal. We’re ending an era. The crowd was great. That’s the most people I’ve ever seen at a game here.”