Houston Academy beats Millry by seven

After a near-perfect first half in which Houston Academy built a three-touchdown lead, it was a couple of big defensive plays in the secondary which preserved a 21-14 win over Millry on Friday night in the first round of the Class 2A state playoffs.

Jack Cramer intercepted a pass early in the fourth quarter as Millry was driving deep into HA territory, and Will Andre knocked down a pass in the end zone with just under two minutes left on a fourth down play as the Raiders held on for the victory.

Houston Academy improves to 9-1 and advances to play at Leroy next Friday night. Leroy advanced with a 34-21 win over New Brockton.

Related Information:

  · Friday Football
Game highlights, band halftime shows, stats, photos and more.

Millry ends the season at 8-3, losing by a combined 11 points over those three games.

The Raiders totally dominated the first half of play — mixing in some smashmouth football with a little trickery on offense, and playing a smothering style of defense.

“We came out of the gates wide open,” Houston Academy coach Jimmy Addison said. “Our offensive line knocked them off the ball and our passing game was very effective.
“Defensively, we pretty much took it to them.”

Andrew Dauphin ran for 94 yards in the first half for the Raiders, but injured an ankle late in the second quarter and was slowed significantly in the second half. He finished with 120 yards on 25 carries.

Houston Academy scored on its first three possessions of the game to set the tone.

Dauphin ran the ball six times on the first drive for 48 yards, scoring on a 4-yard run around right end. Andre’s extra point kick made it 7-0 with 8:17 left in the first quarter.

The Raiders came up with a fumble recovery on Millry’s first possession as Cameron Smallwood lost the ball after making a catch, and Michael Ragan pounced on it at the Raiders’ 38.

J.H. Johnson connected with Will McCann for a 20-yard gain down to the Millry 42 before the Raiders pulled out a beautiful trick play.

On the first down play from the 42, Johnson threw a short pass to Cramer, who then tossed it back to Dauphin on the hook-and-ladder play. Dauphin took off down the left sidelines all the way to the 5.

Two plays later, Johnson connected with Ragan on a 4-yard TD toss. After Millry was whistled for offsides before the extra point kick was tried, the Raiders lined as if to kick again, but snapped the ball to Jordan Park instead and he took it in for a 2-point conversion for a 15-0 lead.

Andre kicked through a 24-yard field goal with 9:28 to go in the first half for an 18-0 lead, before Millry looked as though it would finally get on the scoreboard.

On the ensuing possession, Millry quarterback Dylan Whitsett connected with Kendrick Gray for a 65-yard gain to the Raiders’ 5, but the Wildcats were whistled for blocking in the back to bring the ball all the way back.

After taking back over at their own 23 following a punt, the Raiders began a drive which would lead to some big points right before halftime.

Johnson hit Cramer with a 21-yard pass to the Millry 46, and several plays later connected with McCann down to the 28.

After a couple of penalties moved the Raiders back, a short Dauphin run had HA at the 36. Facing a fourth-and-9, the Raiders called a timeout with two seconds left in the first half.

Andre then came on and nailed a career-best 51-yard field goal as time expired in the first half, making it 21-0 at the intermission.

“I told them at halftime that we scored 21 points in the first half and they’re very capable of scoring 21 points in the second half,” Addison said in keeping his team focused on the job ahead.

Millry came out the aggressor in the second half, moving 80 yards in 11 plays to reach the end zone when Whitsett ran in from 6 yards out around right end. Darren Abney kicked through the extra point to make it 21-7.

Millry was on the move again early in the fourth quarter as Whitsett hit Dakota Jones on a 16-yard completion to the HA 22. But on the next play, it was Cramer stepping in front for a big interception around the 5-yard line and returning it to the 18.

The Wildcats fought right back on their next possession, going 62 yards in just three plays to cut the lead to 21-14. Whitsett and Smallwood connected on a 49-yard pass play to the 11, and Whitsett threw to Gray on the next play for a touchdown. Abney’s kick made it 21-14 with 7:13 left in the game.

Millry’s DeWyane Franks came up with an interception with just over three minutes remaining and the Raiders were also called for an unsportsmanlike penalty on the play, setting the Wildcats up on its own 49.

Whitsett connected with Jones on a 15-yard completion into Raider territory, but the HA defense then took control.

After two incompletions and a 3-yard run by Whitsett, Millry faced a fourth-and-7 play from the HA 33 with under two minutes left.

On the play, Whitsett threw deep for Tony Miller in the end zone, but the taller Andre went up to beautifully knock the ball away and give the Raiders back the ball.

Houston Academy was then able to run out the clock and celebrate the victory.

Johnson was 8-of-10 passing for 112 yards for the Raiders

Whitsett was 14-of-23 passing for 164 yards for the Wildcats.