Central-Phenix City Claims 7A State Title

Auburn, AL – The Central-Phenix City Red Devils (14-0) claimed their second AHSAA state football championship knocking off the Thompson Warriors (11-2) 52-7 Wednesday night at Auburn’s Jordan-Hare Stadium.  

The Devils notched their first state title and 14-0 season since 1993.  

Even thought the Red Devils came within a play of representing the south in the 2017 Super 7 championships and have rattled off five consecutive region titles the Devils from Phenix City lived in the shadows of the powerhouse programs in 7A region 3.  

Not any more.  

“We just wanted to dominate, and we wanted to come out and prove who we were.” Central head coach Jamey Dubose said in the Devil’s postgame press conference.  “A lot of people think we’re in Georgia, I think.  You never hear about us.”  

After Central’s performance Wednesday night there won’t be any confusion about where the Red Devils are located or where they fit in the pecking order of the state’s largest classification.  

The Devils jumped out to a 14-0 lead at the end of the first quarter on runs from inside the Warrior 10 yard line by Joseph McKay and Central quarterback Peter Parrish.  Central’s Amontae Spivey added the Devils only second quarter score bolting in from from the Thompson seven yard line to give the top ranked Red Devils a 21-0 lead heading into the break.  

Central came out of the locker room firing in the second half as Noah Pell split the uprights from 28 yards out a minute and a half into the third.  Eddie Williams hauled in a Parrish pass from just inside the Thompson 25 to give the Red Devil offense their only score of the third period – the Central defense and special teams would add the other 17 points in the quarter.  Trevon Miller scooped up a Warrior fumble and and rumbled 8 yards into the endzone and Marquez Henry picked off a Sawyer Pate pass returning it 14 yards into the endzone giving the Devils a 45-0 lead with a quarter to play.  

Central added a Tucker Melton touchdown run from the nine yard line midway through the final stanza before the Warriors cracked the Jordan-Hare scoreboard on a E.J. Edwards to Will Hoffman 23 yard scoring strike with just under four minutes remaining.  

Central signal caller and LSU commit Peter Parrish, the game’s most valuable player, finished the game with 78 yards and a score on 5 of 9 passes through the air while rushing for 100 yards and a touchdown on the ground.  Amontae Spivey ran for 80 yards on 14 attempts and a score while D.J. Rias lead the Devil receiving corps with three grabs for 28 yards.  Kicker Noah Pell was a perfect seven for seven on PAT’s and knocked through a 28 yard field goal in the third.  

Thompson quarterback Taulia, while battling injuries suffered doing the Warriors semifinal grudge match with the Hoover Bucs, passed for 44 yards, completing 7 of 11 passes and one interception.  E.J. Edwards completed 5 of 12 passes for 41 yards and a score.  Senior running back Shadrick Byrd lead the Warriors on the ground with 170 yards on 24 attempts while Michel Pettway haled in six receptions for 37 yards.  

“We played a great team, Alabama quarterback commit Taulia Tagovailoa said.  “Sometimes you have to battle through injuries in football, I’m pretty sure they had some guys who were hurting as well.  You have to battle through, at the end of the day it’s did you win or did you lose.  Tonight, we didn’t come through” 

The Central Red Devils offense rolled up 406 yards while holding the Warriors to 293.  

Open