Montgomery Catholic Shuts out Cherokee County to win Class 4A Championship
By Josh Bean | For the AHSAA
TUSCALOOSA – Montgomery Catholic High School’s Caleb McCreary scored three touchdowns and threw another, and the Knights’ stingy defense delivered a key goal-line stand in Friday’s 35-0 victory over Cherokee County in the Class 4A championship game at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Montgomery Catholic (15-0), coached by Kirk Johnson, earned its eighth shutout of the season and won its first AHSAA state football championship as the 2023 Super 7 State Football Championships opened its final day Friday.
“It’s a collective win,” Johnson said. “People talk about our defense and how little points we give up. Man, bump that. We have to play complimentary football, and we did that.”
Montgomery Catholic’s win kicked off Day 3 of the Super 7, with championship games in Class 2A and 6A set for later Friday. Thompson won the Class 7A title on Wednesday and Gulf Shores (Class 5A), Mobile Christian (Class 3A) and Leroy (Class 1A) took home state titles Thursday.
Montgomery Catholic and Cherokee County largely traded punts in the first half before McCreary threw a 3-yard TD pass to JJ Williams with 37 seconds to go before halftime. That made it 7-0.The Warriors played most of the game without starting quarterback Carson Tittle, who suffered a torn knee ligament three weeks ago but tried to play. His lack of mobility left the Warriors running a single-wing offense with star running back Jacob Cornejo playing quarterback.
Early in the second half, though, the Warriors drove inside the Knights’ 10-yard line and eventually had fourth-and-2 at the 5 before calling for a timeout. Out of the timeout, Cherokee County committed a false-start penalty, which made it fourth-and-7 from the 10.
Cornejo’s fourth-down pass to tight end Ben Moseley fell incomplete in the end zone.
“At some point, they had to try to leak out the tight end,” Johnson said. “We harped on it – it’s coming, it’s coming. Rickie Williams is one of the best players in the state as far as his assignment and doing what he’s supposed to do. We guessed right.”
The Knights controlled the rest of the game, as McCreary scored on runs of 5, 66 and 29 yards. Josh Griffin also scored on a 19-yard run.
Catholic limited Cherokee County to only 180 yards total offense and none through the air. The Warriors finished 0-for-5 passing, but Cornejo had runs of 6,7 and 9 yards to help him break the 100-yard barrier, as he tallied 102 yards on 26 carries and finished the season with 2,613 yards rushing on 276 carries with 31 touchdowns.
Montgomery Catholic rolled up 343 yards, with McCreary running 22 times for 197 yards and added 60 yards passing while complete 9-of-14 passes. Griffin added 82 yards on the ground, and Williams had 54 yards receiving on five receptions.
Jo Pierce led the Knights’ defense with 10 tackles, while Miles Katri and Keltric Washington forced fumbles. Jace Turner led the Cherokee County defense with eight tackles, and Tyson Wood added seven.
Tae Diamond had 80 yards rushing for Cherokee County and forced a fumble while playing defense.
Montgomery Catholic lost in the Class 3A final in 2020 and then fell in Class 4A semifinals in 2021 and 2022. Coming so close for so long made the championship victory that much more meaningful for the Knights. The shutout win was the first in the Super 7 since UMS-Wright blanked Deshler in the 2018 Class 4A finals. Johnson’s record improved to 42-2 with the Knights’ victory, which was Catholic’s eighth of the season with the final two coming in the semifinals and finals.
“It means the world to us,” McCreary said.
Cherokee County (13-2), coached by Jacob Kelley, finished as Class 4A runner-up for the second straight season.
“It’s tough to end this way and have this taste in your mouth,” Kelley said.
SUPER 7 STATE FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Bryant-Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa, Dec. 6-7-8
FRIDAY’S CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS
CLASS 4A FINALS
Montgomery Catholic (15-0) 35, Cherokee County (13-2) 0
CLASS 2A FINALS
Fyffe (13-1) vs. Reeltown (13-0), Fri., Dec. 8, 3 p.m.
CLASS 6A FINALS
Saraland (14-0) vs. Clay-Chalkville (13-0), Fri., Dec. 8, 7 p.m.
THURSDAY’S CHAMPIONSHIP GAME RESULTS
CLASS 3A FINALS
Mobile Christian (15-0) 55, Madison Academy (14-1) 28
CLASS 1A FINALS
Leroy (14-0) 28, Coosa Christian (9-6) 21
CLASS 5A FINALS
Gulf Shores (15-0) 21, Ramsay (12-3) 14
WEDNESDAY’S CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS
CLASS 7A FINALS
Central-Phenix City (13-0) 21, Thompson (11-2) 19
GIRLS’ FLAG FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
CLASS 1A/5A FINALS
Wenonah (17-0) 18, Montgomery Catholic (17-4) 12 (OT)
CLASS 6A/7A FINALS
Central-Phenix City (18-0) 25, Vestavia Hills (17-1) 0
