Southern Choctaw set to face Lineville once again

By By Jeff Byrd / staff writer
Nov. 30, 2002
SLOCOMB, Ala. A gut-wrenching game worthy of a championship, the Alabama South State 2A title game came down to a final play in overtime.
Slocomb quarterback Blake Mills' desperation fourth down pass fell incomplete in the end zone allowing Southern Choctaw to escape from Red Top Stadium with a hard-fought 20-14 overtime victory over the Red Tops.
Southern Choctaw, now 13-0, advances to play Lineville for the third time in the State 2A Championship game. The Indians won the previous two meetings winning 2A titles in 1999 and 2000. The third game will be Friday at 3 p.m. at Legion Field in Birmingham.
Indians head coach Larry Boykin was just grateful his team will get to play on and earn a chance at a third state title.
we got out of here."
Slocomb and the Indians battled to a 0-0 tie after a half and it was 14-14 after regulation. Both teams scored a touchdown and a two-point conversion in the final 1:36 of the game to send it to overtime.
Southern Choctaw got to start the extra period on offense first. After a run netted nothing, quarterback Bernard McGrew went back to the pass. He found Jo Jo Dozier for a 10-yard touchdown after Dozier outleaped the Slocomb defender.
The Indians tried to kick the extra point but the boot sailed wide, leaving the score at 20-14.
Slocomb then got its chance.
A holding penalty backed up the Red Tops 11 yards to the 21. On second down, Mills was dropped for a 2-yard loss by McGrew and Norman May. A third down slip screen went incomplete leaving the Red Tops with a 4th-and-23.
Mills boot-legged to the right and then threw across the grain. He had a man open but Southern Choctaw's Jeremy McGrew got just enough in the way to force the incompletion.
Slocomb head coach David Tew said he couldn't have asked any more from his team.
The Indians scored on their first drive of the second half, marching 81 yards in seven plays. McGrew hit Dozier for a 44-yard touchdown pass after Dozier beat his defender on a fly-pattern. The kick failed keeping the score at 6-0 with 9:38 left in the quarter.
Southern Choctaw appeared ready to put the game away after a bad punt snap gave them the ball at the Red Top 25. But after a first down completion, the drive stalled and McGrew was picked off on fourth down.
The Red Tops answered with an 82-yard drive that was helped by two, 15-yard penalties and a fourth-down conversion. Mills hit a 14-yard screen to Danny Sasser to set up Josh Parks' 33-yard TD run with 5:18 left in the game. The kick was partially blocked leaving the score tied at 6-6.
The Indians came right back behind McGrew. The senior led a 7-play, 77-yard drive to put the Indians back ahead. A 12-yard completion was followed by an
11-yard reverse by Dozier that got things going. McGrew then scored the touchdown on a 23-yard run after he slipped past a Red Top blitz.
The Indians went for two and got it when McGrew hit Terrell McGrew for the conversion and a 14-6 lead with 1:36 remaining.
The Red Tops would not die. Mills led his team on a game tying drive. He hit passes of 32, 18 and finally 20 yards for the touchdown to Justin Shipes. The 18-yarder to Parks converted a fourth-an-13.
The Red Tops went for two and got it when Shipes rammed it in to tie the game at 14-14 with just 14 seconds left.
McGrew had 200 yards in total offense. He was 5-of-12 for 94 yards and two TDs passing. But he was intercepted three times. He added 106 yards rushing on 16 carries and one TD.
Mills was 6-of-16 for 101 yards. Parks had 65 yards rushing.
The Indians, despite just two first downs at the half, outgained Slocomb 293 to 253.