Entering Week 10, we had what some people considered to be the Game of the Year, with two 9-0 teams facing off in their final game of the regular season. The stakes couldn’t have been higher with the winner of tonight’s game walking off the field as District 2-5A Champions.
To kick the game off, the Trojans would get the ball first and the backfield would immediately get to work. They have a running back duo that was working all game, but JT Lindsey was the leading rusher throughout the night. He would move the ball down the field before QB Karsen Sellers would find WR Jimmie Duncan for an easy walk-in TD to start the game off up 7-0. The ASH defense would force a punt after 3 plays, and then Lindsey would get his first TD of the game, quickly putting them up 14-0.
Neville needed a score down 14-0, and to kick off the second quarter, they would do just that. Set up by a huge pass from QB Parker Robinson to their WR/S Julian Burns that put them inside the 5, RB Jaylon Nichols would punch it in for the Tigers and get them on the scoreboard.
But the ASH offense was unstoppable tonight and Karsen Sellers would pick things right back up delivering a screen pass to WR Darius Washington and he would do the rest evading all defenders on his way to the endzone to extend their lead to two touchdowns.
Coming off of the errant snap, Neville was gifted an opportunity to score before the end of the half and draw back within one possession. But ASH DB Jaden Lewis had other plans and would make a great play to flip the momentum back to his team. He would tip the Neville pass up in the air while guarding the receiver and maintain focus to bring it in after the deflection. Once again, their offense was moving fast and would roll the dice with 2 seconds left from inside the 5. Sellers would find Darius Washington again for their second TD of the first half and give the team a comfortable 28-9 lead heading into the locker room for half.
The other half of their dynamic duo at RB Vaughn Darbon made numerous plays for the offense over the course of the game. But he would finally find the endzone in the third quarter on a tough run, stiff-arming a defender off of him on his way into the endzone.
JT Lindsey had his best run come late in the third quarter to end this game and put an exclamation mark on his senior night performance. He would end the game with over 200 yards and get his second TD of the night on a run where he would break multiple tackles and then turn on the afterburners and simply just outrun anyone else who had a chance at tackling him.
While Neville would score in the 4th, this game had been over and the Trojans would end up taking the knee to get the 42-16 victory and celebrate their first 10-0 season in school history.
Entering the playoffs, Neville and Alexandria are both sitting in good positions. ASH just needs to keep their momentum rolling and they will be on their way to a deep run, currently positioned as the 2 seed in the Divison 1 Select playoff bracket. Neville remains the 1 seed in the Divison 1 Non-Select bracket, despite the loss. Both teams will have a bye for the first round and have some time to fine-tune things that went wrong in this game or just polish up a few rough edges and keep up the great performances that they have produced all season.
Check out my postgame interview with ASH QB Karsen Sellers below:
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