E.A. Sports Today

Yes he Kam

Sandlin keys Anniston’s fourth-quarter comeback over Jacksonville after leaving the game with an ankle injury

Anniston’s Jaylon Cunningham streaks down the sideline on his way to the Bulldogs’ go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth quarter. On the cover, Anniston quarterback Kam Sandlin takes a knee to clinch the Homecoming victory over Jacksonville. (Photos by Greg Warren)

FRIDAY’S CALHOUN COUNTY GAMES
Alexandria 28, Lincoln 21
Anniston 30, Jacksonville 23
Dadeville 27, Saks 10
Handley 48, White Plains 0

By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today

An eerie silence fell over Lott-Mosby Stadium when Anniston quarterback Kam Sandlin gingerly limped to the bench late in the third quarter of Friday night’s showdown with Jacksonville. 

The way he tried to walk he looked to be seriously hurt, and that would’ve been a serious blow to the Bulldogs’ region title hopes and the SEC program he’s expected to sign with in December. Or, he could’ve be only kidding.

Sandlin doesn’t play when it comes that kind of thing, so it had to be something serious to force him from the game. But what he did when he returned made you think it wasn’t that big a deal after all.

The South Carolina commitment missed only two plays. When he reentered the game he rallied the Bulldogs to three fourth-quarter touchdowns that lifted them over the Golden Eagles 30-23 in a clash of Top 10 region rivals.

“I was (worried) a little bit, but going through my head I was like, ‘never give up, never give up,’” Sandlin said. “I just had to get that through my head. I never gave up.”

The Bulldogs came from nine points down after three quarters to take the lead, then fell behind again with less than four minutes to play. Jaylon Cunningham went 62 yards down the right sideline for the go-ahead touchdown with 2:54 to play and Sandlin added a bone-crushing two-point conversion to cap the comeback.

The win helped the sixth-ranked Bulldogs (4-0) keep pace with No. 2 Handley (4-0) and set up a presumptive showdown for the Class 4A Region 4 championship at Lott-Mosby in three weeks. The loss likely sends No. 7 Jacksonville on the long road in the first round of the playoffs provided the Golden Eagles (2-2) take care of business the rest of the way after losing to the region’s top two contenders in their first two region games.

“We’ve got to get on the region map and we’ve got to get some wins and give ourselves a chance to get in the playoffs,” Jacksonville coach Clint Smith said. “You just don’t know where it’s going to end. We’ve got a lot of games we need to win.”

Sandlin had everyone in the stadium holding their collective breath when he limped off after turning his left ankle on the practice kicking tee running out of bounds late in the third quarter.

He was helped to the bench not being able to put any weight on the foot and it wasn’t immediately known how much he would miss.

Turns out it was just two plays – a recovered fumbled out of the Wildcat formation on the last play of the third quarter and another running play to open the fourth.

“I’ve never seen Kam cry or do any of that, but when he started limping, I knew he was hurt.,” Cunningham said. “Kam doesn’t fake hurting or anything. He’s a dog. He’ll really dig in deep for us to do what we need to win. He came in and scored and scored again and got us doing what we needed to do to win the game.”

The quarterback returned as if nothing had happened. He directed the Bulldogs to three touchdowns, scoring the first two himself, and accounting for 143 yards. He completed a 36-yard pass to Cunningham his first play back in the game, hit Jamarius Billingsley with a 14-yard pass on the next play, then went 8 yards for the touchdown that got the Bulldogs to within 17-14 with 10:42 to play.

On the next possession he had runs of 28 and 7, threw a 7-yard pass to Cunningham and went 38 yards to give the Bulldogs their first lead since early in the second quarter 22-17.

“It meant a lot to come in and do what I did because I knew when I got hurt people thought the game was over with, but I never give up,” Sandlin said. “I knew I could do it.”

“That’s what I expect from Kam,” Anniston coach Rico White said. “Kam never wavers. Even with the first half, they were blitzing everywhere, he just said let’s go, let’s pick it up and he stayed positive. And then in the second half it showed. He finally did what we expect him to do – take over the game.”

Jacksonville answered Anniston’s go-ahead score with a 66-yard drive powered by the running of G. Turner to retake the lead 23-22 with 3:44 left. Turner had eight carries for 60 yards in the drive, but the Bulldogs stuffed him on the two-point conversion after his touchdown to keep it a one-point game.

Cunningham then put the Bulldogs up for good less than a minute later on a play he called from the huddle and Sandlin made it a more traditional margin when he ran for 2 and got in the end zone despite being stood up by Golden Eagles’ DB Kydric Fisher at the goal line.

Jim Ogle drove the Golden Eagles into Anniston territory on the game’s final possession, but after a series of clock mishaps in the final minute that had everyone confused the drive stalled at the 25 on fourth down.

The furious finish was a stark contrast to the balky beginning. The first half featured little offense (147 yards between the two teams) with Jacksonville’s defense playing infinitely better than the week before against Handley and a lot of turnovers (five). Both teams missed opportunities because of long plays going backwards. All three touchdowns came off converted turnovers.

The Golden Eagles led 14-8 at halftime and 17-8 after Mason Terrell’s 38-yard field goal four minutes into the third quarter.

Jacksonville’s Imoree Young came within one of tying a state record when he recovered three fumbles in the game.

“I thought our guys played so hard and we played well, they made one more play than we did there at the end,” Smith said.

J’VILLE (23)ANN (30)
161st Downs15
38-110Rushes-yards35-148
15-33-1Comp-Att-Int9-17-1
150Passing yards94
2-2Fumbles-lost4-3
5-39.6Punts-avg3-38.0
7-65Penalties-yds7-65
Jacksonville (2-2)773 6 –23
Anniston (4-0)08022 –30

J – Dee Prothro 1 run (Mason Terrell kick), 6:24 1Q
A – Malachi Taylor 12 run (Jaylon Cunningham run), 10:31 2Q
J – Kydric Fisher 12 pass from Jim Ogle (Mason Terrell kick), 6:22 2Q
J – Mason Terrell 38 FG, 8:11 3Q
A – Kam Sandlin 8 run (run failed), 10:42 4Q
A — Kam Sandlin 38 run (Malachi Taylor run), 7:58 4Q
J – G. Turner 1 run (run failed), 3:44 4Q
A — Jaylon Cunningham 62 run (Kam Sandlin run), 2:54 4Q

G Turner (6) celebrates with Kydric Fisher after scoring Jacksonville’s go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter Friday. The lead was short-lived, however, as Jaylon Cunningham put Anniston back on top for good less than a minute later. (Photo by Greg Warren)

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