What a week
- Updated: October 21, 2023
White Plains began its week with a successful appeal for playoff eligibility. With packed home crowd, Wildcats came up one yard short in overtime in game with implications for potential first playoff berth since 1994.
Scoreboard
FRIDAY, Oct. 20
Southside 49, Alexandria 21, FINAL
Anniston 54, Talladega 0, FINAL
Central-Clay 49, Beauregard 7, FINAL
Cherokee County 49, Etowah 0, FINAL
Handley 38, Cleburne County 14, FINAL
Spring Garden 49, Donoho 7, FINAL
Ohatchee 42, Glencoe 26, FINAL
Sylvania 28, Hokes Bluff 21, FINAL
St. Clair County 18, Lincoln 11, FINAL
Munford 36, White Plains 28, FINAL
Clay-Chalkville 28, Oxford 14, FINAL
Geraldine 42, Piedmont 27, FINAL
Southeastern 27, Pleasant Valley 13, FINAL
Thorsby 22, Ranburne 12, FINAL
Randolph County 50, Beulah 29, FINAL
Wadley 42, Winterboro 8, FINAL
Wellborn 48, Weaver 27, FINAL
Open: Jacksonville, Jax Christian, Saks.
By Joe Medley
East Alabama Sports Today
WHITE PLAINS — Dylan Barksdale put 333 more all-purpose yards and four more touchdowns onto his service life for White Plains High School football Friday.
When four quarters wasn’t enough to get the Wildcats’ lone senior and his teammates within near certainty of the program’s first playoff berth since 1994, he ran three more times into the teeth of a Munford defense who knew he would in overtime.
He ran one last time, pushing with everything he had against multiple Munford defenders for the last yard that might extend the game another overtime.
In the end, White Plains stood on the short end of a 36-28 score that made their odds of earning their second-ever playoff berth much longer, and one yard felt like one mile.
That’s a lot closer than White Plains’ football program has felt in a long time, and a heady week that started with Tuesday’s Alabama High School Athletic ruling in favor of their appeal for playoff eligibility and ended with a full home grandstand.
The word “forfeit” no longer stamped to their helmets like an proverbial extra emblem, the Wildcats just might’ve established something. White Plains football can dream again.
“This is big, because I’m the only senior,” Barksdale said. “None of these guys have ever seen anything like this, and it gives them motivation to go next year and do it again.”
In the immediate, the Wildcats (2-6), 2-3 in Class 4A, Region 4 still hold out hopes for the playoffs. An upset of seventh-ranked Jacksonville in next week’s region finale would make it easy, but there’s nothing easy about beating high-scoring Jacksonville.
Just like the scenario that White Plains hoped to achieve with a victory against Munford on Friday, it needs Cleburne County to lose to Anniston next week.
That part appears just as likely as Munford losing to Handley next week.
Should it play out that way, then Munford, Cleburne County and White Plains would end up in a three-way tie for the region’s fourth and final playoff spot. Munford beat White Plains, which beat Cleburne County, which beat Munford.
That tiebreaker would come down to wins by defeated non-region opponents.
White Plains has no non-region wins but will close out the regular season against Westbrook Christian (4-4) at home. As things stand, Westbrook’s four wins would be enough, since Cleburne County’s lone non-region win came against Northside (3-5), and Munford has no non-region wins.
Caveat: Cleburne County closes out regular-season play against Wellborn (6-2).
“A lot of things come into play, but we just keep playing,” first-year White Plains coach Blake Jennings said.
The same can be said for Munford (2-6, 2-3), which rallied from a 21-14 deficit and took the lead for good on Amare Edmondson’s 3-yard touchdown run on third down plus his conversion run in the first overtime.
Edmondson also ran for touchdowns of seven and 38 yards. The 7-yarder tied the game 21-21 just before halftime, and the latter gave Munford a 28-21 lead with 5:29 to play.
He rushed 37 times for 260 yards on the night.
Munford also got B.J. Anderson’s 14-yard keeper for a score, and he threw a 42-yard touchdown pass to Kadarian McCoy in the second quarter.
“That was a good game,” said Munford head coach Michael Easley said, a long-time assistant at Saksb before going to Munford. “Both teams played really hard. Both crowds were really into it.
“My goodness, you look at the White Plains side. I’ve been coaching against White Plains for 10 or 15 years, and that’s the biggest crowd I’ve ever seen over there.”
Credit Tuesday’s news that the AHSAA’s Central Board of Control upheld a District 6 ruling that White Plains would, indeed, be eligible for the playoffs despite what counted as a forfeit of a Sept. 22 region game at Anniston.
Calhoun County Schools superintendent Dr. Jose Reyes ordered White Plains not to play the game following a shooting involving Anniston students earlier that week. Anniston canceled its homecoming parade and pep rally that Thursday.
Reyes tried to negotiate a Saturday morning game time or playing Friday night without fans, but to no avail.
By rule, forfeiting a region game makes the forfeiting team ineligible for the playoffs, and White Plains lived under that cloud for nearly a month, before Tuesday’s Central Board ruling.
Suddenly, the Munford game became White Plains’ biggest home game in decades. When the Wildcats took the field, they ran through a student gauntlet that stretched past midfield.
“Nobody’s ever seen anything like this out here,” Barksdale said.
Barksdale, whose move from quarterback to running back keyed White Plains’ region victories over Talladega and Cleburne County on Oct. 6 and 13, did everything he could. He rushed for 146 yards and three touchdowns, caught three passes for 89 yards and a touchdown and threw a 56-yard halfback pass to set up his 15-yard direct-snap touchdown to give White Plains a 21-14 lead at 1:19 of the second quarter.
His touchdown reception came on a screen pass from freshman quarterback Crew Martin. Barksdale made a one-handed catch and rambled 68-yards to tie the game at 28-28 with 4:54 left in regulation.
White Plains installed the screen pass two weeks ago but ran it the first time Friday, Barksdale said. Jennings and staff installed the halfback pass this past week.
“Number one, he’s our guy,” Jennings said. “Dylan Barksdale’s our guy. He’s our leader. He’s White Plains through and through.
“We talk about us, and that’s who he is. He cares about this school more than he cares about himself.”
White Plains typically goes with direct snaps to Barksdale in goal-line situations. Down 36-28 and starting its overtime possession at Munford’s 10, the Wildcats tried Barksdale three times.
The third time came after P.J. Holloway, who added 131 yards rushing on the night, took a Martin screen pass 9 yards to the 2, and a penalty on Munford moved it half the distance.
With a yard to go, White Plains naturally went with Barksdale.
“It was tough,” Barksdale said. “We pounded it down their throat all night long, and they knew it was coming. We just need to execute better.”
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