James Clemens season ends with loss to Fort Payne
Miles Whitlow scored on a 55 yard touchdown pass
(RECORD PHOTO/FLOYD PARKS)
MADISON- Ft. Payne quarterback Alan Smith tossed five touchdown passes to lead Ft. Payne to a 37-34 win over James Clemens in an offensive shootout that didn’t end until the Jets last pass into the end zone fell incomplete as time expired.
As has been the case all year, James Clemens put up huge offensive numbers but also gave back points off turnovers and missed opportunities to add points. Jets quarterback Heath Burchfield threw for over 400 yards and three touchdowns but also threw a critical interception late in the fourth quarter. Still he led his team down the field with no timeouts and under a minute to play coming up just short.
He finished the game 23 of 38 for 452 yards.
“We’re disappointed we could not make the plays to win the football game,” Jets coach Wade Waldrop said. “We had opportunities right to the end to change the outcome of the game. That is what we’ve done all year long so we have to do a better job coaching.”
Waldrop said there was a lot to build on this season despite the 2-8 record.
“There’s positives but we got to find a way to put it together and get W’s. Effort has been great. We have to do a better job as coaches to put them in a better position so the players can make more plays to win.”
One bright spot for the Jets this year is leading rusher Maceo Booker. He sat out the game with concussion symptoms and just missed going over the 1,000 yard mark finishing with 940 yards rushing on the season. Miles Whitlow led the Jets with nine touchdown catches this season.
James Clemens bolted out to an early 14-0 lead then watched as Ft. Payne scored 21 points in the final 4:50 of the first half.
The Jets fumbled away a touchdown on their first possession when the ball came loose from Trevor Makarov as he was going in for a touchdown and went out of the end zone. But the Jets came right back and scored on a 55-yard touchdown pass from Burchfield to Whitlow then after a Josh Garth interception, Marquis Burnley scored on a one yard run. Will Grochowski kicked both extra points.
James Clemens defense held Ft. Payne without a first down until late in the second quarter as Josh Garth pulled down his second interception of the game to stop one drive.
Ft. Payne got the break they needed on a bad center snap that the Wildcats recovered. The next play, Smith tossed a 13-yard scoring pass to Desmond Turner. The Ft. Payne defense sacked Buchfield to force a punt that went only one yard and had Ft. Payne back in the red zone. Smith hit Daurice Maddox with a 23-yard touchdown pass but the the extra point was no good.
A holding penalty backed the Jets up and gave Ft. Payne good field position again. Smith hit Maddox on a 21-yard touchdown pass to end the first half 19-14 after the two point try failed.
The teams traded touchdowns in the third quarter then Burchfield hit Deondre Douglas on a 35 yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 27. Ft. Payne got a 27-yard field goal to take the lead then Blade Romans picked of a Burchfield pass and returned it to the 4 yard line. Devonta McKenzie caught Smith’s fifth touchdown pass of the game from the four yard line to put Ft. Payne up 37-27.
James Clemens added a late touchdown on a 67-yard catch and run by Trevor Makarov but Ft. Payne drained all but 27 seconds on their next possession. On fourth and two a snap sailed past Burchfield as confusion reigned.
The Jets end their season on a 7 game losing streak after going 2-1 in the first three games.
“We were close in a lot of games but these guys work hard and they want to be successful. We have come a long way and we are going to go even farther,” Waldrop said.
Waldrop is already pointing to next season when James Clemens will have a full senior class for the first time in their two year history.
“We will be ready to go next August.”
Between now and then all schools will go through reclassification by the AHSAA.
