MOBILE, Ala. – A special play put in just for Homewood High School senior speedster
Ameer Abdullah earlier this week was called in overtime and it worked like a charm as Alabama's All-Stars downed Mississippi 24-17 in double overtime to increase its lead in the 24-game series to 17-7. The Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Classic began in 1988 here at Ladd-Peebles Stadium, home of the annual Senior Bowl for college all-stars.
Abdullah took a a direct handoff on the first play in the second overtime here Saturday afternoon and streaked 10 yards for a touchdown as Alabama's All-Stars won for the third year in a row, the fifth time in the last six and 11 times in the last 13.
Athens High's Stephen Rivers.
File photo by Joe Boyd
Things weren't looking good for Alabama's team late in the game. Down 14-6 with time running out in the fourth quarter, Athens senior
Stephen Rivers, an LSU commitment who was named the game's Alabama MVP, fired a 36-yard touchdown pass to
Emmanuel Johnson of McKenzie to pull the hosts to 14-13. Briarwood Christian's (Birmingham)
Wilson Whorton, who had a field goal blocked earlier in the contest, kicked the extra point to tie the game at 14 all. Johnson is headed Southern Miss.
Alabama got the ball back on downs with 38 seconds left in regulation at its own 36-yard line and moved the ball to the Mississippi 24 when Rivers found LeFlore's
Danny Woodson for a 15-yard gain with only seven seconds left. Rivers, the 6-foot-7 younger brother of San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers, grounded the ball quickly to stop the clock with three seconds remaining, but Alabama was called for an illegal formation which backed the ball up to the 29. On the last play of regulation, Whorton's 46-yard kick came up just a couple of yards short.
Mississippi, which scored on a 27-yard fumble return by Kendrick Market in the second quarter and on a 63-yard pass from West Jones (Laurel, Miss.) quarterback
Ben Stevens to South Panola's (Batesville, Miss.)
Nickolas Brassell in the third quarter, got the ball first in overtime. They settled for a 35-yard field goal by
Jordan Parker of Corinth to go ahead once again 17-14. Alabama moved from the 10 to the Mississippi 3-yard line before Whorton's 22-yard kick tied the game at 17-17.
In the second overtime, Alabama head coach Fred Yancey decided to use a play on first down the staff had put in this week during practice.
"I give credit to Coach (Chris) Fancher of Gardendale for the play," said Yancey, who guided Briarwood to the Class 5A state finals this season before falling to Spanish Fort 14-0. He has 246 career wins. "We put Abdullah in the backfield in the middle and with two backs on each side. We snapped it directly to Abdullah. He has such great speed, and we thought this would be a great play to run in an overtime period if we needed it.
"Stephen (Rivers) did a good job carrying out the fake as if he got the ball. Our line did a terrific job blocking and Ameer did what we thought he would do. He got it into the end zone."
Mississippi still got its chance in the second OT period. After moving to the 5-yard line on first down, Stevens threw incomplete on second down, was sacked on third down to set up one final play. His final pass to Brassell in the right corner of the end zone was batted down by
Ellis May of McGill-Toolen to seal the win.
Alabama totaled 202 yards passing and 90 rushing for 292 total yards. Mississippi had 115 passing but minus-18 rushing for 97 total yards.
Rivers was named Alabama's MVP going 14 of 24 for 123 yards. St. Paul's
Jacob Coker, an FSU commitment, completed 8 of 18 passes for 79 yards with a 39-yard scoring pass to Auburn commitment
Sammie Coates of Leroy early in the second quarter. Demopolis'
Demarcus James, who committed earlier to Washington State but has since decommitted, gained 39 yards on 10 rushing attempts and UMS-Wright's
Chris Dukes had 32 on four carries, and Abdullah had 24 yards on six carries.
Woodson, an Alabama commitment, led all receivers with seven catches for 72 yards.
Stevens was 8-for-27 passing for Mississippi for 115 yards. He was sacked four times for 27 yards in losses.
Russellville's
Brent Calloway, a Crimson Tide commitment, led Alabama's defense with nine tackles. Leeds defensive back
Jonathan Rose, another Auburn commitment, had an interception.
C.J. Johnson of Philadelphia led all tacklers with 17 for Mississippi to earn MVP honors for his team.
Taveze Calhoun of Morton also intercepted a pass and returned it 50 yards.
