St. Michael was vying to secure the first football playoff berth in school history Thursday night in Fairhope. Jackson defensive end Garrison Holly stood squarely in the way.

Holly intercepted a Cardinal swing pass with 9:28 left in the game and returned it 45 yards for a back-breaking touchdown as the Aggies pulled away late to beat St. Michael 28-6 in a key Class 4A, Region 1 football game.

The win put Jackson (6-2, 4-2) in the playoffs and leaves St. Michael (5-4, 4-2) needing a win at T.R. Miller next week or a Bayside Academy loss to either Escambia County on Friday night or Satsuma next week to make the postseason.

“I thought we played hard and gave ourselves a chance,” St. Michael coach Philip Rivers said. “They (the kids) are down. Obviously, they are disappointed. But I said, ‘let’s quickly get our juice back because we have another shot to get in.’ I hope we will recover and come back Monday and give it another shot.”

Holly’s 1-yard TD run on Jackson’s first offensive possession of the game gave the Aggies a 7-0 lead that lasted until late in the third quarter. St. Michael closed the gap to 7-6 with 27.6 seconds left in the period on Josh Murphy’s 21-yard touchdown strike to Ezra Sexton. However, the extra point attempt never got off the ground, leaving Jackson in front.

“We didn’t tie it up right there at 7-7 because of the botched extra point, but even then we are right there,” Rivers said.

The St. Michael defense – led all night by Clay Barr and Tyler Cella – stuffed the Aggies on three plays on the ensuing possession and forced a punt. However, on a third-and-5 from the St. Michael 46, Murphy tried a swing pass right down the line of scrimmage.

Holly, while being blocked, reached up and grabbed the ball out of the air. His return and the extra point gave the Aggies a 14-6 edge.

“The guy blocked me right into it,” said Holly, a senior. “The quarterback threw it right into my hands. I was a surprised. It happened so fast. I just had to go to the house with it.”

Rivers didn’t regret the play call or the pass by Murphy.

“We were just throwing a swing pass,” he said. “The guy was getting blocked. Josh asked me what he should do there. Nothing. The guy just jumped up and made a good play.”

After holding St. Michael on the next possession, Jackson increased its lead. On third-and-18, freshman quarterback Landon Duckworth hit Tychius Caves on a swing pass of his own. Caves turned it into a 62-yard touchdown and a 21-6 edge with 6:40 left in the game.

The Cardinals drove 67 yards on 13 plays on their next possession, but they needed 68. Murphy’s pass on fourth-and-goal from the 1 was incomplete with 2:47 left.

“I wish I had ran it there at the goal line,” Rivers said. “I thought they were all going to be up there close, but I wish I had just handed it off. You overthink everything when you lose.”

On the next play, Duckworth turned a quarterback run up the middle into a 99-yard touchdown for the final points of the game.

“It was tight,” Jackson coach Cody Flournoy said. “We were able to get that goal line stand at the end. We had a lot of penalties. We told the guys that we were going into a hostile environment, that we weren’t going to get the calls on our side, and we didn’t. We were still able to stand up and hold them at the 1. Good athletes do good things, and the quarterback, who is just a freshman, took it 99 to close it out.”

The 4A, Region 1 playoff race: T.R. Miller leads the way at 5-0 in region play and can clinch the region title outright with a win Friday night at Satsuma. St. Michael and Jackson are each 4-2. Orange Beach is 3-2, while Bayside Academy is 2-3. St. Michael owns a head-to-head tiebreaker over Orange Beach, while Bayside owns the tiebreaker over St. Michael. The Admirals travel to Escambia County (4-3, 2-3) Friday night and host Satsuma (1-6, 1-4) next week.

“We have to win unless something crazy happens tomorrow with Escambia and Bayside,” Rivers said. “If Escambia wins, we’re in. If we win next week, we could be the 2 seed. If we lose, we go home. That is what is at stake.”

Player of the Game: Holly scored his team’s first two touchdowns, and his interception changed the game for good.

“He’s a senior,” Flournoy said. “He’s a coach’s son. He works hard and does everything right. He read the screen. He was able to make a play. He just jumped up and snatched it out of the air and returned it. It is just big-time players making big plays.”

Holly is the son of former Blount High head coach Lev Holly, who was in attendance at the game.

Raising the Barr: St. Michael seniors Clay Barr and Tyler Cella were in the Jackson offensive backfield for most of the night. The Cardinals had nine tackles behind the line of scrimmage.

“The defense was great obviously other than the third-and-20 and the 99-yarder at the end, but I really don’t worry about that last one,” Rivers said. “We are selling out there and trying to cause something to happen and give us a chance. They played great.”

What’s next? St. Michael travels to T.R. Miller next Friday. Jackson, which has now won five straight games since back-to-back losses to Orange Beach and T.R. Miller, hosts Wilcox Central (Oct. 21) and Davidson (Oct. 28) in its final two regular season games.

“We are playing good football right now,” Flournoy said.