Helena’s Jordan Washington accounted for seven touchdowns and 429 yards total offense as the Huskies downed Wetumpka 58-28 in AHSAA Class 6A first round action.

Washington ran 34 times for 348 yards and six touchdowns, caught two passes for 58 yards and threw a 23-yard touchdown pass.

Washington scored on touchdown runs of 45, 2, 38, 61, 19 and 24 yards and threw 23 yards to Hunter Hale for a touchdown.

Quarterback Carson Acker completed 10-of-17 attempts for 201 yards and a touchdown toss to Hale, who caught three passes for 68 yards and two scores.

Nate Jones added four catches for 86 yards as the Huskies totaled 600 yards offense.

Helena (9-2) advances to the second round against the winner of St. Paul’s at Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa, which will be played on Friday.

Boaz 10, Southside-Gadsden 7

The Boaz-Southside rematch was completely opposite than the first time the two teams faced off in late September, although both could be called instant classics.

Southside won the first matchup 48-45 in overtime, but Boaz rallied to win the one that counted Thursday at Southside’s Barney Hood Stadium to advance to Round 2 of the Class 5A playoffs.

Boaz (6-5) hosts No. 4 Pleasant Grove next Friday. Pleasant Grove beat Lawrence County 49-17 to advance. Thursday’s win was the first time since 2008 that the Pirates have advanced past the opening round.

The teams combined for 462 total yards on Thursday after the September game ended with 901 yards between the teams.

Southside (8-3) scored first late in the third period when Cayden McMichael returned a Boaz punt 23 yards to the Boaz 34 and Mason Teague scored on a run around right end. Caleb Ogle added the point-after for a 7-0 Panthers lead with 1:59 left in the quarter.

Boaz cut the lead to 7-3 on the ensuing possession when Jose Arreguin kicked a 37-yard field goal with 23 seconds left in the third period.

The Pirates stopped Southside’s next drive to set up what proved to be the game-winning march.

Quarterback Tyler Pierce hit Ty Sullivan for a 7-yard touchdown with 6 minutes left in the game and Arreguin gave the visitors a 10-7 edge. The game-winning drive went 79 yards following a Southside punt.

The Panthers had a go-ahead score – on a Jordan Bryan-to-McMichael pass – nullified by a holding penalty late in the game.

– Ricky Smith

COASTAL ALABAMA

Clarke County 20, Vincent 9

AJ Ezell rushed for 192 yards on 36 carries as Clarke County defeated Vincent in the first round of the Class 2A state playoffs.

Ezell scored three rushing touchdowns, two coming in the second half, to help the Bulldogs overcome a 9-7 Vincent lead. Ezell scored on runs 3, 6 and 9.

“AJ does what he does. He continued to carry us tonight,” coach Rob Carter said. “It wasn’t pretty, but we will take it and move to next week.”

Ezell entered the game with 1,372 yards rushing on the season with 21 TDs. Ezell opened the scoring for CCHS. His 6-yard TD run capped a 14-play, 60-yard drive for a 7-0 lead.

After Vincent rallied to take a 9-7 lead, Ezell scored on a 3-yard run with a minute remaining in the third quarter to give the Bulldogs a 13-9 lead.

Jayshaun Stokes added 32 yards on the ground for the Bulldogs.

“We have such a big front, and we run really well out of our heavy set formation,” Carter said.

Ezell’s final score with under eight minutes remaining to ice it for the Bulldogs.

“We kept grinding offensively, a couple of yards here and there turned into eight and nine-yard gains for us,” Ezell said. “When we are clicking on offense, we are dangerous and very difficult to stop.”

Vincent dropped to 1-15 all time on the road in the playoffs. The only victory came in 1997. The Yellow Jackets attempted only one pass in the first half. Rykelus Robinson countered with 102 yards rushing.

Aiden Poe added a 3-yard rushing score for Vincent in the second quarter. Robinson and Poe were the only two ball carriers for the Yellow Jackets. Robinson’s longest gain was 24 yards.

In the second half, the Bulldog defense stifled the Yellow Jacket offense.

“We made a couple of adjustments at halftime, nothing major, and our guys just responded,” said Carter.

Vincent was held under 200 yards total offense.

Clarke County (6-5) has won 12 in a row at home in the playoffs. Vincent (6-5) lost its final three games. The Bulldogs will play Goshen in the second round next week.

– John Vella

Brantley 42, Linden 17

The Bulldogs won their fourth straight game to improve to 7-4 on the year with the opening-round Class 1A road playoff win.

Jayden Parks completed 13-of-20 passes for 250 yards and a touchdown for the winners. Parks also ran for 85 yards and four scores.

Jon Harper Kilcrease led the Brantley defense with 7 tackles.

Linden closes out the season at 6-3.

Millry 55, Notasulga 0

Daylon Edmunds accounted for seven touchdowns as Millry rolled in the first round of the playoffs.

Edmunds completed 14-of-18 passes for 188 yards and five touchdowns and rushed 18 times for 121 yards and 2 scores.

The Wildcats outgained Notasulga 350-128 and had 14 more first downs.

Eli Adams caught five passes for 75 yards and 3 TDs. Landon Doggette and Jackson Waite also had TD receptions. Jaydon Reasor capped the scoring with a 2-yard run.

Millry (9-2) awaits the winner of Elba and University Charter in the second round next week. Notasulga finished 5-5.

NORTH ALABAMA

West Morgan 56, Etowah 0

Class 4A No. 5 West Morgan moved into the second round of the playoffs with a dominating win.

The Rebels were led by senior running back Jaylen Fletcher with 218 yards rushing on 15 carries and one touchdown. He also caught four passes for 122 yards and two more touchdowns.

Quarterback Braxton Peters was 9-of-13 passing for 222 yards and three touchdowns. The Rebel defense was equally impressive holding the Blue Devils to only 91 total yards in the shutout. The West Morgan offense finished the night with 513 total yards.

Peters helped West Morgan (11-0) get off to a quick 21-0 lead in the first quarter, rushing for one touchdown and throwing a 38-yard pass to Fletcher and a 62-yard touchdown to Jaylin McGwire. West Morgan added two more touchdowns in the second quarter on Fletcher’s 4-yard run and Jeremy Strong’s 2-yard run to take a commanding 35-0 lead into the half.

The Rebels cruised through the second half, scoring three more times on a Fletcher 64-yard run, Peters’ 7-yard touchdown run and a 78-yard pass from Peters to Fletcher to put the game on ice.

West Morgan will play the winner of Randolph and Corner in the second round.

– Jimmy Lay

STATEWIDE

Gordo 56, Phil Campbell 6

The third-ranked Green Wave rolled to 50 unanswered points to knock off visiting Phil Campbell in Class 3A play, leading 49-0 at the half.

Senior Ethan Wilder scored four touchdowns for Gordo with 2 rushing TDs, an 84-yard return on the opening kickoff and a 38-yard interception return. Wilder finished with 50 yards rushing on 2 carries – one a 44-yard TD – to lead the winners.

Quarterback Jase Neel completed all 4 of his passes for 99 yards and 2 TDs – a 51-yarder and a 25-yarder, both to CJ Lark. Lark finished with 3 catches for 81 yards and a 68-yard punt return for a score.

Gordo (10-1) also got a TD from Collin Pate.

Phil Campbell (4-7) scored with 4:43 left in the opening quarter on a 10-yard pass from Hayston Scott to Hayden Wingo.

This post will be updated.