St. Michael sprinted to a 42-point halftime lead as Gunner Rivers threw two touchdown passes while Martin Corte and Noah Moss each added two running touchdowns in the first half as the Cardinals downed Wilcox Central 45-6 on senior night.

The Class 4A, Region 1 Cardinals (5-3, 4-1) scored on six-of-seven first half possessions.

Before getting pulled at the start of the third quarter, Corte had six carries for 56 yards and scored from 8-yards out to give St. Michael an 8-0 lead on its second drive, also catching the two-point conversion. His 4-yard touchdown reception, his only catch of the night, made it 14-0.

Noah Moss scored from 13-yards out and would end the first half with a 9-yard touchdown run on a five-carry, 60-yard performance in the half.

Rivers was 10-of-11 for 116 yards, throwing touchdown passes to Corte and Cooper Kurth, his only catch of the game.

Patricio Garcia added a 33-yard field goal to make it 45-0 before Wilcox Central got on the board on a Kenyon Williams 19-yard pass to Orlando Jackson.

The Cardinals out-gained the Jaguars 314-83 and had 11 first downs to three for Wilcox Central, which managed only 18 plays for no yards in the first half.

Wilcox Central (1-6, 0-5) split quarterback duties between Javion Pettway and Williams, who was 2-of-3 for 32 yards and a touchdown pass while Pettway was 5-of-10 for 14 yards.

St. Michael travels to Jackson and Wilcox Central goes to Orange Beach in Region 1 play next week.

BIRMINGHAM

Benjamin Russell 41, Pelham 14

Auburn commitment Malcom Simmons powered Benjamin Russell to a first-half lead and Christophyer Foster scored twice as the Wildcats pulled away with a 22-0 fourth period to whip visiting Pelham on Thursday.

Simmons got the home team on the board with a 92-yard punt return touchdown – his second in the past two weeks – with 8:14 left in the opening quarter. He scored again with 4:10 left in the period on a third-and-goal from inside the 1 to push Benjamin Russell up 13-0.

After a 3-yard run by Pelham quarterback Clayton Mains early in the second quarter to narrow the margin to 13-7, Simmons scored again after catching a slant from Gabriel Benton and racing 70 yards to put the Wildcats up 19-7 with 4:33 left in the half.

Pelham converted a fake punt on a fourth-and-7 when blocking back Marshall Watts ran untouched around the left side to put the Panthers in business at the home team’s 20-yard-line. Mains scored on a second-effort run around left end with 1:35 to play in the third quarter to make it 19-14.

Benjamin Russell’s Foster got his first score with 10:45 left in the game on a 17-yard run and Micah Murphree’s second PAT kick made it 26-14. Caiden Hyde put the Wildcats back in business with a diving interception of a tipped pass and Ta’jerious Wilson scored on a 3-yard run. Four-star recruit Simmons ran in for the 2-point conversion and a 34-14 lead with 5:23 left.

Foster broke away up the middle for a 58-yard run to the Pelham 1-yard-line and scored with 43 seconds remaining.

Benjamin Russell improved to 5-2 on the year and 3-1 in Class 6A, Region 3. Pelham dropped to 4-3 and 1-3.

Wenonah 49, Hayden 7

Wenonah quarterback Anthony Young threw for three touchdowns and ran for two more as the Dragons downed Hayden in Class 5A, Region 5 action.

Young was 6-of-9 passing for 240 yards and three scores and ran six times for 98 yards and two touchdowns.

Dominic Bruce led the ground attack with 13 runs for 126 yards and added three PATs while Kelvin Peoples had seven carries for 42 yards and a touchdown adding two tackles and a fumble recovery on defense.

Cameron Peterson caught two passes for 113 yards, both for touchdowns, adding a 6-yard run and two tackles on defense.

Omar Holcomb ran for a scores and had an interception.

Wenonah (6-2, 3-2) plays at Fairfield next week while Hayden (2-5, 1-4) hosts Ramsay.

STATE

Geraldine 30, Westbrook Christian 7

Geraldine 5-foot-7, 150-pound eighth-grader Jon Beck Wade helped the Class 3A Bulldogs to the Region 6 victory with three interceptions, including returning one for 102 yards and a touchdown.

Wade’s interception return is tied for the eighth-longest in AHSAA history. The state record belongs to Notasulga’s Jimmy Pitts and Demopolis’ Tommy Wilson, who had 108-yard returns in 2018 and 2012.

The pick-six was the longest in the AHSAA since Autaugaville’s Kenneth Brown and Lexington’s Wyatt Prado each returned interceptions 100 yards for scores last season.

The interception return by Wade — he’s also the backup quarterback — helped the Bulldogs (5-1, 3-1) break open a close game that was 14-7 at the half.