ADDISON, Ala. — Addison hosted the Hamilton Aggies for Homecoming at lovely A.G. Hicks stadium on Friday night and the crowd was treated to a very good game. Addison was able to squeak out a hard fought 22-21 win to send the crowd to the Homecoming dance happy. Stunning Senior Addisyn Smothers was crowned the 2021 Homecoming Queen for the Bulldogs.
After an exchange of possessions, Hamilton took over at its own 3-yard line. A beautiful sixteen play drive ensued, eight passes with eight runs, covering 97 yards as the Aggies got on the board first with a Matthew Coleman to Jayden Hatcher touchdown pass. The pass covered 7 yards. The extra point was good and with 11:13 to go in the second quarter, Hamilton led Addison 7-0.
After another exchange of punts, Addison took over at its own 23-yard line with 6:51 to go in the half. The Bulldogs went into their heavy run formation with no wide receivers and proceeded to run 14 straight run plays moving the ball all the way down to the Aggie 1-yard line. Jack Wilson, Justin “Rocky” Mather and Will “The Thrill” Tuggle were the main beneficiaries of some very solid blocking by the Bulldog Offensive Line. Mather took it in the for the 1-yard touchdown run with only six seconds left in the half. The Eli “Curly” Howse extra point was good, and the score was tied at 7 at the half.
The Bulldogs received the second half kickoff and picked up right where they left off. Addison picked up a couple first downs then the dreaded penalty bug struck, and Addison was facing a second down and 26 yards to go from their own 30-yard line. Coach David Smothers called a pass play from the tight formation and quarterback Christian “Ice Man” Roberts found a streaking “Touchdown” Tommy Lee Daniel down the seam. Roberts made a beautiful throw and Daniel made an exceptional fingertip diving catch down to the Aggie 31-yard line. The play was good for a first down and 39 yards. Brian “Boo Boo” Berry capped the drive off with a 2-yard touchdown run putting the Dawgs up 13-7. Howse was good on the extra point and at the 4:34 mark of the third quarter the hometown Bulldogs had pulled ahead 14-7.
The Aggies quickly returned the favor by marching 57-yards for the touchdown. The Aggies quarterback Coleman found his brother Brett Coleman on a fourth and 3 play from the Bulldog 36-yard line. The pass play was good for a touchdown and the Aggies had pulled to within one. The Aggies then went for two instead of taking the tying extra point and the two-point play was no good. This left the score Addison 14, Hamilton 13 with 2:31 to go in the third quarter.
After an Addison punt, Hamilton took over at the Bulldog 49-yard line and it only took them five plays for the go-ahead touchdown. Coleman found Bryant Loving in the back of the end zone for Coleman’s third touchdown pass of the night. Loving made a fantastic grab after Addison defensive back Berry had appeared to knock the pass down. Loving caught the deflection for the score. The Aggie two-point play was good but an unsportsmanlike penalty on the Aggie receiver for spiking the ball after the score would turn out to burn the Aggies on the next play. Hamilton led 21-14 with 11:08 to go in the game.
The Aggies had to kick off from their 20-yard line after the 15-yard penalty and the Bulldogs made them pay. Daniel took the line drive kick-off at the Bulldog 30-yard line and then scorched the Aggies for a seventy-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. The two-point play was good, and the Bulldogs had pulled ahead 22-21 with 10:56 left.
The Dawgs forced a three and out and the Aggies punted back to Addison. Addison then began a time-consuming drive of 16 plays going 56 yards. This drive took seven minutes and twenty seconds off the clock. Addison thought that they had salted the game away with a Roberts to Jed “Wizard” Wilkins 18-yard touchdown pass, but it was called back for a penalty. The Aggies held Addison on fourth down and took over the ball with no timeouts and 2:10 seconds to go in the game.
After a short pass for eight yards, Colman tried to find a receiver down the middle of the field, but Brody Dollar picked the ball off and sealed the Bulldog victory. Addison closed the game out with the victory formation and came away with a hard fought 22-21 win.
Addison moves to 5-4 (2-3 region). Hamilton drops to 4-5. Addison hosts Sulligent next week in a huge region showdown with the winner claiming the fourth seed in the region and going to the playoffs while the loser stays home.
Unofficial stats: Addison had 56 running plays for 211 total yards. Addison had eight pass plays for 50 total yards. Addison had 64 total plays for 261 total yards. Hamilton had 19 running plays for 69 total yards. Hamilton had 20 pass plays for 166 total yards. Hamilton had 39 total plays for 235 total yards.
Addison’s Roberts had three completions in seven attempts for 50 yards.
Addison was led in rushing by Tuggle with 10 carries for 47 yards, Jacob Hardin had nine carries for 41 yards and Mather had 10 carries for 36 yards and a touchdown. Berry had four carries 27 yards and a touchdown.
Daniel led the receivers with one catch for 39 yards. Tuggle had a catch for 8 yards.
The Addison defense was led by Mather who had six tackles, Dollar had five tackles and an interception. Kordell Barnett had three tackles and a sack and Wilkins had three tackles.
Daniel added a 70-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.
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