Bibb County Pummels Ironmen In Choctaws’ Season Finale
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The Bibb County Choctaws (7-3, 6-1) travelled to Tuscaloosa to take on the Holt Ironmen (0-9, 0-7) on Thursday night. The Choctaws took care of business, putting up a dominant first half of football, and secured second place in Class 4A Region 3 with a 49-0 victory.
"You definitely want to be peaking at the right time. We've played pretty well the last four weeks. Really proud of our guys staying focused and doing the things that we need to do. Really proud of our young men, proud of our coaching staff, proud of our fans, everybody. Just proud to be able to finish the season out strong," said Bibb County head coach Matt Geohagan.
The Bibb County team won the toss and elected to receive in order to set the tone for the contest. The Choctaws took the game's opening possession seven plays for 52-yards and ended in the endzone thanks to a John Downs pass to Matthew Cash.
The Ironmen offense couldn't get going on Jack Warner Parkway, mustering -9 total yards on eight first half possessions, including two lost fumbles.
"Bibb County's a good team, they're a good program, Coach Geohagan's a good guy and they're doing some good stuff and they're just better than us. More physical, executed better but our kids fought and I'm proud of how they finished the game. They hung in there," said Holt head coach Dustin Hyche.
The Choctaws were able to establish its running game with running back Jaison Taylor and slot receiver Colby Collums working their way through the Holt defense. Bibb County took its second drive nine plays and 67 yards and once again ended in the endzone. Downs completed a pop-pass to Kavon Holman for his second touchdown of the evening.
Taylor got himself into the endzone on Bibb County's fourth possession of the night thanks to a 26-yard touchdown right up the middle. For the evening he took seven carries for 88 yards and two touchdowns.
If the game wasn't lopsided enough the Choctaws even scored on special teams as Collums was able to take a 63-yard punt return to the house to put Bibb County on top 28-0 midway through the second quarter.
Collums got into the endzone a second time on the night out of the backfield on a 16-yard carry to take the score to 42-0. He finished the evening with 63 yards rushing and the score, along with the aforementioned punt return touchdown.
"Our guys understand, we preach everyday it's me versus me, us versus us. It doesn't really matter who's on the other sideline, we've still got to make sure we're doing the things that we're supposed to do. Our kids did a good job of that. They bought into it this week. We had a short week of practice because we moved the game up to Thursday and I think that helped our focus to be honest and I was proud of the way we handled it," said Geohagan.
The game's final touchdown came a few minutes later on the final drive for the Bibb County starters. Downs found Chris Billingsley for a 63-yard strike landing the final score at 49-0. Downs finished the evening 5-of-8 passing for 88 yards and 3 touchdowns while also throwing one interception.
The two sides graciously agreed to play two, 6-minute running-clock quarters in the second half to wrap up the night quickly on Jack Warner Parkway.
Bibb County's regular season is over and they are locked into the second seed in the region. They will host a home playoff game on Nov. 4 against either Jacksonville or Munford.
"It's a really big thing for this group and the guys that came before them because it's the eighth year we're going to host a home playoff game in the first round. That's huge in our school's history, very proud of that. Proud of these guys being able to keep that legacy going," said Geohagan.
Jacksonville's a good football team and we're ready to accept that challenge and move towards the post season. We love this time of year. It's something our kids are used to doing and we definitely looking forward to getting that first round opponent."
Holt gets its final shot at getting a win this season as the Ironmen head to Tuscaloosa Academy next Friday, Oct. 28.
"Finish the season, you're playing for pride and representing our city, everything we stand for," said Hyche.