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By Carey Reeder | Staff Writer

Isabella High School’s Zac Chapman is this week’s athlete of the week for his five-touchdown performance on the road in the Mustangs 49-42 loss at Vincent High School on Oct. 14. Chapman has been a force in the Isabella backfield the whole 2022 season, and the Mustangs leaned on the senior running back heavily against Vincent. Chapman ran for 198 yards and for touchdowns, and caught five passes for over 100 yards receiving and a touchdown.

Chapman punched in a one-yard touchdown run and caught a 24-yard touchdown pass in the first half in the back-and-forth game that saw Vincent go into halftime up 21 -14. Isabella quarterback Eli Kendrick went down with an injury in the third quarter, and Isabella head coach Tate Leonard moved Chapman behind center, and the senior did not miss a beat.

“He has to come in and be our quarterback, and he just takes over,” Isabella coach Tate Leonard said. “He stepped up … and it was pretty incredible to watch.”

Vincent jumped out to a quick 35-14 advantage out of halftime, but Chapman added two more touchdowns in the third quarter to his totals, 20-yard and 5-yard runs, to keep the Mustangs within striking distance. Chapman added another 20-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter, but Isabella fell a touchdown short at 49-42.

Leonard said Chapman “refused to lose” against Vincent, and the loss will benefit Isabella in the long-run seeing they can continue to fight down the stretches of games.

 

Honorable mentions: Randriquis McCary, Billingsley High School and Coleman Gill, Maplesville High School

 

The Billingsley High School Bears were in a must win situation to keep their state playoff hopes alive on the road at Notasulga High School on Oct. 14. Down 14-6 at halftime, Billingsley coach Lanny Jones challenged his team at halftime to be more physical and attack the line of scrimmage. Randriquis McCary took that message to heart on both sides of the ball. On offense, McCary carrying the ball 23 times and piled up 138 yards and punched in two second half touchdowns, and he grabbed two catches for 28 yards. McCary stayed on the field the entire second half, and made 11 tackles on defense and added a sack. Billingsley pulled out the comeback 28-14 to stay alive in the AHSAA Class 1A Region 4 race.

Maplesville High School’s Coleman Gill ran for 209 yards on 21 carries and a touchdown in the Red Devil’s 38-8 win over Loachapoka High School on Oct. 14. After starting running back Jakavion Jackson tweaked his ankle midseason, Gill has been featured more and more in the backfield allowing Jackson to play solely defense. Maplesville coach Brad Abbott said after the Oct. 14 game that having that many options at running back “just makes (Maplesville) better.”