TUSCALOOSA- Tuscaloosa Academy stopped a two-game losing slump at home, defeating the Bayside Academy Admirals 14-13 in TA's final regular season game.

Tuscaloosa Academy started to slow with poor offensive performance, but thankfully for the Knights, the defense came up huge, forcing the Admirals to settle for a 40-yard field goal that was missed and forcing Bayside Academy to punt on several drives.

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The Knights found some rhythm in the second quarter with a beautiful drive that saw Preston Lancaster find Senior wide receiver Kena Rego who made an incredible leaping catch for a gain of 30 yards which brought the Knights inside the Admirals' 10-yard line where two plays later Lancaster connected on a beautiful throw to the corner of the endzone with Sophmore wide receiver Mark Norris for an 8-yard pass to give the Knights a 7-0 lead with 5:37 left in the second quarter.

The Knights had a 7-point advantage at the half as Tuscaloosa Academy's defense played brilliantly in the first half, giving up only one point.

Noah Cain, a returner for Bayside Academy, opened the second half with an 85-yard kick return for a touchdown. The Admirals tied the score at 7 with less than 15 seconds remaining in the third quarter following the successful PAT.

TA was unable to find an answer, with the Knights punting the ball back to Bayside Academy, where Admirals' Sophmore quarterback Bo Miller connected on a 30-yard pass to Junior wide receiver Monroe Partin, who came down with the snag to give Bayside a 13-7 lead with 6:11 left in the third quarter following the unsuccessful PAT attempt.

Preston Lancaster demonstrated why he is regarded as one of the best high school quarterbacks in the state by connecting with Mark Norris on a 40-yard bomb to the endzone, giving the Knights a 14-13 lead following a successful PAT try with 4:16 remaining in the third quarter.

Both teams would go scoreless for the remainder of the game, with Bayside Academy's offense failing to find any momentum, where the Admirals were forced to punt multiple times, and even had a shot to win the game with more than a minute left in the game, until Senior Linebacker Ford Beeker powered through the defensive line and took down the Amirals' running back for a loss of yards, sealing the game and giving Tuscaloosa Academy the ball with 56.5 left in the contest, where Lancaster and the Knights ran the clock out to secure the victory.

Tuscaloosa Academy will improve to 8-2 on the season and 6-1 in region play with Knights sitting first in the region after Friday's one-point victory over Bayside Academy. TA will host the first game of the playoffs next Friday at home where the Knights where find out who they are playing in the first round on Saturday morning.

Player of the Game

TA Defense was a major reason why the Knights won today, with players like Mills Turnipseed having multiple pass deflections and setting the tone in the first half with a massive hit on a defender to disrupt a 30-yard pass to one of the Admirals' wide receivers. Shayla Hill also contributed significantly to the Knights' dominant defensive effort, earning at least three tackles for loss while performing admirably as an offensive guard.

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