By Bret Strelow
bstrelow@salisburypost.com
HARRISBURG ó Jamill Lott looked toward the sideline when someone yelled his name, but the audible call didn’t come from an A.L. Brown coach.
Wide receiver T.J. Johnson, uncovered to Lott’s left, wanted the Wonders to switch out of a running play.
Lott connected with Johnson for a third-quarter touchdown that gave A.L. Brown breathing room in a 21-6 win at Hickory Ridge on Friday night.The Wonders, who remain a half-game behind first-place Anson County in the SPC standings, held only an eight-point lead over the Ragin’ Bulls (4-6, 1-6) after quarterback Brett Lilly threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to John Martinez with 7:39 remaining in the third quarter.
A.L. Brown (7-2, 5-1) was facing a second-and-8 from Hickory Ridge’s 42-yard line on the next series when Johnson alerted Lott to the defensive mix-up.
Instead of looking to block, an isolated Johnson ran a go route and caught Lott’s pinpoint pass in stride.
“I couldn’t believe they left me open like that,” Johnson said. “I was thinking to myself, ‘Is somebody going to come out?’ I hurried up and talked to Jamill before they lined up, knowing I was out there by myself. Coach (Ron) Massey seemed to be happy about it, but he probably wouldn’t have been if I had dropped it since I changed the play.
“It’s the hard ones that’s easy to catch and the easy ones that are hard.”
Johnson’s three catches accounted for 115 of Lott’s 134 passing yards, but A.L. Brown gained only 65 yards on the ground.
The Wonders limited Hickory Ridge’s offense to 107 yards, including minus-29 rushing. Billy Simiton blocked an early field-goal attempt, Josh Black intercepted a tipped pass, Desmond Gray recovered a fumble and Dwayne Stroud knocked the ball loose on his third sack of the night.
“It was a good game to win because we knew we’d get their best shot,” Massey said. “Offensively we keep making penalties, laying the ball on the ground, doing stuff we shouldn’t be doing this time of year.
“I’m frustrated about that, but we did make some plays when we had to. The defense did a great job not letting them have big plays.”
A.L. Brown took over at the Bulls’ 42 after Gray’s fumble recovery, and Johnathan Williams rushed for 27 yards on first down. Travis Riley scored from the 1 on the first snap of the second quarter.
Hickory Ridge advanced to its 44 on the next possession, and a snap over the punter’s head on fourth down enabled the Wonders to begin their next drive at the 13. Lott reached the end zone on a 9-yard keeper.
The teams combined for 119 yards of offense in the opening half.
“It wasn’t a pretty game,” Lott said, “but we did what we had to do to pull it out.”
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NOTES: Williams led the Wonders with 59 yards on seven carries. Lott missed on seven of his first nine pass attempts and finished 5-for-13. … Hickory Ridge held A.L. Brown to its lowest rushing output of the season. It had 105 yards against Parkwood. “Our defense was phenomenal,” Hickory Ridge coach Marty Paxton said. “We had one busted coverage there, but I can’t be any more proud of those guys.”