By Joe Medley, East Alabama Sports Today

ALEXANDRIA — Todd Ginn dripped from celebratory dousings as he explained the gusty two-point conversion call that likely won Alexandria a first-round playoff game at home.

Imagine the chill Alexandria’s coach would’ve felt had J.J. Beason and the offensive line in front of him not made it work.

Beason’s touchdown run and conversion run gave Alexandria a one-point lead with one minute to play, forcing Cherokee County to play for the win instead of overtime. Beason’s interception return for a touchdown clinched Alexandria’s 36-28 victory in a key Class 4A, Region 6 game at Lou Scales Stadium.

The victory all but clinched Alexandria (7-1, 5-1 region) second place in region play and a playoff opener at home. The Valley Cubs close out region play at winless Etowah next week.

“It was a really good night for us,” Ginn said.

Cherokee County (6-3, 4-2), the Class 4A state runner up three years running, fell into a third-place tie with Ashville headed into next week’s region finale at Ashville.

“We still feel like we’re a team that can do what we want to do,” Warriors coach Jacob Kelley said. “We’ve just got to execute a little bit better.”

Keshawn Woods rushed 29 times for 229 yards and three touchdowns … three, three and 37 yards. His 37-yard touchdown run with 6:07 to play came at the end of a drive that saw him exit with cramps.

He came back in to convert a fourth-down-and-three play, then run for the touchdown to put Cherokee County up 28-21.

“He’s a ball of muscle,” Kelley said. “No body fat, and he’s just a work horse. He’s a dog.

“He’s done what he’s done because he has a great line in front of him, but he does what he’s coached to do, and he was big tonight.”

Cherokee County quarterback Adam Griffith hit on five of 10 passes for 104 yards, including an 18-yard touchdown pass to Ben Mosley, but three interceptions turned the game.

Alexandria’s Tylen Hunt intercepted a pass deep in Valley Cub territory, after the Warriors recovered an M.J. Morris fumble on a kickoff return. The interception came as Cherokee County had a chance to add to a 14-7 lead.

The final play of the first half saw Morris draw more than even for the fumble. The beneficiary of several key blocks, he veered toward Alexandria’s sideline then turned down field on the way to a 95-yard interception return to tie the game 14-14 at halftime.

Beason’s 35-yard pick-6 made it 36-28 with 40.9 seconds to play.

Alexandria quarterback Cole Wheeler completed eight of 13 passes for 162 yards. He threw touchdown passes of 65 and 34 yards to M.J. Morris, who caught a team-high seven passes for 132 yards.

Beason rushed 17 times for 107 yards, including his 3-yard touchdown run and conversion run with one minute to play.

The key conversion, with Alexandria trailing 28-27, came on a second-effort run, and it came after timeouts by both teams. Cherokee County called timeout, and Alexandria called timeout after lining up and trying to draw the Warriors offsides.

The Valley Cubs’ offense came back onto the field and sent Beason to the right. He found a hole, cut in and fought through contact. A few seconds passed before officials signaled the conversion attempt good.

Ginn told brother and offensive coordinator Will Ginn that he intended to go for two in advance of the touchdown. Foremost on the elder Ginn’s mind was a shoulder injury that limited fullback/linebacker Ryan Brown to offense in the second half.

Cherokee County went to a wildcat offense and took full advantage of Brown’s absence on defense in the second half, and Ginn wasn’t sure Alexandria could stop the Warriors in overtime.

“I told Will while we were driving, I said, ‘Look, I have a two-point play ready, because we’re going to go for two,’” Ginn said. “Ryan hurt his shoulder in the first half, on the first run he made. We really struggled to stop them. Credit to Coach Kelley. They got in what we call the ‘Nasty Formation.’ They got in that wildcat formation and ran downhill on us.

“I don’t want to take away from those linebackers. They’re young and going to be good players for us, but Ryan makes all of our calls, and he’s a thumper in there. Him not being able to play on defense in the second half hurt us.”