Spain Park races ahead to big opening win over Sparkman

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

HOOVER – The Spain Park Jaguars wasted little time living up to their preseason hype, making big plays on the offense and defense en route to a 38-7 win over the Sparkman Senators on Friday, Aug. 23 at Spain Park High School.

“I thought our kids played hard,” Spain Park coach Tim Vakakes said. “You can tell it means a lot to them and they had a lot of energy at the beginning. ”

Both sides of the ball had big performances, with newly-minted Clemson commit Brock Bradley going 9-for-15 for 243 yards and five touchdowns and the defense securing two fumbles and two interceptions.

Much of that came as part of a 31-point first half that saw the Jags establish themselves as the clear favorites in the contest.

Spain Park came out of the gate firing on defense, answering any questions about their unit this year with a quick three-and-out.

The Jags offense then made a quick journey on the ground to near the goal line, but CJ Cowley coughed the ball up into the end zone to flip the field.

However, Hagen Holley made that Sparkman drive a short one with an interception to set up the Jags at the Senators 7.

Two plays later, Brock Bradley found Andrew Thornton along the left sideline for the 4-yard opening touchdown with 7:53 left in the 1st.

Joe Cross then made it two picks in two drives for the Spain Park defense as he got after a long throw. This time though, the Jags went three and out.

After Sparkman converted on third down, Spain Park punched the ball loose and got more points off a turnover with a 24-yard Josh Tulloss field goal to go up 10-0.

The Jags forced another punt and got close to the goal line with a Cowley run to the 11. Bradley then made the 8-yard pass to the fullback Ryan Breazeale to make the score 17-0 with 8:56 left in the half.

Spain Park kept rolling on its next drive with two passes to Corey Barber that bridged the 56-yard gap between Bradley and the end zone.

The Jags went just about as fast on their final drive of the half as Bradley got his fourth passing touchdown of the half, finding Mitchell Frazer along the sideline for a 51-yard touchdown and a 31-0 halftime lead.

The momentum continued into the second half as Bradley willed the Jags to the goal line, first with a first-down pass to Haygood, then with a shot to Barber and finally a 17-yard touchdown pass to Frazer.

With the lead now 38-0 and 10 minutes left in the third, the Jags forced another fumble to get the ball back. However, Spain Park’s drive ended with an interception by Hudson Hibbard on a fourth-down shot to the end zone.

From there, both teams settled into a rhythm and didn’t have much to offer, especially when the Jags starters exited the game. Sparkman got on the board off a quarterback keeper with eight minutes to go, but the visitors couldn’t get any closer than that as Spain Park sealed the 38-7 win.

After the game, Vakakes credited the defense for their effort but acknowledged that they have to clean up their own turnovers like the first-drive fumble and third-quarter interception. Especially with Hoover looming next week on Friday, Aug. 30 at the Hoover Met, he knows their crosstown rival will punish those mistakes.

“Anytime you can take the ball away from other teams, it changes the trajectory of games,” Vakakes said. “But at the same time, we turned the ball over a few times ourselves, so that can’t happen. But our defense, they did a really good job of taking the ball away. ”

The Senators tried to counter the run by loading up the box, and it limited Dakarai Shanks to 61 yards and Cowley to 28 off nine carries from each back.

However, that opened the door for Bradley to take over in the air and win the game with his arm.

Vakakes wants his team to know that the other aspect of the offense will have to step up when opposing defense neutralize one part of their attack. He was proud of how Bradley and the receivers started out the season.

“The biggest thing I think our kids are going to have to understand, people are going to try to stop the run, and when they do, we’ve got to be able to make the plays down the field,” Vakakes said. “And Brock had a pretty good night. Missed on a couple, but in the early season, we’re not going to be perfect, but I thought he played really well and our receivers made some really nice plays. ”

The passing performance stood out even more with the large number of receivers who impacted the game. Four different receivers caught a touchdown, with Corey Barber serving as Bradley’s most frequent target with five catches for 133 yards and a touchdown.

In addition, Frazer had 80 receiving yards and touchdowns on two of his three catches, Thornton scored on his lone 4-yard reception and Jaxon Haygood hauled in a 30-yard pass.

In a game where the Jags looked for receivers to step up for the graduating Jonathan Bibbs and needed to replace multiple exiting transfers, Vakakes lauded both for believing in Spain Park’s system and for taking advantage now that their numbers are being called.

“Andrew Thornton, Mitchell Fraser, Jaxon Haygood, guys that have been here and they didn’t leave, and that says a lot about them,” Vakakes said. “They didn’t leave, and they’re reaping the benefits.  It’s their time to go, and they’re going to get chances, and they’ve got to make plays when it’s their chance. ”

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