Spain Park overcome early deficit against James Clemens to remain unbeaten

By NIC YOUNG | Special to the Reporter

MADISON – The battle of two unbeaten teams did not disappoint. After falling behind 14-0 early in the contest to the James Clemens Jets, the Spain Park Jaguars responded with a strong second-half effort to retain their unblemished record with a 34-24 win at James Clemens High School on Sept. 27.

“We tell our kids all the time, we train like heavyweights, every heavyweight has their favorite punch, but the champions have chins,” Spain Park head coach Tim Vakakes said in response to his team’s effort when they faced a two-score gap early. “It didn’t look good. Nobody panicked, we stayed calm and kept swinging.”

On their first possession, the Jets glided down the field thanks to the efforts of receiver Ty Doughty. James Clemens capped off their first drive with a 4-yard touchdown run from running back Anthony Gideon Jr. to give the hosts a 7-0 lead early into the game.

Spain Park leaned on its rushing attack with running back Dakarai Shanks getting off to a hot start. He totaled 19 yards on this drive, helping the Jags get into plus territory. Unfortunately for the offense, an interception would kill this promising drive.

Operating at the 50-yard line, James Clemens made quick work of its shortened field. The passing game was the emphasis for this possession with the Matthew Evers finding tight end Isaac Achenbach for a 23-yard pass to put the Jets up 14-0 late in the first quarter.

The Jags came out guns blazing for their second possession of the game. After moving the ball to their 47-yard line quarterback Brock Bradley found receiver Mitchell Frazer to bring them up the Jet’s 31-yard line.

On the following play, receiver Andrew Thornton gained 30 yards on a sweep to put the Jaguars at the James Clemens 3-yard line. From there, Bradley called his number from three yards out to put Spain Park on the board and make the score 14-7.

The run game was the focal point for James Clemens for its next drive. The Jets leaned on the efforts of Doughty and Gideon Jr, whose combined efforts willed the Jets deep into Jag territory to the 7-yard line.

With the Jets seeming poised to find pay dirt, the Spain Park defense regrouped and forced James Clemens to settle for a field goal on fourth down. This made the game’s score 17-7 with around five minutes left in the second quarter.

The Spain Park offense could not gather any traction on its next possession, conceding a punt a few plays in. Despite the offense’s brief drive, the Jags defense stood tall and delivered with defensive back Joe Cross making an interception on third down to get the ball back with less than two minutes to go in the half.

Starting at the Jets’ 35-yard line, receiver Corey Barber ripped off a huge play to get the Jags within the 10-yard line. A personal foul against James Clemens brought Spain Park to the Jets 3-yard line.

This paved the way for Bradley to punch in the score from the 1-yard line to cut into the Jets lead, 17-14 as the half rounded to a close.

The Jets resorted to trickery in the second half, opening with an onside kick. Though the James Clemens kickoff unit was able to recover the ball, an illegal touching penalty put the ball in the hands of the Spain Park offense.

Beginning at midfield, Shanks nearly carried the offense down the field himself, racking up 42 yards to bring the Jags to the 8-yard line. Bradley found tight end Ryan Breazele for a touchdown to give Spain Park its first lead of the night at 21-17.

The James Clemens offense began its first drive of the half with a sense of urgency. Beginning at their 20-yard line, the Jets marched their way to the Jags 28-yard line. The offense found itself in a fourth-down situation and opted to go for it rather than attempt a long field goal.

Once again, the Jags defense prevailed with Mason McClure picking off the fourth-down pass to give the ball back to Spain Park.

Shanks began this possession on a high note, running for 27 yards in the drive’s first four plays to bring the offense from their 37-yard line to the Jets’ 45-yard line. Shanks was also involved in the passing game as well hauling in a 25-yard pass from Bradley to bring the Jags within the 10-yard line.

This big gain opened the door for Bradley to find Breazele for an 11-yard touchdown for the second time of the night. This extended Spain Park’s lead 27-17 with the third quarter ending.

Early in the fourth quarter, the Jets turned to Doughty once again to help them move down the field. The combined efforts of he and Gideon marched the offense down from their 20-yard line to the Jags 8-yard line. Evers found the endzone from 8 yards out to cut into the Spain Park lead, now 27-24.

Shanks and Barber took the lead on the next offensive possession. The duo combined for 59 yards to storm down the field. Shanks found the end zone off a three-yard run to give the Jags a 34-24 lead with under 5 minutes left in the game.

Desperately needing a score, James Clemens moved down the field at a moderate rate before facing a fourth-down situation with under two minutes left. The Jets opted to attempt a field goal to cut into the Spain Park lead, the attempt, however, was unsuccessful.

This closed the door on any comeback hopes for the Jets and allowed the Jags to run the clock out.

Bradley finished the game throwing 9-for-14 with 98 yards and two touchdowns, and he also added two scores on the ground.

Shanks ran for 156 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries, he had one reception for 25 yards.

Breazele led all receivers with four catches for 25 yards and two touchdowns.

Next week on Oct. 4, Spain Park will aim to keep its perfect record intact, traveling to Pelham to take on the Panthers at 7 p.m.

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