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The Spain Park Jaguars won a thrilling back-and-forth battle with county foe Helena on Friday night, Sept. 13 as the Jags made a late 2-point stand in the final two minutes to cement the 28-26 win. (For the Reporter/Neal Wagner)

By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Publisher 

HELENA – In a thrilling back-and-forth battle, it came down to one play with 1:22 left in the game for the Spain Park Jaguars in a road trip to county foe Helena on Friday, Sept. 13.

Trailing 28-20, with 4:29 left, the Huskies drove more than 90 yards to score on a 20-yard touchdown run from Jeremy Sprattling, but after missing the PAT on their previous touchdown, they were forced to go for two.

After a penalty for too many men on the field, the attempt got even more difficult, but it led to a wild play that ultimately determined the game.

Taking the snap, Helena quarterback Nate Ferguson took off to his left, but quickly had to reverse field. Coming all the way back around the right end, he turned upfield, broke one tackle and tried to power through the next, but Spain Park Brayden Matherson held onto his leg as Ferguson stretched for the end zone, ultimately falling a half yard short.

The Huskies failed to get the onside kick, and with only one timeout remaining, Spain Park was able to run off the clock to escape with a 28-26 win and improve to 3-0 on the season and 1-0 in region play.

“That was huge,” Vakakes said of the 2-point stand. “Nate made a heck of an effort and came up a couple of inches short. It’s a game of inches. Last game, we won in the end zone on a couple of inches and tonight, he was a couple inches short of tying it up. You hate somebody had to lose that game, but that was a heck of a ballgame.”

Vakakes credited the win to the team being so bonded together and the passion they play and practice with each day.

“It means a lot to them,” he said. “Whether we’re playing great or playing bad, it means a lot to them. When it means a lot to these guys and they play for each other, good things happen. Our kids laid it on the line.”

It capped off a thrilling game that went back-and-forth from the start.

The Jags got the scoring started quickly after capitalizing on receiving the opening kick, going 86 yards behind a huge 53-yard pass from quarterback Brock Bradley to Mitchell Frazer, which set up a short touchdown plunge from Ryan Breazeale to make it 7-0 within three minutes of kickoff.

Helena, however, had an answer in the form of kicker Austin Lewis.

The Huskies’ star kicker not only responded with a 43-yard field goal, but went 10 yards further back on Helena’s second drive of the night to nail a 53-yard field goal that trimmed the deficit to one point at 7-6 with 2:56 left in the first quarter.

Helena built off of the momentum swing, as special teams and penalties continue to limit Spain Park’s opportunities on offense.

The Huskies made it three consecutive drives with a score early in the second quarter when Nate Ferguson hit Torrey Ward on a perfect post route in the middle of the end zone to give the Huskies the lead.

Ferguson then evened the score at 14-14 when he hit Nate Jones for a 2-point conversion pass with 8:41 to play in the second quarter.

Spain Park failed to convert a fourth-and-2 on the ensuing drive, while Helena was forced to punt on its next drive.

Finally, the Jags were able to get out of a bad situation just before the half.

Starting at their own 13-yard line with 3:18 left in the half, CJ Cowley erupted for a 27-yard run that gave the Jags some breathing room.

A couple of more runs for 11 yards and a Dakarai Shanks 11-yard catch put the Jags on the Helena 40-yard line.

Eventually facing fourth-and-10, Bradley hit Andrew Thornton for a 28-yard pass to the Helena 12-yard line. That set up a little screen pass from Bradley to Cowley for a 12-yard touchdown that evened the score going into the halftime break.

“My goal is to score every time I touch the ball,” Cowley said, laughing that his goal is to win a Heisman one day. “I’m making sure I’m doing the right thing, reading the right blocks. If I see something wrong, I want to let the team know and if I do something wrong, I want them to let me know. I want us to be one as a whole.”

He and the offense carried that confidence into the second half, capitzling on a quick stop from the defense by going 67 yards with Cowley making a couple of more big plays on the drive in the passing game.

Shanks then finished off the drive with a 20-yard touchdown run that saw him make three different defenders miss to put Spain Park in front 21-14.

The Jags then forced another punt and quickly put together a 9-yard pass, a 21-yard run from Cowley and an 18-yard pass to Breazeale before facing fourth-and-3 from the Helena 31.

In another big moment, a pass interference just shy of the goal line moved the ball to the 16-yard line, setting up an end around to Corey Barber for a touchdown run that made it 28-14 at the end of the third quarter.

“We knew we were going to have to run the football,” Vakakes said, highlighting the rainy weather and wind. “Our backs did a really good job of taking what was there, our line did a really good job of leaning on them. We had a couple of nice drives in the second half to put points on the board and finish drives.”

The Huskies, however, didn’t back down.

Helena marched down the field and finished off the ensuing drive with a 15-yard and 2-yard run from Dom Santiago, but a missed PAT made it 28-20 with 7:02 to play.

The Jags were eventually forced to punt the ball away with 4:29 left, but they pinned the Huskies inside the 10-yard line on a perfect punt.

Helena went to work and capitalized on a 28-yard pass to Ward that set up an 18-yard run from Santiago and a 20-yard touchdown run from Sprattling.

That led to the 2-point attempt and incredible open-field tackle from Matherson. Following the failed onside kick from the Huskies, Spain Park was able to hold on for the two-point victory.

“Good teams find a way to win,” Bradley said. “It wasn’t necessarily pretty at times, but we found a way and good teams find a way. It was a gritty win, but we got it done.”

Cowley finished the night with 96 yards on the ground and an additional 59 rushing yards, while Shanks added 86 yards on the ground and a touchdown.

Bradley finished 13-of-21 for 185 yards and 1 touchdown, while Frazer totaled 87 receiving yards.

“It’s family. We’re just family,” Cowley said after the win. “There is nothing like this. I don’t think you can go anywhere else and have anything like this. It’s just family.”

Spain Park will now take on Benjamin Russell who sits at 2-2 overall and 2-0 in region play.

For the Huskies, Ferguson finished 16-of-20 for 203 yards and a touchdown, while Ward was his top target with five receptions for 67 yards and a TD. Sprattling went over 100 yards with 135 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries, while Santiago added 72 yards and a touchdown own 14 carries.

Helena is now 2-1 on the season and 1-1 in region play. The Huskies will host Moody next week.

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