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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

HOOVER – The Spain Park Jaguars’ historic girls flag football season will go on after one of the biggest upsets in the program’s four-year history.

Spain Park defeated the No. 14 team in the USA Today girls flag football rankings, the Vestavia Hills Rebels, 34-18, on Wednesday, Nov. 20 at Spain Park High School in the Class 6A/7A quarterfinals.

“It feels great and more than anything, just super excited for the girls,” Spain Park coach Carmen Starr said. “They’ve worked really hard, and so I’m just really proud of them.”

As a result of the win, the Jags are now ranked No. 19 in the country in the latest USA Today rankings.

Eighth grader Chenelle Hunter got Spain Park going with an early touchdown as part of a 13-0 start for the hosts. She finished the game with 82 yards to lead all receivers for quarterback Jenna Kate Hutchinson, who threw for 253 yards and ran for 47 yards.

That fast start played a key role in helping the Jags secure the victory as it not only stayed in front but pulled away, keeping Vestavia Hills at bay after the Rebels scored just before halftime.

In Starr’s eyes, the defense played a key role in disrupting Vestavia’s offensive rhythm, and that allowed the offense to capitalize off key opportunities.

“We wanted to attack the ball really quickly,” Starr said. “We wanted to get a rush on their quarterback and kind of make her uncomfortable, get her out of the pocket a little bit just because, she’s really dangerous when she’s got a few seconds to throw and got some time, and so we wanted to distract her a little bit, get her a little uncomfortable and give ourselves a chance and that part worked really well. Offensively, our game management worked really well. Had a lot of plays that we kind of had to switch up a little bit and those things got us up quick.”

Starr and the coaching staff knew what they needed to do going in to chart a path to victory, and she credited her players for sticking with the scheme and seeing it through to pull off the upset.

“We felt like we had a game plan on what we wanted to execute and how we wanted to do things,” Starr said. “Vestavia is a really good team. They’ve set the bar in our region a little bit and are certainly always one of the tougher teams, so we did some homework and did what we needed to do, and fortunately, we were able to get out on the field and execute things the right way.”

Starr gave props to her players for working hard and battling throughout the game against the Rebels. She was also proud of how they played a clean game, improving off their previous games to put together a strong performance when it mattered the most.

“It was a hard-fought game and exactly what I expected it to be, but, fortunate for us on the offensive side and on the defensive side, we just didn’t really make a lot of mistakes which kind of comes back to bite us sometimes, but it just worked in our favor last night,” Starr said.

The win not only booked a spot in the semifinals and a top 25 ranking, but it served as a statement for how far the program has come in its four years of existence.

As one of the more experienced teams in Class 6A/7A and facing fellow veteran teams like Vestavia, Prattville and Oak Mountain on a regular basis, Spain Park’s players have had time to learn the game and develop against some of the best teams in the country.

Now, Starr said it’s all coming together thanks to their eagerness to learn and their passion for the game.

“It’s developing a program,” Starr said. “There’s no shortcuts. It’s certainly a lot to learn, and a lot of these girls are learning football for the very first time. There’s no shortcut to it, so it says a lot about their willingness to learn something completely new and step in and just really be committed and see how far it can take them. I think once they start, they really, really enjoy it. They really just are passionate about it, and we’re having a lot of fun, and that certainly helps in the development process.”

One of the key ways the players have been developing is their mental confidence. Now that they have the playoff experience and know they can tangle with some of the best teams in the area, Starr said that will be crucial going into next week’s semifinal matchup.

“I think the confidence that they’re kind of developing and believing that they can actually hit the goal this year,” Starr said. “The mindset is always one of the obstacles that you always have regardless of your physical ability, and it’s just trying to get that to where our physical ability matches up with our mindset.”

The Jags will host the No. 24 team in the country, the Hewitt-Trussville Huskies, in the Class 6A/7A semifinals on Wednesday, Nov. 27 at 6 p.m. at the Spain Park High School soccer field.

A win would book a spot in the state championship game on Wednesday, Dec. 4 at Protective Stadium in downtown Birmingham.