Spain Park’s season ends in quarterfinals after No. 1 Saraland starts fast
Published 12:50 am Saturday, November 23, 2024
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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor
SARALAND – If the Class 6A quarterfinal matchup between the Saraland Spartans and Spain Park Jaguars was a heavyweight fight like Jags coach Tim Vakakes described it as, the Spartans landed an early flurry of action before scoring a knockdown with a 51-yard touchdown pass to put them up 21-0 late in the first quarter.
While the matchup was decided on the scorecards from the early moments, Spain Park refused to throw in the towel. The Jags tried just about everything and found the end zone three separate times despite being greatly outmatched by the undefeated top team in 6A in a 45-19 loss on Nov. 22 at Spartan Stadium.
“Tonight wasn’t our night,” Vakakes said. “We played against a really, really, really good team that had been in the big moments for a long time, and we didn’t get it done, and I wish I could have done something different. Wish I could have pushed some more buttons tonight for our guys to help them, but look, man, these kids, they’ve won 17 out of 18 games. These kids have come a long way, and I’m really proud of them, and I love them.”
Saraland wasted little time getting up and down the field, reeling off multiple first downs in five plays before KJ Lacey hit Carson Gill up the middle for a 17-yard touchdown pass with 10:19 left in the first.
The Jags looked to have life after getting a jump on fourth-and-1, but Antonio Coleman and the Spartans repeatedly got into the backfield and blew plays up quickly, forcing a punt.
Saraland then got right back to work, kickstarting the drive with a Santae McWilliams Jr. first down before Lacey and Gill connected again, this time for a catch and off-balance run 22 yards into the end zone, making the lead 14-0 with 4:24 remaining in the first.
After Spain Park went backwards before punting, the Spartans landed the biggest blow of the night: a 51-yard bomb from Lacey to Deshawn Spencer, putting Saraland up 21-0 with 1:01 remaining in the opening quarter.
The Jags tried some trickery to get some momentum going on their next drive, first succeeding on a fake punt thanks to a short pass to the left side before a third-down lateral went wrong.
The Spartans struck again off another punt, turning a short pass into a big gain to the Spain Park 24 after multiple cuts and skill moves.
However, the Jags defense recovered well and locked in for the stop, stuffing Lacey on a fourth-and-3 run to force a turnover on downs.
Spain Park’s offense got rolling with a quick first down and converted a third down through the air. That momentum got broken up yet again by the Saraland defensive front, which got back-to-back sacks to kill the drive in Spartans territory.
Lacey got Saraland down past midfield off a pair of big first down runs, but later when he went back to the pass, Jack Sellers grabbed it for an interception.
That sparked the best Jags drive of the half as Cowley caught a Brock Bradley pass in stride along the left sideline at the Spartans 45.
After Spain Park got another first down on the ground, Cowley opened up for a long run along the right side to put the Jags on the board, cutting the deficit to 21-7 with 1:37 left in the half.
Then, Spain Park rolled the dice with the momentum and got a successful onside kick. Dakarai Shanks helped the Jags get further down the field, but Coleman came up with another third down sack to kill the drive and eventually force a turnover on downs.
With just 34 seconds to work with, Saraland efficiently got down to the 5-yard line and had a chance for six before halftime. In actuality, it was three as Lacey’s pass fell incomplete and led to a 25-yard field goal as time expired to put the Spartans up 24-7 at halftime.
Spain Park got the ball at midfield to start the second half and immediately channeled its form from the scoring drive. After a pass to Anderson Walker for a first down to get the Jags in the red zone, Dakarai Shanks eventually finished off the drive with a 6-yard score.
Spain Park missed the extra point though, leaving the deficit at 24-13 with 9:15 remaining in the third.
The Spartans responded with scores on their next two drives, first a 24-yard throw to Gill and then a 13-yard catch by Spencer after multiple offensive penalties and a Brayden Matherson pass breakup nearly derailed the drive. That left the lead at 38-13 with 36 seconds remaining in the third.
The penalties carried over to the defense as Spain Park benefitted from a face mask for the second-straight drive. That led the Jags to try a throw from the Saraland 40 to the 1-yard line, but the Spartans picked it off in coverage.
Backed up against its own 1-yard line, Saraland muscled its way down the field on the ground, relying heavily on McWilliams Jr. during a seven-minute, 99-yard drive. Lacey finished off the drive on his legs with a 4-yard score, making the lead 45-13 with 2:34 remaining.
However, the Jags refused to go down without a fight, going 71 yards in 1:19 as Bradley linked up with Mason McClure for a 25-yard touchdown catch, cutting the deficit by six to leave the final score at 45-19.
Bradley was 14-of-21 for 188 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Corey Barber was his top receiver with five catches for 96 yards. Shanks took 18 carries for 73 yards and a touchdown and Cowley had eight carries for 51 yards and a touchdown as well as two catches for 29 yards.
After the game, Vakakes said that part of the reason for the early hole came down to not making the same impactful plays on offense that they have to this point.
“We had chances early on to make plays,” Vakakes said. “We had a wheel on the sidelines, didn’t hit. We had another false start on a short yardage play. We felt like we had it there. We just didn’t make the play, and most of the season, we’ve been making those plays that change the game. Tonight, we didn’t make them.”
Despite the lopsided result, Vakakes was proud of the way his team fought until the end.
He said much of that comes from their own internal motivation, particularly the seniors who have been there since Vakakes’ arrival in 2022 and went from a 2-8 record in 2021 to winning a program-record 17 straight games entering Friday’s matchup.
“It means a lot of these kids,” Vakakes said. “These seniors have come from, their freshman year was pretty bad, it was ugly and there weren’t a lot of excitement, to they won 17 out of 18, and I was really proud of these kids of what they’ve done and they’ve set the standard for the seniors to come after them.”
While the 2024 season is now over, Vakakes hopes that this is only the beginning. Now that the players have their first taste of the playoffs and have played against the best of the best, his goal is to use that experience to go even further.
For now though, he is content to honor the hard work and camaraderie that the entire program showed this season to finish the year 12-1 with a region title and quarterfinals berth.
“We know what it feels like,” Vakakes said. “We know what it feels like to get there and come up short, and sometimes life, that’s what happens, but, our kids did it like men, our kids did it the right way from the A to Z and I can’t be more proud of these kids, this program, our parents, our families, we’ve got great families here, and I’m just blessed to be here. Hopefully, we can just get it and build on it.”