HOOVER — Spain Park opened the season with a bang on the passing game by quarterback Brock Bradley and a defensive effort that was both stifling and opportunistic. Combined, the Jaguars began the season with a 38-7 victory over Sparkman on Friday night.
“I thought our guys played hard,” said Spain Park head coach Tim Vakakes. “You can tell it meant a lot to them. They had a lot of energy at the beginning.”
There was also a big mistake early on when sophomore running back CJ Cowley fumbled the ball in the end zone on the Jaguars’ opening drive. That ended an early scoring opportunity, but Spain Park was quick to deny it.
“We didn’t panic,” Vakakes said. “CJ is a young guy. He’s going to make a lot of big plays here. Nobody panicked.”
Two plays after the fumble, Spain Park’s defense gained possession of its own when cornerback Hagen Holley intercepted a pass at the Senators’ 17-yard line. He returned the intercepted ball 10 yards. After a running play lost a yard, Bradley found Andrew Thornton for an 8-yard touchdown throw to open the scoring.
That was the first of three turnovers forced by Spain Park in the first quarter and the first of five touchdown passes Bradley threw that night.
“We obviously played great defensively,” Vakakes said. “They were flying around, we had a lot of turnovers. I’m really proud of our performance tonight.”
It’s been a big week for Bradley, who committed to Clemson just before the start of his junior season. He continued his celebration Friday night, completing 11 of 16 passes for 239 yards, with four of his touchdown passes coming in the first half. His other touchdown passes in the first half resulted in eight yards to Ryan Breazeale, 27 yards to Corey Barber and 51 yards to Mitchell Frazer.
This performance was partly due to Sparkman’s defensive approach.
“They tried to stop the run,” Vakakes said. “They put a lot of players in the box and Brock was able to get the ball down the field. The receivers made some good plays.”
Dakarai Shanks and Cowley combined for 81 yards on 18 carries, but the passing game was what fueled the offense in the opening game. Bradley and Frazer combined for a 16-yard touchdown pass on the opening drive of the second half, not only ending the scoring drive but also sending Bradley to the bench for the rest of the game.
The Spain Park defense allowed 231 total yards, most of which came in the second half, and managed a shutout until late in the fourth quarter.
The Jaguars can now turn their attention to the rivalry with Hoover next week.
“We had a lot of cleaning to do,” said Vakakes. “Of course, Hoover will look very pretty when they get off the bus. It’s always an emotional game, no matter where we play and no matter what the records are. Whenever Hoover and Spain Park play against each other, there is an amazing atmosphere.”
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