Jaguars jump on Gophers for first win

The Jags were hungry.

Coming off a stinging 38-35 triple-overtime loss to Austin High School in last week’s season-opening contest, Spain Park entered Friday’s home-opener against Hueytown craving a victory.

“Last week we made too many mistakes to win,” Spain Park coach Shawn Raney said. “Some of the stuff that they’ve been coached to do, they didn’t do it.”

Highlighting the importance of a strong work ethic and short memory, the Spain Park team that took the field on Friday night in no way resembled the Jags of just one week ago.

Showcasing a relentless defense, unstoppable offense and energized special teams, Spain Park dominated every aspect of the game, cruising to a 31-0 shutout victory.

“I was proud of the way we played and the way we acted,” Raney said. “I think they took some ownership in it this week.”

Spain Park came out of the gate firing, quickly jumping out to a 21-0 lead through one quarter of play. On its first possession, the Jags’ offense took advantage of a short field, starting its drive on the 18-yard line due to a pair of Hueytown penalties and a deflected punt.

From there, they fed the ball to running back Wade Streeter on three consecutive plays, leading to an authoritative 5-yard rushing touchdown that put the Jags up 7-0.

After forcing a Hueytown punt on the following possession, Spain Park drove 64 yards down the field and reached the end zone for the second time when quarterback Joey Beatty threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to tight end Will Greene on a designed bootleg.

Beatty rolled out to his right and dumped a short pass to Greene in the flat, where he used his speed and athleticism to avoid defenders and rumble into the end zone.

Just over a minute later, running back Larry Wooden slashed through the Golden Gopher defense for an 18-yard rushing touchdown, extending the Jags lead to 21-0. As it did on its first drive, Spain Park started with the ball deep inside Hueytown territory, assuming possession on the opposing 18-yard line after a blocked punt by linebacker Perry Young.

Young, along with the rest of the Jags’ special teams, looked sharp in the victory. Kicker Tyler Sumpter recorded six touchbacks and Crosby Gray converted four extra points while also booting a 33-yard field goal through the uprights to close the first half.

“That was another area I thought we got beat on last week and again we challenged the kids, and I thought they responded well,” Raney said.  “We worked on it hard, and I think it showed up tonight.”

Spain Park’s fourth and final touchdown on the night also came in the opening half. Beatty dove into the end zone from the 1-yard line on a quarterback sneak to give the Jags a 28-0 lead.

Defensively, Spain Park didn’t allow Hueytown to cross midfield, limiting the Golden Gophers to less than 100 yards of total offense and forcing one turnover.

As a result of a roughly 90-minute weather delay that began with just over three minutes remaining in the first half, the third and fourth quarters were both reduced to 10 minutes in length.

Although neither team scored in the final 20 minutes of game time, Spain Park was able to rotate in multiple backups, including at quarterback.

“That’s always good because they want to play and they work their tails off, and we hadn’t had many chances since I’ve been here to get everybody in the games, so it’s a real neat experience,” Raney said.