Jags host Minor in regular season finale

The Spain Park High School football team has already secured its spot in the Class 7A state playoffs. But that doesn’t mean it couldn’t use a win.

It needs one — perhaps now more than ever.

After punching their ticket to the postseason with a victory at Tuscaloosa County on Oct. 20, the Jags crumbled at home last Friday. Oak Mountain capitalized on five Spain Park turnovers en route to a 29-3 victory that snapped its five-game losing streak.

“It feels good,” Oak Mountain head coach Cris Bell said after the game. “It’s been a long five weeks.”

It will almost certainly be a longer-than-desired offseason for Spain Park (5-4, 3-4 in Class 7A, Region 3) if it can’t generate some positive momentum in Thursday’s regular season finale against 6A Minor.

Back-to-back losses won’t bode well for the Jags heading into their Nov. 10 playoff date at undefeated Hewitt-Trussville. To establish rhythm, Spain Park will need to reimplement its tried-and-true formula: run the ball, protect the ball and play well on defense and special teams.

The Jags have a chance to do all of those against a Minor team that has struggled in its first season without George Bates as head coach. Bates led the Tenacious Tigers to an 11-2 record a year ago, but they enter Thursday’s game at 4-5. Their most recent win came last Friday against Jasper, 28-7.

Last week, Spain Park was held without a touchdown for the first time this fall. Cole Starr’s 22-yard field goal in the third quarter provided the Jags with their only points.

Quarterback Braxton Barker, who didn’t throw an interception until his team’s Oct. 6 contest at Huffman, tossed as many picks in the game — four — as he had this season. Additionally, the running back tandem of D’Arie Johnson and Jalen Henderson was limited to 59 yards rushing. Their light production came one week after Johnson totaled nearly 250 yards by himself.

Against Minor, the Jags will need to get their backs going while getting back to protecting the football. In its first five games, the team did not commit a single turnover. Spain Park has committed nine in its past four games.

The Jags won last year’s meeting with Minor in a shootout, 52-42, and lead the teams’ all-time series, 4-1.

Kickoff between Spain Park and Minor is set for 7 p.m. at Jaguar Stadium.