Jaguars beat Tuscaloosa County
Spain Park senior free safety Bryan Sanderson was having flashbacks to the last time the Jaguars played Tuscaloosa County.
The Jags traveled to Northport in 2014 to face the Wildcats almost a year to the day and the start of the game was delayed 45 minutes.
Spain Park came out flat following the delay and was thumped 26-7.
In the Class 7A, Region 3 rematch Friday night on the Jags’ homecoming there was another delay of 1 hour, 20 minutes caused by a thunderstorm before kickoff.
“When we had the delay, I was scared,” Sanderson said.
He had no reason to be afraid. The Jaguars shut out the Wildcats 24-0 and Anderson put the finishing touches on the victory. He intercepted two passes in the fourth quarter, returning the first one 42 yards for a touchdown with 6:13 remaining.
“To come out and play like that is pretty special,” Sanderson said. “The shutout is huge and it’s great to be 2-0 in the region.”
The Jags improved to 3-1 overall and recorded their second shutout of the season, holding the Wildcats to only 130 total yards. Tuscaloosa County fell to 0-3 overall, 0-2 in the region.
Spain Park coach Shawn Raney admitted he had his own trepidations about how his team would respond following the delay.
“The delay last year really affected us,” Raney said. “This time we got the kids together to try to keep them focused. They stayed locked in.”
The game was scoreless until late in the first half when the Jags put together a five-play, 62-yard scoring drive, capped by Wade Streeter’s 5-yard touchdown run with 1:06 left in the second quarter.
The key play in the march was senior quarterback Joey Beatty’s 35-yard pass to junior running back Larry Wooden on a wheel route to the Wildcats' 5-yard line.
Beatty had overthrown a couple of wide open receivers earlier in the game, but this time he dropped it right into the waiting hands of Wooden.
“We missed a couple opportunities on a couple of balls,” Raney said. “When it was getting close to halftime with a 0-0 score that was a huge play.”
Streeter ran around left end to score on the next play, giving Spain Park a 7-0 lead at the break.
Streeter added another 15-yard scoring run in the second half and finished with 139 yards rushing on 23 carries.
“He’s an awesome leader on our team and around the school,” Raney said. “You’re happy to see a kid like that have success.”
Streeter wasn’t ready to talk about himself, preferring to shine the spotlight elsewhere.
“It was a blessing from God to have the kind of game I did,” Streeter said, “but tonight it was our defense with the shutout and the offensive line giving me room to run.”