Bessemer City edges Jags despite Barker's 3 TDs
BIRMINGHAM -- Spain Park High School’s football team dug itself out of a big hole in the second half, coming back from a three-touchdown deficit to visiting Bessemer City to tie the game in the fourth quarter. But Tigers quarterback Rishard Densmore put his team ahead for good with his second rushing touchdown of the night, as the Jaguars fell 42-35.
After Spain Park quarterback Harrison Barker gave his team the lead on a 51-yard scoring pass to Cooper Kelley, Bessemer City reeled off four straight touchdowns in the first half to take command. A 27-yard run by Densmore, a 50-yard touchdown bomb to JaMichael Rogers, and a pair of scoring runs by Deontae Hall put the Tigers up 28-7 with just under three minutes left in the first half.
A 54-yard strike from Barker to Kelley set up a Michael Callens 1-yard charge to shave one touchdown off the visitors’ lead with two minutes until intermission. Then early in the second half, a long kickoff return by David Moultry put the Jaguars in business on the Tigers 39. Moments later, Callens was on the receiving end of a touchdown pass from Barker to cut the deficit to seven points.
The Tigers got a score back three minutes later on another Densmore toss, but Spain Park answered with a 36-yard TD toss from Barker to Jaylen Ward, then tied the game with 10:32 left in the final quarter as Austin Hutcheson charged in from less than a yard out, taking advantage of a Bessemer City fumble on a hook-and-lateral play.
But the Tigers wasted no time in taking the advantage back for good, with Densmore’s last touchdown coming just 70 seconds later. From there, neither team could take advantage of deep drives, with the Jags’ final drive stalling out at the Bessemer City 22-yard line with a minute to play.
The Tigers almost sealed the deal just after that touchdown when they intercepted a Barker pass on the hosts’ 35, but the Jaguar defense stiffened and got some help from 20 yards penalized on two straight plays by the Tigers, and held on fourth down and goal from the 14. That led to the final possession for the home team, which went 15 plays before stalling out.
It was a tough night in particular for the Spain Park defense, a young group that’s still struggling to find its way. The Jags had problems of all sorts with the Tiger offense, which gained 489 yards for the night (266 rushing, 223 passing) compared to the Jags’ 426 total yards.
“Too many mistakes. We had some busts on the secondary, and we’ve got some guys back there who just haven’t played much,” Spain park head coach Shawn Raney said. “They have some really good players, and we had some bad matchups. I was proud that our kids never gave up, but we can’t make mistakes that we’re making if we want to beat teams like that.”
Barker had another big night on the stat sheet, completing 29 passes in 49 attempts for 358 yards.
“He had some really fast guys off the edge to deal with, but he stepped up and did some scrambling,” Raney said.
Kelley caught nine passes for 185 yards. Callens gained 60 yards on 13 rushes. Defensively, DeQuarius Hill had three solo tackles and five assists, while Richard Moses added five solo tackles.
Spain Park (1-1) begins region play next week at Vestavia Hills.
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