Gadsden City comes back to beat Jags
HOOVER – The Spain Park High School kicking game gave the homecoming crowd reason to cheer, but then the Gadsden City offense – behind running back C.J. Miller – kicked into gear for a 29-26 victory Friday night on Bob Finley Field at Jaguar Stadium.
Miller finished with 26 carries for 243 yards and three touchdowns to help the Titans grab the victory.
Gadsden City won the opening toss and deferred to the second half. That gave the home team the opportunity to get off to the fast start it couldn’t a week ago in Alabaster.
The Jaguars drove 72 yards with Pierson Cole hauling in a 22-yard pass from Evan Smallwood. Braxton Sumpter’s kick made it 7-0, but the junior would come up large moments later.
Rather than booting the ball deep, Sumpter launched an onside pooch kick that Jamari Mosley caught at the Titans 41-yard line to put the Jags offense back on the field. That drive stalled at the Gadsden City 23 and Sumpter kicked a 40-yard field goal for a 10-0 lead.
Spain Park coach Shawn Raney said his squad worked on kickoffs and benefited from having Sumpter.
“He’s been tremendous for us,” the coach said. “Anything we ask him to do – and those are hard kicks – and he hits them to perfection. He spends a lot of time working on it and he’s a great kid so we’re lucky to have him.”
The Spain Park defense stymied the visitors on their first possession of the night, forcing them to punt. Junior Alex Smith came around right end to block that effort, Kelby Roberson scooped the bounding ball and scored from the 30.
“We saw protection,” Raney said. “Our DBs coach came up with that block in practice. It looked good in practice and we ran it.”
Unfortunately for the home team, it was Miller who came out running in the second half, scoring on runs of 47, 10 and 5 yards.
“C.J. is an awesome player and we’re glad to have him on our team,” Gadsden City head coach Ali Smith said. “Our offensive line did a heck of a job. We had so many kids who were out this week and earlier with sickness. We were just blessed to get a W tonight.”
Raney said his team just couldn’t get it done Friday night.
“You’ve got to win games,” he said. “It’s like I told the kids, my heart breaks for them. I watch them come to work and I watch their attitudes and they come that short in a game where they played their hearts out. It’s very frustrating and very disappointing. That’s life. Sometimes you don’t get what you deserve and there are lessons to be learned. That’s our job to keep them together and keep them working.”
Spain Park takes its open date next week.