Jaguars blast Hazel Green behind Beatty's three TD passes.
Spain Park showed why it deserved to be Class 7A’s top-ranked team in Friday night’s rainy first round playoff game against Hazel Green.
Playing on home turf, the Jaguars (10-1) jumped out to a 28-0 halftime lead behind a near-flawless performance from quarterback Joey Beatty before cruising to an eventual 31-7 victory over the visiting Trojans (5-6), handing coach Shawn Raney his first postseason win at Spain Park.
“I was hoping to get that monkey off my back,” Raney said. “That was a good win for us. We came out the first half, I thought we jumped on them quick and played well in all phases of the game.”
Raney’s only other postseason appearance came in his first season at Spain Park, when the Jags lost in the first round to Enterprise High School in heartbreaking fashion, falling 30-27 in overtime.
Friday night’s contest, however, was a much different story.
Spain Park scored on four of its first five possessions while holding Hazel Green to only two first downs in the same span, forcing four punts and a fumble.
Meanwhile, Beatty threw touchdown strikes of 44, 31, and 20 yards to three different receivers, completing 9 of 10 first-half passes for 150 yards.
“Joey’s been solid all year,” Raney said. “We hadn’t asked him to do much in the passing game, but when we ask him, I think he’s comfortable enough with what we’re doing that he can make plays for us.”
Beatty’s first TD toss came on the Jags’ second play from scrimmage, when he hit a wide open Thomas Jordan on a 44-yard post route.
“Everyone did their job. We had good protection, Joey gave me a perfect ball, I had the easy part of that,” Jordan said.
After running back Larry Wooden added a powerful 34-yard TD run that featured a video game-like spin move to make it 14-0, Beatty connected with wide receiver Bridge Suber in the back of the end zone for his second TD.
Despite being double covered and drawing a defensive pass interference penalty, Suber still found a way to come down with the arcing 31-yard spiral.
Beatty’s third and final TD pass wasn’t nearly as eventful, dumping the ball off to running back Wade Streeter in the left flat and allowing him to rumble 20 yards in to the end zone.
“I felt really comfortable. The line did a great job protecting me tonight, and I connected with my receivers,” Beatty said. “I know they have my back.”
Kicker Crosby Gray blasted his 13th field goal of the season from 26 yards out late in the third quarter to wrap up the Spain Park scoring and push the Jags' total to 31 points.
On the opposite side of the ball, Spain Park flirted with pitching its fifth shutout of the season, but a Trojan TD with just over nine minutes to play in the fourth quarter thwarted the effort.
Even with the late score, however, Spain Park has still only given up 14 points at home all season.
“It’s tremendous to get people coming here because we’ve had so much success at home,” Raney said.
The Jags will have another chance to take advantage of their home turf next Friday night when they host the No. 2 team in the state, James Clemens.
Clemens trounced Hewitt-Trussville 22-0 on Thursday night in its first round playoff game, setting up a state quarterfinal showdown between 7A’s top two teams.
“They’re a great team. They’ve got a great defense. I think it’s real similar to our team,” Raney said, “really good on special teams. Offense, they’ve got a running back that runs the football, so it’s going to be a war next Friday.”