Jags get back on track with big win over Huffman
The importance of Spain Park High’s dominating 42-6 win over visiting Huffman on Friday night wasn’t lost on Jaguar head coach Shawn Raney. After all, he’s very aware of what it’s like to maneuver through the always stringent Class 7A, Region 3.
“It’s awesome,” Raney said. “It’s so tough to win games in this region. You look at Huffman, they beat Oak Mountain and (Tuscaloosa) County. If the playoffs started today, they’d be in the playoffs in this region. Their coaches do a great job. That’s a huge win for us.”
It’s magnified by what happened over the past three weeks. Spain Park (4-2, 2-2 in Region 3) dropped back-to-back region games to crosstown rival Hoover and Mountain Brook. The 23-21 setback to Mountain Brook was especially tough to swallow, considering the Jags had to wait 14 days to get back on the field for a game.
However, it’s what happened over those 14 days that had helped the Jags show up on Friday night ready to play.
“Last week, our off week, I thought came at an excellent time,” Raney said. “We had fun, scrimmaged quite a bit, did some goal line stuff and just tried to remind the kids why they play. I didn’t think their energy level was good against Mountain Brook at all. I think our kids came out here tonight and played well and had fun.”
The scoreboard wasn’t the only way to measure the dominating fashion that Spain Park handled the Vikings (3-3, 2-2) on Friday night. Quarterbacks Hunter Howell and Braxton Barker and wide receiver Thomas Jordan paced an offensive effort that produced 469 yards on 60 plays with 300 of those yards coming through the air. On the other side, defensive tackle Douglas Henze led the way as the Jaguars allowed just 185 yards on 48 plays with most of the yardage coming long after the outcome was decided.
Howell, who was sharp from the outset, was 12-of-16 for 218 yards with touchdown passes of 59 yards to Jordan and 34 yards to Jalen McMillan. Barker finished 5-of-6 for 82 yards with a scoring strike of 10 yards to Michael Allen.
“Hunter has been outstanding,” Raney said. “He’s a good leader on the team. We’ve got two really good quarterbacks. I feel really good about both of them.”
It also helps that both quarterbacks have plenty of options. Jordan had six catches for 138 yards. Spain Park spread out the rushing attempts with Larry Wooden, Jalen Henderson and D’Arie Johnson combining for 159 yards on 32 carries. Each of the running backs had short scoring runs in the first 18 minutes of the game as the Jaguars grabbed a 21-0 lead.
Howell’s 59-yard scoring toss to Jordan with 3:22 left in the second quarter gave the Jags the 28-0 lead they took into halftime. At that point, the Vikings had just 54 yards in offense with all of it coming on the ground.
Spain Park scored a pair of third quarter touchdowns – both on passes – to take a 42-0 lead into the final quarter. Huffman finally got on the board, partly thanks to 28-yard pass on fourth down from punter Uribel Bravo to running back Jacoby Johnson. It was the Vikings’ first completed pass of the evening and it eventually led to an 11-yard scoring pass from quarterback Anthony Wiggins to Michael Barber.
Afterward, Raney reminded his team that they still have a lot to work left to make it through the difficult region.
“That’s one, we’ve got three more to go,” said Raney, whose team travels to Thompson next Friday.