Balanced effort leads Jags to victory
Spain Park High head coach Shawn Raney and his coaching staff didn’t complicate things offensively in Friday night’s game against Muscle Shoals.
When it was time to run the football, that’s what the Jaguars did. And when the Trojan defense tried to take away the run, the Jaguars simply threw the ball.
Both approaches worked equally well in Spain Park’s dominating 35-18 victory over visiting Muscle Shoals on a muggy Friday evening.
“It is nice,” Spain Park head coach Shawn Raney said of his team’s offensive balance. “I thought throughout the summer offensively we had more explosive kids at the wide out and, then, with the three running backs we got, it gives us a lot of options.”
On Friday, the Jaguars (2-0) used those options to compile 223 yards through the air and 215 yards on the ground against the Trojans (0-2). Spain Park scored on four of five first-half offensive possessions and was able to take time off the clock in the second half.
It was quarterback Hunter Howell and passing game that got things working quickly in the first half. Howell misfired on his first pass but then hit 10 in a row to help the Jaguars take a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. Howell ended the first two drives with touchdown passes of 15 yards to Larry Wooden and 38 yards to Jalen McMillan.
Wooden and the running game provided the points on the next two drives. The Jaguar defense got an assist on Wooden’s first rushing touchdown, setting up the Jaguar offense in prime scoring position when defensive back Damarius Farmer stuffed a fourth down run at the Muscle Shoals 28-yard line. Shortly afterward, Wooden scored on a 6-yard run. Less than three minutes later, he was back in end zone after a 44-yard sprint to the end zone.
Spain Park’s lone second half touchdown came on a 15-yard pass from Howell to Thomas Jordan in the third quarter.
Overall, Howell was 19-of-24 for 223 yards with completions to seven different receivers. Wooden had a team-best six catches for 85 yards. Wooden also led a balanced rushing attack with 85 yards on eight carries. Sophomore Jalen Henderson added 81 yards on 10 carries and junior D’arie Johnson added 30 yards on seven carries.
The Spain Park defense was equally impressive, allowing 239 yards on 50 offensive plays. A large chunk of those yards came on two plays. Muscle Shoals running back Carlos Davis had a 65-yard run to set up a score on the opening drive of the second half and receiver Torris Williams had a 40-yard catch-and-run in the final minute of the game.
Raney was disappointed with his team being penalized seven times for 80 yards, including a third down penalty that extended Muscle Shoals lone first half scoring drive.
“I want to see us getting better each week,” Raney said. “I think that’s the goal of every program. There are some things we did better tonight, I’m proud of, but, obviously we’ve got a lot of stuff we have to keep working on. We can’t play that sloppy, with that many penalties, and beat the teams we’ve got to beat.”