Jags playoff bound after win at Tuscaloosa County
NORTHPORT – D’Arie Johnson put the Spain Park High School football team on his back, especially in the second half, for a 24-19 road win at Tuscaloosa County on Friday night.
Johnson averaged 11.3 yards per rush as he racked up 248 yards on 22 carries. His biggest run of the night came on the first play of Spain Park’s second drive of the third quarter. Johnson found a hole in the middle at the Jaguars 28-yard line, then kicked it up a gear around the 50-yard line and stepped out of an attempted tackle at the 29 en route to a 72-yard touchdown. The play gave the Jaguars their largest lead of the night, 21-13.
“He’s phenomenal. He’s a special kid,” Spain Park head coach Shawn Raney said. “He loves that situation. He’s done it since he was a sophomore. He knows how to finish runs.”
Johnson also scored the Jaguars’ first touchdown of the night, an 8-yard run on their second drive of the game to go up 7-0.
Tuscaloosa County looked to strike first on the opening drive of the game. The Wildcats stalled at the Spain Park 9, then missed a field goal to remain scoreless.
County tied the game early on a 6-yard touchdown run by Bo Evans with 9:53 to play in the first half. The Jags immediately answered with a five-play, 74-yard drive, capped by a 16-yard touchdown pass from Braxton Barker to Michael Rogers – his only catch of the game. Barker finished the game with 101 yards on 6-of-18 passing.
Trailing 14-7, Evans carried the Wildcats down field for a 77-yard drive. Evans, who rushed for 140 yards on 25 attempts in the game, had five rushes for 63 yards on the drive, including a 5-yard touchdown. The extra point missed low, leaving Spain Park in front, 14-13, with 1:17 to play. John Williams intercepted Barker on the final play of the half and returned it 64 yards before being brought down at the Spain Park 25, securing Spain Park’s 14-13 halftime lead.
After Johnson extended the lead early in the second half, Tuscaloosa County held the Jags to their second three-and-out of the quarter and put together an 11-play, 65-yard drive, aided by two pass interference penalties. Damien Taylor finished the drive with a 5-yard touchdown run, but the Wildcats’ 2-point pass attempt to tie it fell incomplete, keeping the Jags in front, 21-19.
Raney said while Spain Park has done well to respond when its back is against the wall, it needs to improve how it responds once it has an opportunity to expand a lead.
“We’ve got to learn to finish some people out and score,” he said. “We’re so lackadaisical right now. We’ll change some stuff up in practice to try to balance that. All I know is to keep working and keep doing the stuff that made us successful in the past.”
Johnson carried the ball nine times for 57 yards after the County touchdown to move into the red zone. Spain Park settled for a field goal, which Cole Starr nailed from 25 yards out, 24-19.
Spain Park managed to control the clock in the fourth quarter, and punter Trever Bernier pinned the Wildcats at their own 1-yard line with 1:23 to play in the game.
Tuscaloosa County quarterback Brylan Jackson completed five passes on the drive to move the Wildcats to the 40 before being intercepted by Clay Christian at the Spain Park 28 to end the game.
“We were trying not to give them anything deep and keep them in bounds. He put it up and I just saw it and I went up and made the play. I just played how the coaches always tell me to and it worked,” Christian said. “It was a big win. We knew coming in that if we won this game we were probably going to clinch, and that’s all we were worried about was getting into the playoffs.”
Defensively, Josh Wallace and Blake Hester led the Jaguars with five solo tackles each, while Jalen McMillan led the receivers with 75 yards on four catches. Johnson also had a 10-yard reception to finish with more than 258 yards total offense.
The win improves Spain Park to 5-3 on the season and 3-3 in Class 7A, Region 3 and secures the region’s fourth playoff spot. The Jaguars will host Oak Mountain (3-5, 1-5) for the final Region 3 game of the season next Friday, Oct. 27.