Photos by Todd Thompson
Spain Park's D'Arie Johnson(1) fights for yardage during a game between Spain Park and Muscle Shoals on Friday, Sept. 1, 2017, at James F. Moore Stadium in Muscle Shoals.
The Spain Park High School football team is off and running.
Last week, the Jags improved to 2-0 on the young season as they trounced Muscle Shoals, 40-7. They’ll now aim to carry the momentum generated by that road victory into Friday’s Class 7A, Region 3 opener at Vestavia Hills.
The Rebels (1-0) fell to Homewood, 6-0, to open the season last week. The loss snapped Vestavia Hills’ 10-game win streak over its neighboring rival.
“They’ve got some players and they did a good job,” Rebels head coach Buddy Anderson said after the game. “They did what they needed to do to win and they did a good job of it.”
Vestavia Hills faces another stout test this week against a Spain Park team that has shown few signs of weakness through the season’s first two weeks.
The Jags offense has averaged more than 35 points per outing behind a strong ground game and consistent quarterback play. The one-two combo of D’Arie Johnson and Jalen Henderson already has rushed for 350 yards.
Braxton Barker has accounted for a near-equal level of production, having thrown three touchdowns and no interceptions. In the victory over Muscle Shoals, he completed 16 of 28 passes for 187 yards.
Jalen McMillan was on the receiving end of a quarter of those completions. He caught four passes for 80 yards, including an 8-yard touchdown, and scored on an 85-yard kickoff return that altered the game’s complexion.
“The momentum came to us when I scored,” McMillan said. “We just got it done.”
Spain Park’s defense has the done the same. It followed up a solid season-opening performance against Gadsden City with an even tighter showing at Muscle Shoals.
The Jags limited their opponent to less than 200 yards of offense and forced three fumbles. The week before, Muscle Shoals ran for nearly 400 yards against Gardendale.
“They’re young bucks, but they’re very coachable,” Spain Park head coach Shawn Raney said of his defensive group.
This week, that unit will be tasked with matching up against a Vestavia Hills offense that struggled in its season opener. The Rebels, playing without starting quarterback Coleman Petway, crossed the field only once in its loss to Homewood.
Spain Park defeated Vestavia Hills 28-14 in the teams’ 2016 meeting, extending its win streak over the Rebels to three games. Vestavia Hills leads the teams’ all-time series 9-5.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Thompson Reynolds Stadium.
*Kyle Parmley contributed to this report.
