Photo by Richard Force
Spain Park players get ready to chase school history before kickoff against Chilton County on Oct. 25, 2024 in Clanton, Ala. The Jaguars defeated the Tigers 37-6 and will try to cap a 10-0 regular season this coming week with a win over Gardendale.
Spain Park moved a bit closer to a perfect regular season with an imperfect, but historic, victory Friday night.
The Jaguars cruised past Chilton County 37-6 to improve to 9-0 for the first time in school history. They'll try to cap their first undefeated regular season this week with a game at Gardendale, and then turn their attention to the Class 6A state playoffs where they will host a home game in the first round on Nov. 8 against an opponent still to be determined.
“These kids are making history,” Coach Tim Vakakes said. “Spain Park, they've been 8-0 before, never been 9-0. So this team makes a little history, which I’m really proud of. They've done a lot of hard work. It wasn't always clean, it wasn't always perfect execution. It wasn't always 10 out of 10, but the effort was there.
“I’m really proud of how far this program has come in the last couple of years that these kids have bought in, man. Our parents, we have great parents, we have great families.
“And it's a big moment for our kids to make history. We talked about tonight, we're gonna make some history being 9-0, and I'm really proud of them, and I'm blessed to be a part of it.”
While Spain Park moves on, the Briarwood Christian Lions certainly wish they could. Briarwood trounced Hayden 50-16 Friday night, continuing its recent stellar play. The Lions' 0-5 start was too much to overcome, but they've played as well as any Class 5A team in the state since midseason and will wrap up their 2024 season at home against McAdory on Friday.
Oak Mountain fell Friday in a shootout to Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa and will close its season Friday against Chelsea where a win in that rivalry game might sooth the sting of missing the playoffs. Chelsea is playoff bound, but the Hornets suffered their third consecutive loss Friday at Benjamin Russell and now must go on the road in the first round against No. 10-ranked Saraland team on Nov. 8.
Click here to sign up for our Under the Lights newsletter and follow us on social media.
