Benjamin Russell outlasts Spain Park in clash of 6A titans – Shelby County Reporter

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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

ALEXANDER CITY – After starting out strong with a 14-0 lead, the Spain Park Jaguars soon found themselves on the ropes.

Twenty-one straight points from the Benjamin Russell Wildcats put the hosts in front going into the locker room, and over the course of the half, the energy shifted all the way from the Spain Park sideline to the packed home stands at the Charles Bailey Sportplex on Sept. 19

The cards may not have looked to be in the Jags’ favor, but coach Tim Vakakes knew he had an ace up his sleeve­–his players.

“These kids are going to fight,” Vakakes said. “That’s what they’re going to do. And we knew they weren’t going to give up, they weren’t going to get down. They played hard for 48 minutes. We just came up a little bit short.”

Sure enough, Spain Park responded and fought until the very end, even though the final score had the Wildcats in front 35-34.

“Heck of ball game,” Vakakes said after the game. “It went both ways, heavyweight fight. They’ve got a lot of good players over there, and our kids played their butts off and made plays on both sides. We just can’t have a breakdown in the kicking game, and that’s the difference in the ball game.”

Spain Park came flying out of the gate and looked to land an early knockdown punch.

The Jags capitalized on a 34-yard Kena Rego kickoff return with a long pass and a Brock Bradley 25-yard run to the Wildcats 25-yard line.

However, the offensive momentum slowed down as Spain Park shifted from working the edges to running in between the tackles with third-string back Hudson Hibbert. He eventually converted a 3rd-and-2 run to get inside the 15-yard line, but another third down followed shortly.

Bradley tested the edge again with a throw to Connor Greb in the back-right corner of the end zone and scored for the 7-0 lead with 7:43 left in the first.

Shortly after, Spain Park’s defense came up big with a fumble in the backfield at the Benjamin Russell 24. Now with prime field position, Bradley found Greb again on the shallow left side, and Greb ran and dove for the pylon and a 24-yard touchdown.

That doubled the lead to 14-0 midway through the first quarter and put all the momentum on the Jags’ side.

The Wildcats had mixed results on their first full drive, finding top-ranked Alabama commit Cederian Morgan for a deep ball before stalling out for a punt immediately after.

Things shifted in Benjamin Russell’s favor on both sides of the ball shortly after.

After the Jags failed on the third-and-2 conversion run, the Wildcats quickly got down the field through the air before a wild sequence near the goal line. Morgan was called out of bounds on an acrobatic end zone catch, another touchdown was called off for a block in the back and a BRHS receiver missed a heavily contested jump ball.

The fourth time was the charm as Alijah Johnson ran it in up the middle for the short-yardage score, making it 14-6 with 9:59 left in the half after a missed extra point.

The Jags punted quickly after getting the ball back, and that let Wildcats quarterback Kingston Preyear get chunk yardage on the ground to kick off the drive. He eventually turned it over to Johnson, who went for the Superman dive over the top for both a touchdown and a 2-point conversion after an offside on the PAT.

That left it tied at 14-14 with 4:13 left, and the hits kept coming.

Bradley looked to have the offense going through the air, but a deep ball to the 15-yard line got picked off by Johnson after going long.

Benjamin Russell then marched 85 yards in 2:11, capping it off with a 35-yard rainbow from Preyear to AJ Calhoun to take the 21-14 lead.

After the game, Vakakes credited Benjamin Russell for trying to stop Hibbert and the run to kill the Jags’ tempo and shift the momentum in its favor.

“I think they loaded the box, and they put a lot of people down, and tried to stop the run, and we were able to make some plays after that once we got going, but we stalled out for a couple of drives, and gave them a chance to get back in the game,” Vakakes said. “But it’s a heavyweight fight, man. Our kids were fighting to the end.”

With that touchdown, the Wildcats made it 21 unanswered points to end the half and left Spain Park in need of a response. Luckily for the Jags, they got one right out of the locker room.

Spain Park stuffed Benjamin Russell on its own 33-yard line to force a turnover on downs and set it up to strike. The Jags looked to be near the goal line on a third down catch, but an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the celebration pushed them back.

Spain Park overcame the penalty with a McClure 15-yard run up the middle for a touchdown. The extra point failed, leaving it at 21-20 Wildcats with 8:30 left in the third.

The Jags nearly forced another turnover on downs on a fourth-and-short, but an offside penalty extended the drive. Benjamin Russell didn’t waste its shot, using a Preyear run to get into the red zone on the next play before he lobbed a 23-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 28-20.

Spain Park responded to the shot with one of its own, a long pass to Rego in stride on the right sideline. From there, Hudson Hibbert finished off the drive with a run up the middle for the 7-yard score.

The Jags went for two and got rewarded as Bradley dialed up Greb again for the 2-point conversion, tying the game at 28-28 with 2:13 left in the third.

Spain Park’s pass coverage forced a quick stop on the ensuing drive, and a short punt gave the visitors a start at their own 45-yard line. It was the McClure and Hibbert show after that, with McClure catching two balls up the middle for chunk yardage before Hibbert finished the 55-yard drive with two runs up the middle.

However, a miscue on the extra point left the Jags up just six at 34-28, and the special teams mistakes would prove costly soon.

Starting at their own 28-yard line with 10:08 to go, the Wildcats went with Preyear on the ground, and he came up with multiple late-down conversion runs to set them up near the goal. Spain Park contested one shot into the end zone but couldn’t stop the second, a throw right at the goal line for a diving receiver to put Benjamin Russell up 35-34 with 6:30 left.

The Jags fought until the final whistle to get points on the board. McClure got the team moving on the ensuing drive with a 25-yard reception, but a turnover on downs quickly followed.

Then, after the defense forced a punt, Bradley went to work with 1:24 left and got a solid start to the two-minute drill. after an early completion to Barrett Price, Bradley got another catch up the middle, however, the receiver fumbled the ball immediately after completing the catch, and that sealed the Wildcats win.

Bradley went 17-of-24 passing for 264 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. He also had 31 rushing yards for 295 all-purpose yards.

McClure was his top target with five catches for 93 yards, and he added on 29 rushing yards on seven carries for a touchdown. Rego had four catches for 75 yards, Greb earned three receptions for 43 yards and two touchdowns plus the 2-point conversion and Price caught three balls for 46 yards.

Hibbert paced the ground game with a team-high 75 yards off 18 carries for two touchdowns.

Just as he has throughout the season, Vakakes was most encouraged by his team’s mentality, whether that’s their togetherness or mental toughness in the face of adversity during a 2-2 season thus far.

They’re qualities that will likely be put to the test in their next matchup, a non-region game against 7A James Clemens on Sept. 26 at Bob Finley Field and a rematch of a 34-24 battle from a year ago.

However, Vakakes continues to back his group of guys.

“I love this team, man,” Vakakes said. “This team’s got a lot of fight. They’re staying together, nobody’s pointing fingers, and it’s a really good group of kids to be around, and, we’re going to get back in it, lick our wounds, get back in the weight room on Sunday.”