A mere 1:33 later, the Jags capitalized on another golden scoring opportunity with a 5-yard pass from Hutchison to Hunter. Whatley finished off the scoring with an extra point to put her team up 34-7 with 7:17 left, and that proved to be the final score.
Hutchison finished 26-of-35 passing for 208 yards and two touchdowns along with 25 rushing yards and her punt-return touchdown.
Hunter was her top receiver with nine catches for 81 yards and two receiving touchdowns plus rushing touchdowns on both of her carries. Rory Payton took six receptions for 66 yards, Nylah Calhoun had four catches for 26 yards, Whatley finished with six catches and 18 yards and Ja’Skylar Simpkins caught a 15-yard pass.
Over on defense, Hutchison and Calhoun came up with an interception each. Hutchison also batted two passes and pulled a flag.
Hunter earned six flag pulls and two pass deflections, Josey Gray finished with three flag pulls and a pass deflection and Simpkins had three flag pulls. Libby Gray batted a pass and pulled a flag and Annalise Hunter earned a flag pull in the win.
After the game, Starr said she felt like her team had unfinished business from their 14-7 win at Prattville in region play. She said they didn’t play their best game on either side of the ball, but they used the extra preparation time to lock in and turn in a complete performance.
“I think offensively, we were able to kind of settle in a little bit,” Starr said. “Our defense just did a really outstanding job. We had I think probably less than five missed flag pulls. So, defense got their offense off the field pretty quickly and our offense was able to settle in and kind of manage the game and special teams, we even had a punt return for a touchdown. So, just all facets of the game, we just played really well.”
Spain Park will advance to the semifinals to face the Vestavia Hills Rebels on Tuesday, Nov. 25 at 6 p.m. on the road at Thompson-Reynolds Stadium.
While the Rebels have won 26 games in a row entering their matchup, the Jags took down Vestavia in the 2024 semifinals and only lost 21-18 on the road on Sept. 30. That makes her confident that history can repeat itself.
“We beat them last year. We can do it again,” Starr said. “In our region game this year, we had some real opportunities to win the game. Had the lead up until the last few minutes of the game and just made some mistakes that we certainly can’t afford to make this time around.”
Starr said that the team simply locks in when it’s playoff time and flips a switch to take their game to a higher level. With five seniors on the team, including two who have played for five seasons on varsity, the players are motivated to go out on a high note.
“Postseason, like last year, it’s fun to watch how it just kind of clicks for them, and they kind take it up a different level,” Starr said. “You would hope they’d do that throughout the season, but they get excited to play, and I think it kind of motivates them. They want to see how far they can go.”