Spartans blow past 7A Baker
MOBILE -- Mountain Brook High School cruised to a 41-7 victory at Baker to close out the 2022 regular season on Thursday night. The win was a quick response to a one-point loss to Gardendale the week before.
“After the loss last week, the guys were ready to get back on the field. We’ve improved this week. There’s been some things we’ve addressed and had a sense of urgency to clean it up,” Mountain Brook head coach Chris Yeager said. “We knew Baker’s defense was very good, and our guys responded to that challenge, being able to block those guys. Their quarterback is incredibly talented. He had a couple of long runs and a long throw, but our guys were able to contain him. This week we stressed to do your job in an extraordinary way, and do not try to do someone else’s job, and they did that.”
The Spartans won the toss and elected to receive the ball, wasting little time to find the end zone. Within the first four minutes, Cole Gamble punched in a 10-yard touchdown to give Mountain Brook an early lead. A quick stop by the Spartans defense was followed by a nine-play scoring drive and another Gamble touchdown on fourth-and-1 from 6 yards out.
While Baker managed the move the ball a little on its second drive, the Spartans forced a punt, and quarterback John Colvin tacked on another Mountain Brook score before the quarter ended. Colvin found Jackson Beatty cutting down the Spartan sideline for a 69-yard touchdown pass with 1.5 seconds left in the quarter and a 20-0 lead.
Mountain Brook quickly moved into the red zone on its next possession but a false start and fumble stalled the drive and forced a punt. On the next visitors’ drive, a penalty negated a 43-yard touchdown pass from Colvin, but the Spartans converted on third-and-20 with a 21-yard pass to Rob Gillespie to keep the drive going. Three plays later, Carter Kelley scored on a 27-yard touchdown pass from Colvin with 14.2 seconds left in the first half. It was 27-0 at halftime.
Baker opened the second half with four-straight pass completions, including a 67-yard pass from Joshua Flowers to Jaden Archible for a touchdown. Colvin, who threw for 272 yards on 19-of-24 passing, answered with his third touchdown pass of the game, a 12-yard pass to Gillespie with 3:05 left in the third quarter. Three plays later, Clyde Beavers intercepted Flowers for a near pick-six, returning the ball 38 yards before being tackled on the 3. Gamble punched the ball in two plays later to cap the scoring, 41-7. He finished the night with more than 100 yards rushing.
Mountain Brook closes the regular season 8-2 and will host Pinson Valley on Nov. 4 in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs.