Spartans pitch shutout against Center Point
MOUNTAIN BROOK -- Mountain Brook High School’s 43-0 win over Center Point on Thursday night at Spartan Stadium started on special teams.
On its first possession, Center Point muffed a punt snap and couldn’t get the first down. Mountain Brook took advantage of a short field, capitalizing with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Strother Gibbs to Blake Roth.
Center Point roughed the kicker on the point after try and Mountain Brook responded with an onside kick try. Aidan Hood recovered his own onside kick after it went 10 yards, and the Spartans scored on a 27-yard pass from Gibbs to Roth.
Spartans coach Chris Yeager thought his team could exploit the Eagles on special teams. It worked.
“I thought that was the turning point in the game,” Yeager said. “It’s just so demoralizing (for the opponent) when special teams gives up cheap points.”
Mountain Brook (2-0) coasted to the win, jumping out to a 37-0 halftime lead over Class 5A Center Point, led by first-year coach George Bates. The Eagles were playing their regular season opener after having more success in last week’s jamboree against Class 6A Albertville.
“When we looked at the schedule, we saw Mountain Brook was game one,” Bates said. “There’s no way around it. They outplayed us, they outhustled us, they outschemed us and since we had more penalties than them, they outclassed us.”
Gibbs gave Mountain Brook a 21-0 lead when he scored on a 25-yard run. It started out as a busted play. He got the snap earlier than expected and players were standing around because they heard the referee’s whistle blew. It was the “ready for play” whistle and not one that signaled the play dead.
So, he ran to the right and went into the end zone.
“I saw their coach yelling at them to get me and I saw our coach telling me to run,” Gibbs said.
Yeager said it was a “heads-up play for a sophomore.”
Gibbs, a first-year starting quarterback, hit 4-of-7 passes for 50 yards. The run game was strong for the Spartans, as Daniel Wilbanks rushed for 108 yards on 11 carries, A.J. Gates picked up 77 yards on 10 carries and Sam Higgins added 71 second-half yards.
“We ran pretty much two plays consecutively and it was just working out,” Mountain Brook right guard Hugh Lawson Joy said. “From last week (a 30-14 win at Northridge), we thought (Center Point was) a lot better than the players we played last week. They came off lower and came off harder. We were expecting that.”
Wilbanks added an 8-yard score and Gates scored from 22 yards out in the first half. Ben Savage added a 4-yard touchdown run in the second half. The Spartans recorded a first-half safety.
Defensive end Jay Barze had an interception off a pass deflection, returning it 43 yards in the fourth quarter. It was an impressive play, but the Spartans did not score following the turnover.
Mountain Brook opens Class 7A, Region 3 play next Friday at Tuscaloosa County.
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