Spartans pass tough test, beat James Clemens
MOUNTAIN BROOK -- Mountain Brook High School head coach Chris Yeager anticipated a physical game with Class 7A playoff contender James Clemens. The Class 6A No. 2 Spartans got that test, and passed it with flying colors with a 42-21 win over the visiting Jets, ranked No. 9 in its classification.
Jack King rushed for 111 yards and Clark Sanderson made an instinctive play on a punt return for a score. The Spartans (2-0) also held off a strong performance from Jets (0-2) quarterback Gio Lopez, a South Alabama commit who threw for 339 yards and accounted for all three of this team’s scores.
"In any game, there’s going to be four or five plays that are going to make the difference and when we had those four or five plays, we were able to maximize that,” Yeager said.
Mountain Brook’s first possession ended with a missed field goal after some dropped passes, but the next three possessions featured Mountain Brook’s strong ground game. A 40-yard pass from John Colvin to Jackson Beatty, which Beatty caught on the deflection, set up Cole Gamble’s 20-yard touchdown run. The next two drives each ended with 15-yard touchdown runs, the first by Will Waldrop and the second by Colvin. That gave the Spartans a 21-0 lead.
Mountain Brook dominated the first half and didn’t even let the Jets cross midfield until 4:16 remained in the second quarter. The Spartans led 21-7 at half.
The big play came after James Clemens went three and out on its first possession to start the third. The punter dropped the snap and barely got a short punt off. Sanderson, the returner, yelled “Peter, Peter,” the universal signal to tell his team to get out of the way of a bouncing punt.
But then he picked it up and found an opening. The result was a 40-yard punt return for a score.
"I saw a whole bunch of grass and no one near the ball, so I had to pick it up,” Sanderson said. "It just seemed like they stopped playing when they saw me point at the ball.”
Sanderson had receptions of 32 and 38 yards on the ensuing drives to set up second-half scores. The junior finished with three catches for 81 yards.
"We knew he was going to be a great football player,” Yeager said. "His dad, Craig Sanderson, played at Alabama [from 1988-90] and he’s just like his old man, making some plays. He plays fast and fearless."
Mountain Brook’s other second-half scores came on a 3-yard run by King and a 5-yard shovel pass from Colvin to Beatty. The Spartans piled up 242 yards on the ground with the three-headed attack of King, Waldrop and Gamble. Colvin hit 8-of-13 passes for 155 yards and a score, and Beatty caught four passes for 63 yards. Gamble had 63 yards on 11 carries and Waldrop had 29 yards on four carries.
"That’s really the balance we want and at the end, Jack King did a great job of breaking tackles and rolling the pile,” Yeager said.
Lopez completed 25-of-37 passes for 339 yards for the Jets. He threw a touchdown pass and ran for two more. He did throw an interception off a tipped ball.
Mountain Brook opens Class 6A, Region 5 play next Thursday at home against Minor.