Spartans roll past Trojans in first round of playoffs

MOUNTAIN BROOK – Strother Gibbs is no stranger to scoring touchdowns, but on Friday night in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs, the senior quarterback for Mountain Brook High School turned in a special performance, scoring five total touchdowns as the Spartans dominated visiting Muscle Shoals, 38-7, to advance to the second round.

Gibbs ran for 71 yards on 13 carries and scored twice on the ground. Through the air, Gibbs was 15-of-19, passing for 188 yards and three touchdowns, all to senior receiver Paulson Wright, who finished with six catches for 87 yards to go along with his three scores.

Mountain Brook dominated the Trojans from the start, scoring on its first drive. After a 23-yard rush from Gibbs took the Spartans into Muscle Shoals territory, Gibbs found Wright from 27 yards out to put the home team up 7-0.

The Spartans defense also turned in a big performance, giving up just one touchdown and allowing just 128 yards of offense from the visitors.

The Spartans, up 7-0 toward the end of the first quarter, got a break when the Trojans punt coverage team accidentally hit the Spartan return man, giving them 15 yards and a first down at the Muscle Shoals’ 26-yard line.

From there Gibbs found Wright for a 12-yard score, a play that followed a fourth-down conversion from running back Michael Brogan.

“It was worth the risk,” Mountain Brook head coach Chris Yeager said after the game of the decision to go for it on fourth down so early in the contest.

That was followed by a Spartans interception by senior James Nichols, who picked off Trojans quarterback Luke Peoples’ pass on the first play of the ensuing drive.

Mountain Brook had to settle for a field goal on the drive after a holding call on first down made it 1st and 27.

Getting the ball back up 17-0 with just under four minutes to play in the first half, Mountain Brook put together an impressive drive that put them up by three possessions before the break.

In four minutes, the Spartans accounted for 89 total yards, with 69 of those coming through the air.

Gibbs and his receivers, which included Wright, Jake Thompson and Jackson Beatty on the drive, were able to find holes in the Trojans defense, and moved quickly down the field.

Gibbs hit Wright for a 23-yard strike with just 23 seconds left in the half, giving the Spartans a 24-0 lead at halftime.

The Trojans looked to have made some improvements on offense on their first drive of the second half, picking up a pair of first downs on a nice pass from Peoples to Bentley Basden and an 11-yard run for Conner Simmons on an end-around.

But a trick play on third down backfired. The Trojans lined quarterback Graham Reed up at wideout, and after the snap, Reed took a pitch from Peoples and prepared to throw, but the Spartan defense snuffed it out, forcing another punt.

Later in the third quarter, Jones Beavers blocked a punt for Mountain Brook, setting up a three-yard touchdown run by Gibbs.

Muscle Shoals scored their lone touchdown of the night on their next drive as Peoples found AJ Cherry, who made a Herculean effort to bring the contested pass in, on a 35-yard gain over the middle to move the Trojans inside the five. The pair hooked up again later in the drive for a two-yard score to make it 31-7

Gibbs finished the scoring with a 2-yard touchdown run later in the fourth quarter, capping off an impressive win for the Spartans.

“I’m real pleased with how we threw the ball,” Yeager said.

Following another impressive performance from Gibbs, Yeager praised his quarterback for his ability to do so many things well, as well as the work of the Mountain Brook receivers, with four of them coming up with big catches Friday night.

“Everybody knows Strother can run the football,” Yeager said. “He can throw, too.”

For Muscle Shoals, it’s the end of the line for a young team.

“I’m very proud of our guys,” said head coach Scott Basden. “They [Mountain Brook] have a good football team.”

With just 12 seniors, Basden said he knew it would be tough, but said he was very proud of that class.

“There’s brighter days ahead,” Basden said. “It doesn’t help anything tonight.”

Mountain Brook will travel to Gardendale next Friday night in the second round of the playoffs. The Rockets defeated Fort Payne 52-14.