One more: Spartans beat Muscle Shoals, advance to state championship
MUSCLE SHOALS – Mountain Brook High School head football coach Chris Yeager refused to let his mind wander.
Throughout the week, he kept his team thoroughly committed to the task at hand. Each practice mattered more than anything else in the world. On Friday night, that task was a Class 6A semifinal matchup at Muscle Shoals.
Yeager was so laser-focused on each individual play all evening, he finally looked up at the scoreboard with 90 seconds to play and realized he could let his guard down, at least momentarily, as his Spartans soundly defeated Muscle Shoals 28-7 to advance to the 6A state championship.
“I’ll be honest with you, I have not even let myself go there, that we could possibly be going to the state championship,” Yeager said following the game. “I promise you, we’ve been thinking about the next play and being great blockers, being great tacklers, securing the football and finishing each play.
Mountain Brook advances to the state title game for the first time since 1996 and the fourth time in program history. The Spartans will take on another set of Spartans, from Saraland, next Friday at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn.
Mountain Brook (12-2) made a two-hour trek north and did what it has done to opponents all season, pummeling Muscle Shoals with a stingy defense that refused to let the two-headed running back monster of Jaelin Goodwin and Devin Townsend get fully untracked. Then, the Spartans followed with a heavy dose of their own wrecking crew, Cole Gamble running behind an offensive line that showed up once again and simply took care of business.
Gamble was unable to reach the 200-yard threshold for the fourth straight game, but he certainly impressed once again, toting the rock 25 times for 189 yards and three touchdowns.
“I’m so proud of my guys,” the standout junior said. “These guys are my brothers. I’m so glad that wasn’t my last game playing with these seniors. We’re not satisfied. We’ve got one more.”
Muscle Shoals (12-2) mixed some things up in the early going and gave the Spartans a few fits. After forcing a quick punt, the Trojans progressed 60 yards and scored on a 22-yard pass from Seth Mosley to Bryant Basden to take a 7-0 lead.
That didn’t last long, though, as Mountain Brook’s offense got rolling and scored on three straight possessions to take a 21-7 lead at the half, as the defense adjusted as well and clamped down on the home team.
“We kept it together up here [mentally], and kept pushing, kept finishing,” Gamble said.
Gamble broke free for a 36-yard scoring run to tie the game at 7-7 in the final minute of the first quarter. A 48-yard pass from John Colvin to Clark Sanderson set up Gamble’s next score, a 1-yard plunge in the second quarter to give the Spartans a 14-7 edge.
After a defensive stop, Mountain Brook got the ball back with less than two minutes remaining in the half and executed a two-minute drill to perfection. Colvin struck with a 36-yard pass to Jackson Beatty, followed by connections with Sanderson for 21 and 10 yards. Will Waldrop’s only carry of the night was a 9-yard touchdown to make it 21-7 at the half.
Mountain Brook’s defense was the story in the second half. Parker Avery’s sack pushed the Trojans out of field goal range early in the third quarter. Tucker Crawford had a critical pass breakup early in the fourth quarter and intercepted a pass on the following possession.
In between those key plays, Gamble scored from 12 yards out to give the Spartans a three-possession lead.
Colvin finished the night 9-of-15 passing for 148 yards. Sanderson grabbed five passes for 84 yards and Beatty had 44 yards on a pair of catches.
For Muscle Shoals, Townsend had 19 carries for 114 yards, while Goodwin posted 49 yards on 10 carries. Basden had four grabs for 49 yards and Jamir Goodloe caught six balls for 55 yards.
Yeager admitted he has plenty of work to do to prepare to take his Spartans down to Auburn next week for the state championship game, since he had only prepared for the contest in front of his team.
But anyone that knows Yeager knows his affinity for simply heading to practice. Getting to do that for one more week has him bursting at the seams.
“I’m so excited about that, that we get to do this with these guys,” he said.
Mountain Brook’s run has come to an end in the semifinals in the previous two years, but the 2022 squad was able to break down the door.
“The last two teams, I’m proud of what they did, too,” Yeager said. “But this right here, it’s just special how things have come together.”
The emotion released in the postgame celebration spoke to the team’s desire to break through and get to the state title game, a game the Spartans will look to win for the first time since winning back-to-back titles in 1975 and 1976.
“There’s nothing in our fieldhouse that talks about winning a championship. It’s about being a champion, being the kind of person that’s a champion,” Yeager said. “Whether we won this game or not, that’s what these kids are.”