Spartans' season concludes in semifinal loss
PINSON – A couple first-quarter plays set the tone on Friday night.
Both of those went the way of the Pinson Valley High School football team, which knocked off visiting Mountain Brook 27-10 in the Class 6A semifinals at Willie Adams Stadium.
On Mountain Brook’s fourth play from scrimmage, a mishap in the backfield led to Alijah May finding the football and taking it 50 yards to the end zone, putting Pinson Valley ahead 6-0. Following the Spartans’ ensuing possession, they pinned the Indians deep in their own territory.
But on Pinson’s second play, Mike Sharpe burst through a hole on the left side of the line and took it 92 yards to the house. The Indians went up 13-0 and never looked back.
“Tonight was a hard game, we knew it was going to be tough,” Mountain Brook head coach Chris Yeager said after the game. “We knew that the margin for error was small. We made our mistakes, enough for them to take advantage of. We dug ourselves in a hole to begin with and we were fighting uphill.”
Mountain Brook (12-2) got a 20-yard field goal from Reed Harradine to cut the deficit to 13-3 at halftime, with the game far from over at that point.
“I knew they were going to be very physical. I talked to my guys at halftime and said they were going to come back out and just try to run it on us,” Pinson Valley head coach Sam Shade said. “If they can run it on us, that’s what they want to do and run some clock. Our D-line, they stood up and had some stops early on.”
The Spartans struggled to move the ball consistently all game, finishing with just 159 yards for the game. Quarterback Strother Gibbs capped off his career with 78 passing yards and 34 rushing yards. Jake Thompson caught four passes for 68 yards. Michael Brogan had 20 carries for 47 yards and a 3-yard touchdown late in the game.
The backbreaker came early in the fourth quarter. Pinson quarterback Zach Pyron put the ball in the air just twice all game, with both throws intercepted, but he scored a critical touchdown on the ground. He kept the ball on a zone read and dashed down the sideline for a 53-yard score and 20-3 lead.
Sharpe broke another touchdown run late and finished with 161 yards on eight carries.
The two teams exchanged touchdowns in the final 2:10, but the Indians are headed to the 6A state championship game for the third time in four years. They were victorious in previous trips in 2017 and 2018.
Pinson Valley will face Spanish Fort next Friday, Dec. 3, at 7:30 p.m. at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa.
In Shade’s first year, the Indians were solid if not spectacular throughout the regular season. But once the playoffs began, Pinson Valley has been a completely dominant team. Through four playoff games, the Indians have allowed just 28 points total.
"I take it back to the Ramsay game,” Shade said of the team’s turning point, which was a 14-13 loss Sept. 25. “We felt like we left a lot out there. Losing that ball game really made us come together.”
The loss marked the end of one of the best Spartans’ teams in recent memory. Mountain Brook won 12 games, the most since 2011, and advanced to the semifinals for the first time since 2010.
Yeager said this year’s squad has been one of the most enjoyable he’s had the pleasure to be around on a daily basis.
“It’s been an incredible group of seniors,” he said. “It’s a special group. It’s hard to believe that there’s 36 quality guys like they have been and they’ve added to our community and program and my life, personally.”
Click here to view and purchase photos from the game.