Big test looms as Spartans prep for Spain Park

Friday night’s Class 7A, Region 3 game between Spain Park and Mountain Brook high schools features two teams looking to regain their footing.

Spain Park (3-1, 1-1 region) fell to rival Hoover last Friday, 27-24, thanks to a Buccaneer touchdown pass in the waning minutes. Mountain Brook (2-2, 0-2) dropped a 40-13 decision at Thompson on the same night, one week after losing to Hoover at home.

“We’ve got a tough road,” Spartan head coach Chris Yeager said after the Thompson game. “We’ve just got to go back to the fundamentals. To me, that’s the first step. And go from there, that’s all we can do.”

Mountain Brook will aim to take the next step against Spain Park, which it will host for a 7:45 p.m. kickoff at Spartan Stadium. The Jags will provide another difficult test for a Mountain Brook team that entered the season with high aspirations.

Spain Park is led by senior quarterback Braxton Barker, who has improved with every game. He completed 22-of-34 passes for nearly 300 yards and two touchdowns against Hoover. Jalen McMillan, a senior wideout, has been on the receiving end of many Barker strikes. In the backfield, D’Arie Johnson and Jalen Henderson form a formidable 1-2 punch. This group helped spur Spain Park to a near upset of its crosstown rival, but the Jags came up just shy.

“They put their guts on the line, and that’s all you can ask as a coach,” Spain Park head coach Shawn Raney said. “When you see your kids play like that, it makes you proud, even though we came up short at the end.”

Mountain Brook also played Hoover tightly before the Bucs pulled away for a 31-21 triumph. That wasn’t the case against Thompson. The Spartans came out flat and fell in 27-0 halftime hole. Yeager called Thompson’s performance “relentless,” which is how Mountain Brook will need to play against a Spain Park squad it prevailed against last year, 23-21. Former Spartans place-kicker Mason Dillard converted a game-winning field goal with six seconds remaining to claim the dramatic victory.

Spain Park leads the teams’ all-time series, 8-5. Both Mountain Brook and Spain Park will be off next Friday.

Kyle Parmley and Steve Irvine contributed to this report.