Spartans hold spring scrimmage

The Spartans topped Hueytown 10-0 in a spring game at Spartan Stadium on Thursday night.

The first possession by Hueytown ended abruptly as the Gophers were forced to punt following a three-and-out. Mountain Brook, led by quarterback Connor Adair, responded in a similar fashion by punting the ball following a three-and-out. The defense held its own, highlighted by a sack by linebacker Tanner Dean for a significant loss of yardage. The scoreless first quarter started out slowly for the Spartans, but the defense showed a lot of promise.

At the very start of the second quarter, the pace of the offense increased significantly. Adair completed a deep ball straight down the middle to wide receiver JP Darnall. A holding call following the completion lead to a lull in the offense's productivity, resulting in a missed field goal attempt. The defense showed their support of the offense's efforts by stuffing each run and not allowing any short passes. At the 8:00 mark before the half, a forced fumble recovered by defensive end Sam Colvin gave the offense great field position in opposing territory. Running back McKee Brown bounced off of tackles on a lengthy run, setting up a bruising touchdown run for running back Harrison Pyburn on 3rd and goal from the 1-yard line.

Following another forced punt by the defense, Mountain Brook exploited Hueytown's defense by completing two first downs on similar sideline throws by Adair to Darnall and Pyburn respectively. Another completion by Adair set up a first and goal. Mountain Brook was unable to score due to an interception in the end zone off of a naked bootleg to the left sideline. The Spartans went into halftime ahead 7-0.

The third quarter began with a lull in both offenses, partially due to the powerful front seven for the Mountain Brook defense. The efficient passing game from the first half was not as explosive for the Spartans as it was in the first half either. The scoreless third quarter ended on a sack by a swarm of Mountain Brook defenders that set up an incomplete pass on the third down and long.

Mountain Brook punted the ball at the start of the fourth quarter, but continued to put up a wall for the Hueytown offense. The defensive front set the tone with a sack for a huge loss of yardage. The secondary responded accordingly with a diving knockdown and a near interception. The offense started off on a high note and drove down the field to set up a successful 39-yard field goal by Mason Dillard to put Hueytown away for a 10-0 Mountain Brook victory.

The Spartans showed a lot of offensive consistency both passing and running, and the defense allows very little up front and puts an insurmountable amount of pressure on the quarterback in the pocket. The Spartans have a lot to look forward to in the fall once they can open up their offensive playbook more freely. There will be a lot of excitement in the air in Mountain Brook going into this fall's football season.