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Photo by Todd Lester
Mountain Brook TE Crawford Golden (9) runs for a touchdown during a game between Mountain Brook and Spain Park on Friday, Sept. 13, 2019, at Jaguar Stadium in Hoover.
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Mountain Brook RB Michael Brogan (32) during a game between Mountain Brook and Spain Park on Friday, Sept. 13, 2019, at Jaguar Stadium in Hoover.
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Mountain Brook DB Will Yarbro (25) during a game between Mountain Brook and Spain Park on Friday, Sept. 13, 2019, at Jaguar Stadium in Hoover.
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Mountain Brook DB Will Yarbro (25) and Mountain Brook LB Clark Griffin (40) tackle Spain Park TE Jacob Jenkins (4) during a game between Mountain Brook and Spain Park on Friday, Sept. 13, 2019, at Jaguar Stadium in Hoover.
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Spain Park LB Zach Rushing (20) and Mountain Brook WR Paulson Wright (1) battle to catch a pass during a game between Mountain Brook and Spain Park on Friday, Sept. 13, 2019, at Jaguar Stadium in Hoover.
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Mountain Brook RB Sam Higgins (21) during a game between Mountain Brook and Spain Park on Friday, Sept. 13, 2019, at Jaguar Stadium in Hoover.
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Spain Park WR Michael Ogletree (1) makes a catch against Mountain Brook DB Rhyne Hogue (38) during a game between Mountain Brook and Spain Park on Friday, Sept. 13, 2019, at Jaguar Stadium in Hoover.
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Mountain Brook WR Paulson Wright (1) catches a long pass during a game between Mountain Brook and Spain Park on Friday, Sept. 13, 2019, at Jaguar Stadium in Hoover.
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Mountain Brook cheerleader during a game between Mountain Brook and Spain Park on Friday, Sept. 13, 2019, at Jaguar Stadium in Hoover.
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Mountain Brook DB Will Yarbro (25) and Mountain Brook DB Blake Pugh (2) defend a pass during a game between Mountain Brook and Spain Park on Friday, Sept. 13, 2019, at Jaguar Stadium in Hoover.
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Mountain Brook band members during a game between Mountain Brook and Spain Park on Friday, Sept. 13, 2019, at Jaguar Stadium in Hoover.
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Spain Park DB Braden Brock (31) tackles Mountain Brook QB Strother Gibbs (12) during a game between Mountain Brook and Spain Park on Friday, Sept. 13, 2019, at Jaguar Stadium in Hoover.
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Mountain Brook QB Strother Gibbs (12) runs the football during a game between Mountain Brook and Spain Park on Friday, Sept. 13, 2019, at Jaguar Stadium in Hoover.
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Mountain Brook DL Rob Gunn (61) pressures Spain Park QB Harrison Barker (7) during a game between Mountain Brook and Spain Park on Friday, Sept. 13, 2019, at Jaguar Stadium in Hoover.
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Mountain Brook DB Blake Pugh (2) intercepts a pass during a game between Mountain Brook and Spain Park on Friday, Sept. 13, 2019, at Jaguar Stadium in Hoover.
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Mountain Brook TE Crawford Golden (9) runs for a touchdown during a game between Mountain Brook and Spain Park on Friday, Sept. 13, 2019, at Jaguar Stadium in Hoover.
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Mountain Brook RB Sam Higgins (21) runs for a touchdown during a game between Mountain Brook and Spain Park on Friday, Sept. 13, 2019, at Jaguar Stadium in Hoover.
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Mountain Brook LB Clark Griffin (40) looks to tackle Spain Park QB Harrison Barker (7) during a game between Mountain Brook and Spain Park on Friday, Sept. 13, 2019, at Jaguar Stadium in Hoover.
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Mountain Brook LB Clark Griffin (40) tackles Spain Park QB Harrison Barker (7) during a game between Mountain Brook and Spain Park on Friday, Sept. 13, 2019, at Jaguar Stadium in Hoover.
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Mountain Brook LB Clark Griffin (40) breaks up a reception by Spain Park TE Jacob Jenkins (4) during a game between Mountain Brook and Spain Park on Friday, Sept. 13, 2019, at Jaguar Stadium in Hoover.
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Mountain Brook QB Strother Gibbs (12) during a game between Mountain Brook and Spain Park on Friday, Sept. 13, 2019, at Jaguar Stadium in Hoover.
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Mountain Brook DB Rhyne Hogue (38) attempts to stop Spain Park DB Michael Ogletree (1) from scoring a touchdown during a game between Mountain Brook and Spain Park on Friday, Sept. 13, 2019, at Jaguar Stadium in Hoover.
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Mountain Brook QB Strother Gibbs (12) runs for a touchdown during a game between Mountain Brook and Spain Park on Friday, Sept. 13, 2019, at Jaguar Stadium in Hoover.
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Mountain Brook cheerleaders during a game between Mountain Brook and Spain Park on Friday, Sept. 13, 2019, at Jaguar Stadium in Hoover.
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Spain Park WR David Moultry (2) battles Mountain Brook DB Blake Pugh (2) on a touchdown reception during a game between Mountain Brook and Spain Park on Friday, Sept. 13, 2019, at Jaguar Stadium in Hoover.
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Mountain Brook DB Blake Pugh (2) tackles Spain Park WR David Moultry (2O) during a game between Mountain Brook and Spain Park on Friday, Sept. 13, 2019, at Jaguar Stadium in Hoover.
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Mountain Brook LB John McKimmon (37) pressures Spain Park QB Harrison Barker (7) during a game between Mountain Brook and Spain Park on Friday, Sept. 13, 2019, at Jaguar Stadium in Hoover.
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Mountain Brook QB Strother Gibbs (12) tries to escape pressure during a game between Mountain Brook and Spain Park on Friday, Sept. 13, 2019, at Jaguar Stadium in Hoover.
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Mountain Brook takes the field during a game between Mountain Brook and Spain Park on Friday, Sept. 13, 2019, at Jaguar Stadium in Hoover.
HOOVER -- The Mountain Brook High School football team marched behind its offensive leaders, quarterback Strother Gibbs and running back Sam Higgins, en route to a 49-35 victory at Class 7A, Region 3 foe Spain Park on Friday night.
Gibbs ran for four touchdowns and 121 yards on 19 carries. He also completed 9-of-11 passes for 183 yards and two more scores.
Higgins scored the seventh touchdown and gained 116 yards on 18 rushes. The two players accounted for all but 36 of the Spartans’ yards.
Things didn’t start out badly at all for the Jaguars, who held an early 14-7 lead in the first quarter thanks to a touchdown pass from Harrison Barker to David Moultry, followed by a Barker 1-yard run that was set up by two passes for 46 yards.
But Mountain Brook soon took command. Gibbs threw a 20-yard scoring toss to Paulson Wright and then strung together a pair of short-yardage plunges for scores.
After the Jaguars turned the ball over on downs deep in their own territory, Higgins took the ball on two straight runs through a porous defense, finding the end zone on a 21-yard dash early in the fourth quarter.
Spain Park tried to claw its way back from a four-TD deficit in the fourth quarter, with Barker finding Moultry for a 20-yard strike and Michael Callens for a 5-yarder late.
Barker was called on to fire up the aerial attack early and often, and responded with 28 completions on 45 pass attempts for 359 yards. The son of former Alabama quarterback Jay Barker did his best to keep up the family tradition, as he has in all of the Jaguars’ games this season. But his receivers also dropped six catchable passes, and the Spartans defense kept the pressure on Barker from the beginning.
Mountain Brook coach Chris Yeager was impressed with Gibbs, but also had praise for tight end Crawford Golden, who had one touchdown reception plus a 52-yard catch that set the table for a Gibbs score in the third quarter.
“That was one of the key plays of the game for us,” Yeager said. “Crawford had a great night. But Strother had a complete game, too.”
Golden tallied 82 yards on three receptions, while Wright caught four passes for 81 yards.
Moultry finished with 127 yards receiving on 10 catches for the Jags. Cooper Kelley gained 93 yards on six receptions. Callens rushed for 75 yards on 19 carries.
For Spain Park (1-3, 0-2 in region), the problem lies yet again in a very young defense that simply lacks experience against the toughest offenses in the state, leaving Barker’s offense to pick up the slack.
“They’re young, and Mountain Brook just picked up on that tonight,” Jags coach Shawn Ramey said afterward. “Defensively we’re just not good right now. We just need more experience.”
Mountain Brook runs its record to 4-0 and 2-0 in the region, but takes on a resurgent Vestavia Hills team on the road next week. Spain Park’s journey doesn’t get any easier, as it travels to Hewitt-Trussville.
Click here to purchase photos from the game.
