Sparkman grinds down Buckhorn, clinches No. 2 seed
HARVEST – Now comes the waiting.
Sparkman, behind a devastating rushing attack that produced 429 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground, secured a firstround playoff bye with a dominating win Friday over visiting Buckhorn in a Class 6A, Region 4 clash.
In an unforeseen scheduling quirk, the second- seeded Senators (8-2 overall, 6-1 in the region) will now cool their heels until hosting the Vestavia Hills-Huntsville winner in the second round Nov. 13. The team is idle this week as the regular season comes to a close.
Sparkman is idle this week, followed by the firstround bye. The rushing damage against the Bucks was done by senior running backs Waylon Marbury (18 carries/233 yards/3 touchdowns) and Braylon Lawson (15/115/4) and senior quarterback/receiver Joshua Naylon 6/82/1).
Naylon and sophomore Daniel Maxtion threw just nine passes with each completing three for a combined 59 yards. Naylon Had three catches for 28 yards.
“All week we played it up as a playoff game, because it had implications on when we play again and seeding stuff,’’ Sparkman head coach Ronnie Watson said. “And, we didn’t want such a successful season to go down and at least not have the two seed.
“Our kids responded, executed well. Those big nasties up front, I mean, they did a fantastic job.’’
Meanwhile, junior defensive back Seth Johnson and sophomore linebacker Karsen White led the Senators with seven tackles apiece. Sophomore Kaden White and senior Amare Hicks both had two of the team’s 10 tackles for loss, with Kaden White collecting five of the team’s 16 quarterback hurries and Hicks recording 1.5 of the Senators five sacks.
Seniors Jaire Haynes and Kirlando Ayers both had interceptions for Sparkman, which held a 488-288 total yardage advantage. Buckhorn standout junior quarterback Parker Turley, who entered the game completed just 12-of-30 passes for 206 yards. Entering the game, he had passed for 2,265 yards with 20 TDs and six interceptions.
Watson praised the defensive staff. “I don’t think the defensive staff could have put a much better plan in place when you’re playing a quarterback like that, that’s had the season he’s had, I mean, two weeks ago he was the SI national player of the week or something.’’
Turley was voted SI’s national football Athlete of the Week Turley after completing 25-of-30 passes for 457 yards with five TDs in a 66-14 victory over Grissom on Oct. 9. He added two carries for 68 yards.
Sparkman led Buckhorn (5-4, 3-4) at the quarter breaks 14-0, 27-0 and 34-7.
The Bucks travel to Athens this week before hosting Spain Park in the first round.
