Staff Reports

SPRING GARDEN – Spring Garden senior Chapel Pope turned in an all-around performance against Ragland, helping the Panthers earn a 42-27 victory and clinch a home playoff game in Class 1A, Region 6 football action on Friday night.

Pope ran for 91 yards on 16 carries with two touchdowns. He also completed 3-of-4 pass attempts for 67 yards, and had three catches for 51 yards.

On defense, Pope had an interception and a fumble recovery.

Noah Barber was also 5-of-10 passing for 130 yards and two touchdowns. John Welsh caught four passes for 139 yards and two touchdowns. He also had three tackles and an interception on defense.

Welsh put the Panthers (8-2, 5-1) out in front 7-0 with his 74-yard touchdown run with 4:11 remaining in the first half.

Ragland (6-4, 4-2) tied the game at 7 with less than two minutes to go, but Welsh caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from Barber just before the half ended to put the Panthers in front 14-7.

Pope scored the first of his two touchdowns in the third quarter on a 31-yard run to push the Panther lead to 21-7. He added a 4-yard run later in the quarter to give Spring Garden a 28-13 advantage after three quarters.

Connor Bates and Welsh closed out Spring Garden’s scoring in the fourth quarter on runs of 6 and 51 yards respectively. Bates, who had 34 yards on eight carries, also had nine tackles on defense.

Zane Edwards posted six stops for the Panthers. Jacob Welsh and Colton Driskell both finished with five tackles.

Spring Garden will host Coosa Christian on Nov. 10 to open the Class 1A state playoffs. The two teams met in the second round last year, with the Conquerors claiming a 31-28 victory. Coosa Christian had to forfeit its regular season game with the Panthers back on Sept. 1 of this season due to the use of ineligible players.