By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director
GAYLESVILLE – The Spring Garden Panthers knew they could clinch a football region championship with a win over Gaylesville on Friday night.
It wasn’t the smoothest performance by the Panthers. They turned the ball over twice in the first half, couldn’t cash in a blocked punt deep in Trojan territory in the third quarter, and committed several uncharacteristic penalties, but Spring Garden was able to overcome all of that to earn a 27-12 victory that clinched its sixth region football title in past seven seasons.
Panther senior running back Connor Bates accounted for three scores (two rushing, one receiving) in leading Spring Garden to the win on Gaylesville’s homecoming.
“We had that (region championship) stuck in our minds. I think some of us thought about it too much,” said Bates, who led the Panther ground game with 86 yards on 13 carries. “We didn’t get off to a good start like we usually do. We kind of got frustrated with each other, but we didn’t let it fall apart.
“Championship teams usually have that game, and I think this was our game. I think we dwelled on our win over Appalachian a little bit.”
It’s the first region championship for Barrett Ragsdale as a head coach, who is now in his second season.
“That was one of our goals early in the season, and it was definitely on our minds tonight,” Ragsdale said. “Hat’s off to Gaylesville. They played a really good game. We knew coming in they were going to be physical. They do what they do well. They play physical on the offensive side of the ball and on defense. They have a good running back (in Alex Baty). Hat’s off to them, but I thought we put the ball on the ground too many times and left some points on the board. We didn’t play as clean as we’d like to play tonight.”
Things got off to a clean start for Spring Garden (8-0, 5-0 Class 1A Region 8). It took the Panthers just four plays to score, capped by Bates’ 51-yard touchdown run. Hayes Garmon’s extra point gave Spring Garden a 7-0 advantage 1:45 into the game.
But Gaylesville (3-4, 1-3) battled back on its ensuing drive. Baty scored on a 6-yard run to cap a 5-play drive. The Trojans went for 2 and the lead, but Hunter Allmond’s pass was intercepted by Jonathan Baker in the end zone to keep the score at 7-6 Panthers.
Turnovers plagued both teams the rest of the quarter. Spring Garden quarterback Noah Barber was intercepted by Trojan defender Aydn Heinrich at the Gaylesville 23-yard line.
Gaylesville gave the ball back to the Panthers four plays later on a Baty fumble recovered by John Welsh, but Bates also fumbled a play later, which was recovered by Timmy Dawson at the Trojan 32.
Both teams’ defenses continued dominating in the second quarter, but Spring Garden was able to extend its advantage with 12 seconds remaining before halftime on Barber’s 7-yard touchdown toss to Bates in the back of the end zone for a 14-6 Panther lead at halftime.
Heinrich got momentum back for the Trojans with his 75-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to open the third quarter. Baty’s run for 2 fell short, keeping the score at 14-12.
Spring Garden responded with a 5-play, 61-yard drive aided by Welsh’s 47-yard catch. Three plays later, Bates scored his third touchdown of the game on a 1-yard run. Garmon’s extra point pushed the Panther lead to 21-12 with 9:09 remaining in the third.
Spring Garden’s defense forced Gaylesville into a punting situation on its ensuing drive. The punt was blocked by Panther defender Grey Simpson. Spring Garden had excellent field position at the Trojan 6, but the Panthers were denied a touchdown by the Trojan defense.
Spring Garden put the game away with 2:53 remaining in the game on Welsh’s 7-yard touchdown run for the final.
“Our kids showed resiliency and overcame adversity,” Ragsdale said. “They got some big stops when we needed them on defense.”
“I thought our kids played their guts out tonight. We laid it on the line, and I thought we played physical for four quarters,” Gaylesville coach Brian Knapp said. “I thought we matched them for the most part. There were a few mishaps. We lost our starting center (Caden Angle), who was also our kicker, our long snapper, a defensive tackle. Our punt game suffered because of it. They blocked one and flipped the field. Those mishaps really swung the game.”
Jack Sentell led the Trojans with 81 yards on 10 carries. Allmond completed 3 of his 8 pass attempts for 41 yards. Baty, who leads the Cherokee County area in rushing, was limited to 38 yards on 14 carries with a touchdown.
Spring Garden hosts Ider for its homecoming on Friday. Even if the Panthers were to lose to Ider and Appalachian defeated Woodville and Valley Head in region play the next two weeks, Spring Garden would still win the region based on their head-to-head win over Appalachian.
Gaylesville, also still in the playoff hunt, travels to Ragland (3-4, 2-2) on Friday.
