By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director

SPRING GARDEN – On Thursday afternoon, the Spring Garden volleyball team won its second straight Class 1A state title by sweeping University Charter at Bill Harris Arena in Birmingham. It was the first time in the school’s volleyball history they had ever won back-to-back state titles.

On Friday, it was the Panther football team’s turn to make a little history.

Behind a four-touchdown performance from senior tailback Connor Bates, Spring Garden blew past Ranburne 40-7 to earn its first outright 10-0 regular season.

The Panthers also went 10-0 back in 2021, but one of those victories came from a Cleveland forfeit.

“For the school and the community, it’s been a huge week,” said Bates, who ran for 86 yards on 15 carries. He also caught a pair of passes for 41 yards and had an interception on defense. “Our volleyball team goes down there (to Birmingham) and wins it again. The community came out and supported us tonight and we got the ‘W’. That’s a big achievement for us as a team, going undefeated. I’m sure the community’s proud of us too.”

It was the final regular-season contest for 12 Panther football seniors, including Bates.

“We’ve got a special group,” Bates said of his senior class. “I knew this was my last regular-season home game that I would ever play in a Spring Garden uniform, and I wanted to go out with a regular-season win. I knew I wanted to have a good game. Credit to my line. Ranburne’s very big up front and they did a heck of a job blocking”

Second-year Panther head coach Barrett Ragsdale was appropriately doused with ice following the game’s final horn. He hopes its the first of many more to come.

“It’s not even cold,” Ragsdale joked. “I will take that ice bath every time.

“I know the kids are excited, our first 10-0 season (outright). We set a lot of goals at the beginning of the season, and it feels good to see some of those come to pass. We’ve got some goals we’ve set as a team we’ve still yet to reach, but we checked some more boxes off tonight. One of those boxes was to finish undefeated. Another box is to catapult ourselves into the playoffs with some momentum. This was a game you could come in and lose some momentum we established through the season, but our kids came out here and they responded right off the bat.”

The Panthers took the opening kickoff and Bates scored his first touchdown on a 2-yard run, capping a 7-play, 62-yard drive that put Spring Garden up 6-0 early

The Panther defense stopped the Bulldogs on their opening possession, then Bates scored again on a 17-yard run. Noah Barber connected with John Welsh on the ensuing 2-point conversion, putting the Panthers in front 14-0.

Just two plays after catching the 2-point conversion, Welsh made perhaps the play of the game on defense. Ranburne rusher Curtis Daniel was stopped in his tracks on a tackle. Welsh came in to finish it off, but instead of just laying the final blow, he stripped the ball near midfield and returned it 49 yards for another Panther touchdown. With 4:14 still remaining in the first quarter, Spring Garden had built a 21-0 advantage.

Welsh said he was just doing what he was coached to do on the play.

“I think Gray (Simpson) had him wrapped up and he (Daniel) had the ball out a little bit,” Welsh said. “They say if somebody has them stood up and they’re not going anywhere, rip the ball out. I just did that and it came out good for me.

“It’s been about three weeks since we’ve actually played a full football game, and we were all hyped up. Five or six of my buddies were talking all week about how ready we were to play, and we came out here and just put on a show.”

Welsh had a similar play earlier this season, Ragsdale said.

“It was around the same spot. He stripped that ball and made a play,” Ragsdale said. “Players make plays in big games, that’s what I tell the kids all the time. That was one play early on that got us going.”

Spring Garden kept on going in the second quarter. Bates scored his third touchdown on a 3-yard run with 7:46 remaining until halftime to push the Panther lead to 27-0.

The Panthers tacked on one more touchdown before halftime on Clayton Sadler’s 4-yard run for a 33-0 lead at the break. Bates scored his final touchdown on a 1-yard run with 9:22 remaining in the game to put Spring Garden up 40-0.

On an otherwise perfect night for the Panthers, Welsh suffered a scary moment with 5:21 remaining in the third quarter.

Barber threw a pass to the end zone intended for him that was picked off by Bulldog defender Kalon Smith. Smith returned the interception to the Ranburne 45-yard line, but almost everyone’s attention on the Panther sideline was on Welsh in the end zone. He landed awkwardly on his left ankle and hobbled in pain toward the sideline.

After several minutes on the ground being tended to by a trainer, Welsh made it to the Panther bench where his ankle was placed in a bucket of ice.

Welsh and Ragsdale are both hopeful it’s just a sprain.

“It’s good,” Welsh said. “I’ve just got to do some work with it. I’ll be fine.”

“I think he’s got a mid-ankle sprain,” Ragsdale said. “We’re definitely going to have to ice it. It was just a freak play. He was uncovered and Noah recognized it. He just came down on it wrong and rolled up on it.”

Barber connected on 13 of 20 pass attempts for 184 yards. Jonathan Baker caught five passes for 58 yards. Welsh had two catches for 38.

Aiden Whitman scored Ranburne’s only touchdown on a 17-yard run with 3:09 remaining in the game. The Bulldogs finished their season at 3-7.

Spring Garden will open the Class 1A state playoffs on Friday against Victory Christian (5-4).

“Having home field advantage going into the playoffs is a big part of being able to control your own destiny and advancing hopefully to where we want to get,” Ragsdale said. “Playing in front of our fans here in maroon and gold is definitely a big advantage in the postseason.”