Staff Reports

RAGLAND – There must be something about playing the Ragland Purple Devils that brings out the offense in the Spring Garden Panthers.

Spring Garden fell just a touchdown and an extra point shy of setting a new team scoring record in a high school football game Friday night. The Panthers outlasted Ragland 69-46 in Class 1A, Region 8 football action.

According to the Alabama High School Football Historical Society website (ahsfhs.org), the 69 points is the third-most points scored in a game by the Panthers. The record is 75 points, set back on Oct. 16, 2009 in a 75-0 victory over Woodville. Spring Garden also scored 72 points in a 72-42 victory over Coosa Christian back on Oct. 24, 2014.

Spring Garden and Ragland played a 52-33 contest last season, won by the Panthers. In fact, Spring Garden has scored at least 29 points in each of the last eight meetings with the Purple Devils – all Panther victories.

Friday night’s win evened the all-time series with Ragland at 14-14, and it put Spring Garden (3-2, 3-0) all alone atop the Class 1A, Region 8 standings. Ragland dropped to 2-3 overall and 2-1 in region play.

Ben Baker led the Panthers with 229 yards on 12 carries with four touchdowns (75, 10, 21, 25 yards). He also registered a pair of sacks on defense. Brady Ruark gained 226 yards on 14 carries with three scores (6, 2, 59 yards). He also had an interception on defense.

Ryder Kralka added 37 yards on 10 totes with a 4-yard touchdown. Lucas McGatha scored on a 31-yard run.

Spring Garden built a 24-7 advantage at the end of the first quarter. The Panthers led 48-23 at halftime and 60-31 after three quarters.

Spring Garden travels to Class 2A, No. 5 Pleasant Valley in a non-region battle on Friday.