By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director

SPRING GARDEN – Spring Garden senior Brady Ruark isn’t going to wow any football scouts in an eye test. He’s not a 6-foot-7, 185-pound quarterback specimen with a rocket arm.

But one thing Ruark has is confidence, and that confidence served him and the Panthers well on Friday night against South Lamar in the first round of the Class 1A state playoffs.

Ruark ran for 180 yards on 23 carries and scored a pair of touchdowns. He also returned a punt 56 yards in the second quarter which led to a Panther touchdown, but Ruark’s confidence was on full display in the third quarter. He guided the Panthers on a 17-play, 92-yard drive, in which he helped convince head coach Barrett Ragsdale to go for a fourth-and-1 at the Panthers’ own 17-yard line. The Panthers converted to keep the drive going, which was capped off by Ruark’s 9-yard touchdown run that put Spring Garden up two scores early in the fourth quarter of a 20-15 victory.

The win ended a two-game skid, but more importantly, it propelled the Panthers (6-5) on to the second round. They’ll travel to third-ranked Winterboro (11-0) next Friday night.

“We just had to kick it in gear,” Ruark said. “It’s round one. It’s win or go home. You’ve got to play your best game in the playoffs.”

“Players make plays in big games, and Brady stepped up and made some big plays tonight,” Spring Garden coach Barrett Ragsdale said. “I told him going into the fourth quarter I’m putting it on you, and he said ‘All right. Give it to me.’”

Ruark put Spring Garden in front with 1:54 to go in the first quarter on his 12-yard touchdown run. His 2-point conversion fell short, but the Panthers had momentum with a 6-0 lead.

South Lamar (5-5) tied the game on its ensuing drive on a KJ Jones 22-yard touchdown run. The extra point was no good, keeping the score tied at 6 early in the second quarter.

Ruark attempted another big play on the Panthers’ next drive inside the Stallion 10-yard line. He tossed a pass to the end zone but was intercepted by a leaping Gunner Parker to turn the ball over.

Spring Garden’s defense forced the Stallions to punt following a Cayden Thompson 7-yard sack of quarterback Kye Crimm. Ruark atoned for his interception on the return, scooping up the football and dashing 56 yards to the Stallion 8.

Three plays later, the Panthers used a bit of trickery. A halfback pass by Ben Baker found Cam Cade in the end zone. Ruark ran in on a reverse for the 2-point conversion, giving Spring Garden a 14-6 advantage with 2:11 left before halftime.

“That wasn’t even really designed to happen,” said Baker, who finished the game with 55 yards on 20 carries. “I knew I could throw it right there. It was a QB option. I looked up and saw four people (in the end zone). Out of the corner of my eye I saw Cam Cade running out. I turned around and chunked it to him. It worked.”

South Lamar received the ball to open the third quarter, but once again, Spring Garden’s defense came up with a big play. Mason Adkinson recovered a fumble to kill the Stallion drive.

That led to the Panthers’ 17-play, 92-yard drive which ate up the final 8:40 of the third quarter and another 1:02 in the fourth.

Following Ruark’s 9-yard touchdown that put the Panthers up 20-6, Parker posted a big return of his own for the Stallions down to the Panther 4-yard line, but a sideline interference penalty backed South Lamar back to the 19-yard line.

The Stallions managed to march down to the 3, but on a fourth-and-goal, Baker won a footrace with Crimm and pushed him out of bounds at the 1 with 6:48 left in the game.

“Honestly, I got scared for a second,” Baker said. “I stepped inside and realized he was gone. I thought it was a pass play, but I broke out and just had to turn on the jets to get to him. I got lucky. I just had to catch up to him.”

However, the Panthers had to punt on their ensuing drive. Ruark’s punt was blocked, giving the Stallions new life at Spring Garden’s 17-yard line.

Three plays later, Crimm carried the ball in for a touchdown. Following a successful extra point, South Lamar had cut Spring Garden’s lead to 20-13 with 3:13 remaining.

Ruark and the Panthers were able to run out the clock. On a fourth-and-12 from Spring Garden’s 41-yard line and 6.8 seconds to go, Ruark took the snap and ran all the way back to the Panther end zone for an intentional safety for the final.

“Our guys come out tonight, laid their guts on the line and played hard,” Ragsdale said. “I knew it was going to be a challenge. That’s a really good South Lamar team. They’re big and physical.

“Last week, we lost Lucas McGatha early in the game. We had to do some things tonight to get to the edge and move some people around. It was one of those things where you come into this game doing some things outside of the box.”

And now, doing some things outside of the box have gained the Panthers another week of football practice.