Saraland’s Dillon Alfred races into the end zone for one of his three first-half touchdowns in Friday night’s 42-17 win over Spanish Fort in Saraland. Alfred had 10 catches for 171 yards. (Todd Stacey/Call News)
Saraland quarterback K.J. Lacey hurls a pass during Friday night’s 42-17 win over Spanish Fort. Lacey, who was 16-of-23 passing for 191 yards and three touchdowns, got his knee twisted in the third quarter but could have returned to the game if needed. (Todd Stacey/Call News)
Saraland noseguard Antonio Coleman signals he just ate up a Spanish Fort ballcarrier in Friday night’s 42-17 Spartans win. (Todd Stacey/Call News)
Saraland coach Jeff Kelly watches his Spartans take their fourth straight win over Spanish Fort Friday night. (Todd Stacey/Call News)
By JIMMY WIGFIELD
SARALAND — Nobody can have their palms read if they’re wearing gloves but Saraland receiver Dillon Alfred made it easy to foretell what was going to happen whenever the ball was thrown his way Friday night.
Wearing a pair of powder-blue Ole Miss gloves, Alfred — a four-star wideout who has committed to Lane Kiffin and the Rebels — interpreted Spanish Fort’s defense with ease and enjoyed his best game with the Spartans, snaring 10 passes for 171 yards and three first-half touchdowns to lead No. 1-ranked Saraland to a 42-17 rout of the No. 10-ranked Toros.
Alfred caught TD passes of 60, 7 and 10 yards from quarterback K.J. Lacey to help the Spartans to a 28-10 halftime lead.
“I just made plays,” Alfred said after autographing a cap for some young fans afterward, his trusty gloves tucked in his pants. “I’ve been working hard for this.”
Other than Alfred’s breakout performance and Saraland’s fourth straight victory over Spanish Fort — it was the second straight year the Spartans cannibalized the Toros early — the most momentous development centered on Saraland’s bench in the fourth quarter, where Lacey was propped up with ice wrapped around his left knee.
Lacey, the four-star Texas commitment and one of the nation’s top quarterbacks, got his knee twisted when he was sacked late in the third quarter but said he could have gone back in if needed.
With the Spartans leading 35-17 at the time of the injury, there was no need to keep Lacey on the field.
“We were real cautious,” Saraland coach Jeff Kelly said. “He probably could have went back in but the way the game was, we thought it was smart to keep him out.”
The Spartans (4-0, 3-0 6A Region 1) dominated Spanish Fort (3-1, 2-1) for the second straight year on the way to their 28th consecutive home victory, the longest streak in the state.
Last year, Saraland led 42-0 at halftime, in part due to two blocked punts for touchdowns, and won 49-7. On Friday night, the Toros’ rickety kicking game was still an open wound.
Late in the first quarter, Spanish Fort, already trailing 14-3, watched Tucker Singleton’s pooched kickoff tumble to the ground, where the Spartans’ Justin Dickinson smothered it at the Toros’ 30. Six plays later, Lacey found Alfred on a 10-yard TD pass for a 21-3 lead.
On Spanish Fort’s first series of the second half, Newton Gardner tried to get off a punt after a high snap, Saraland’s Houston Owens swatted it down and Jaxon Roberts recovered at the Toros’ 9. Santae McWilliams scored from the 1 two plays later and it was 34-10.
“We can’t give a team like that a possession,” a disgusted Spanish Fort coach Chase Smith said. “That’s on me.”
But even if a perfect kicking game had subtracted two Spartans touchdowns, it still would have been a convincing victory given the fact Saraland outgained the Toros 308 yards to 163 and held them to 114 yards rushing. In the first quarter, the Spartans had an overwhelming 149-19 advantage in total offensive yardage.
Kelly didn’t hide his happiness with another commanding win over Spanish Fort, which at one point was the bane of his existence. The Toros remain the only regular opponent on Saraland’s schedule to have a winning record over the Spartans, who now trail in the series 8-6.
“Yes,” Kelly said with a wide grin when asked if outscoring the Toros 91-24 the last two years is satisfying. “Anytime you play a good team and have success … the guys executed well.”
And no one executed better than Alfred, who came into the game with 15 catches for 232 yards and four touchdowns.
“He was running his routes right and getting open,” said Lacey, who was 16-of-23 passing for 191 yards and is now just four touchdown passes away from 100 in his high school career.
C.D. Gill had been the most productive receiver through the first three weeks but Alfred reminded future Saraland opponents that they can’t stop both of them.
“It’s whoever the play comes to,” Alfred said. “We’re out here playing football.”
The 60-yarder came on the game’s third play with Spanish Fort’s safety shaded to the other side of the field, giving Alfred a clear path for Lacey’s slant.
“I knew that was a touchdown the way they lined up on me,” Alfred said.
He followed with a 7-yard TD fade over Tykwon Thomas late in the first quarter.
“It was just one on one and I’ve got to win that,” Alfred said.
The 10-yarder came on a new play in the middle of the end zone early in the second quarter.
“We’ve been working on that this week,” Alfred said. “I saw it and it was wide open.”
Kelly said Alfred got single-high coverage early in the game and abused it.
“It put him in one-on-one situations,” Kelly said. “He made the play on the fade and got in the middle. We’ve been working on that.”
The Spartans will likely keep refining it.
“We felt we could attack the middle and we were one of four on that,” Kelly said. “The touchdown was the one time it worked.”
Alfred also sucked in a high slant from backup quarterback Jamison Roberts in the fourth quarter and raced 46 yards to set up the third and last of McWilliams’ short TD runs. McWilliams scored from 1, 1 and 3 yards out and had 86 yards on 19 carries.
Kelly said his team can’t spend much time enjoying the lopsided win.
“We’re in the meat of our schedule,” he said. “It’s a marathon. It’s a good win and we’re excited. We’re going to enjoy it for a day. There’s no rest for the weary in this region.”
The victory continued some other impressive streaks for Saraland, which has won 12 straight region games, 15 straight regular-season games, scored at least 30 points in 15 straight games and has won 31 straight games in September. They’re also 108-2 when scoring 30-plus points and 42-3 since starting 0-2 in 2021.
