Saraland’s P.J. Brown scores on a 9-yard run in the first quarter against Wetumpka Friday night. Brown had 128 yards on 10 carries in the Spartans’ 49-24 win. (Todd Stacey/Call News)
Saraland linebacker Brayden Clifton intercepts a pass from Wetumpka quarterback Charles Skipper on a fake field goal in the second quarter Friday night. The Indians tried two fake field goals and Skipper was picked off three times, with A.J. Martin grabbing the other two. (Todd Stacey/Call News)
Saraland quarterback Jamison Roberts powers through a snarl of bodies to score on a 2-yard run in the second quarter against Wetumpka. (Todd Stacey/Call News)
Saraland’s Pat Buford (90) puts pressure on Wetumpa quarterback Charles Skipper Friday night. Skipper was sacked five times and threw three interceptions.
By JIMMY WIGFIELD
SARALAND — Saraland didn’t resemble a playoff team in the first few moments Friday night, much less a team that is aiming for its fourth straight Super 7.
Quarterback Jamison Roberts fell on a fumbled snap and lost six yards on the second play. He threw an incompletion on the third. Even the punt on the rare three-and-out was stained by a false start.
In the meantime, Wetumpka quarterback Charles Skipper was doing his best imitation of Diego Pavia while the Indians threw the kitchen sink, the garbage disposal and the pantry at the Spartans on the way to a 10-0 lead — putting Saraland behind for only the third time this season.
But there was no need for a siren in the night or a code blue. Coach Jeff Kelly calmly handed Roberts a scalpel and he set about cutting Wetumpka’s heart out.
Roberts completed 16 of 20 passes for 277 yards and two touchdowns and ran for two more as No. 2-ranked Saraland shrugged off the early deficit to rout the Indians 49-24 in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs.
“We were knocking the rust off, to be honest,” said Roberts, who also scored on runs of 2 and 19 yards. “We hadn’t played in two weeks and they came out swinging.”
Roberts — who has the highest quarterback rating (143) among Class 6A starters — came out throwing, as usual, and was on target, as usual. In the first half, he completed eight straight throws, including an 85-yard TD to Deshawn Spencer on a stop-and-go, then had a deep pass broken up, then completed seven in a row, including a 35-yarder to Spencer on the last play of the first half to finish an 88-yard drive that used only 1:11 and make it 35-10 at halftime. But Roberts also threw his first interception in 147 attempts on a slant route in the fourth quarter before Kelly holstered him for the evening.
“It was just a matter of time before we let our preparation take over,” said Roberts, who has passed for 2,178 yards and 26 touchdowns. “Coach Kelly always says take their will away, take their hope away, whenever you can and you do that by constantly punching them in the mouth and not letting up because if you get punched in the mouth multiple times over and over again, it’s a human tendency just to shy back and say you don’t want it no more.”
The Spartans (10-0) will host No. 8 Spain Park (9-2) in the second round after improving to 9-1 in home first-round games.
Roberts — who has accounted for 48 touchdowns in his first 12 varsity starts — had some big-play accomplices in Saraland’s state-leading 39th straight home victory.
Besides Spencer, P.J. Brown punctured Wetumpka for 128 yards on 10 carries, including scoring runs of 56 and 9 yards.
“Ain’t no team in the playoffs for no reason,” Spencer said. “We just had to put our foot down and just really work harder than they were working.”
The Indians (6-5) shocked the Spartans by taking a 10-0 first-quarter lead on running back Jordan Hill’s 38-yard TD pass to tight end John Wingard on a trick play and Cyrus Bullock’s 44-yard field goal after Wetumpka had faked a field goal, the first of two it tried.
“It’s the playoffs,” linebacker Jakari Harris said. “It’s win or go home. Everybody’s going to throw everything at us because everybody wants to win and get a Blue Map.”
Saraland then scored on seven straight possessions to take its third straight lopsided first-round win over the Indians and improve to 90-0 all-time when scoring at least 40 points.
“Our guys have confidence that they can go score, so they’re not worried about 10 points,” Kelly said. “Ten points ain’t gonna beat us. We just kept playing one play at a time. Our guys didn’t flinch. They just kept playing and we settled in and made some good plays on both sides of the ball. It was a gutsy win. It was a tough win. That’s what November football is all about.”
Wetumpka quarterback Charles Skipper was 17-of-29 passing for 187 yards and two TDs in the fourth quarter on passes of 7 yards to Wingard and 5 yards to Hill after a botched Spartans punt.
“We put together the best that we could,” Indians coach Bear Woods said. “We came out firing with everything we had. I’m really proud of the second half, that the effort and everything was still there. They didn’t lay down.”
Woods isn’t sure any lead is safe against Saraland, which finished with 547 yards of total offense.
“Saraland just doesn’t have negative plays,” said Woods, whose teams have lost to the Spartans 37-7, 48-14 and 49-24 the last three times they have met in the first round. “I mean, they just systematically execute. They have athletes in space that can just score at any point in the game, so you’re always on your heels just knowing that’s a possibility.
“You can’t make any pre-snap mistakes against them. We had a couple and it was just hard to endure. They have really good players coached by a good coaching staff. They take care of the football. They score 40 a game and only give up six for a reason. They spread you out and then you have a quarterback who makes good decisions. You’re covering a lot of guys who can score at any point in the game. And their offensive line did a tremendous job.”
Spencer and Brown exemplified Woods’ quandary.
Spencer had 169 yards on six catches — even converting a third-and-17 with a 33-yard catch from Roberts while digging into the middle — and also had a 48-yard kickoff return to open the second half and set up his 19-yard touchdown run.
“That’s not good to start off trailing but we’ve got faith in our team,” Spencer said. “We know everybody can ball up and make big plays.”
Brown had his best game of the season and broke a 56-yard TD run by sharply jutting upfield around left end in the first quarter to cut the lead to 10-7. If Brown continues to be as productive on the ground, the balance he would bring to the offense in the postseason might help put a second Blue Map in Saraland’s trophy case.
“We do what we’re supposed to do and it’s just going to work out the right way,” Brown said. “We’re going to be in the state championship (game) like we want to.”
The most significant play of the game might have also come on the ground but it didn’t come from Roberts, Spencer or Brown. With the Spartans leading 14-10 in the second quarter and backed up on their 1-yard line, pads popped as Harris broke cleanly off left tackle and sprinted 58 yards. Seven plays later, Roberts scooped up a fumbled snap and scored from 2 yards out for a 21-10 lead.
“I saw the hole and it opened up like the Red Sea and I hit it,” said Harris, who starts at linebacker and is one of the team’s leading tacklers. “We had amazing blocks up front, even my receivers outside. It was perfect execution.”
