Saraland rallies for 35-31 victory; Leroy whips Linden to set up McKenzie showdown

SARALAND — Second-ranked Saraland scored on three of its first four possessions of the second half to rally for a 35-31 win over visiting No. 8-ranked Spain Park in the second round of the Class 6A playoffs at Spartan Stadium Friday night.

Quarterback Jamison Roberts put the Spartans ahead for good on a 1-yard run with 4:35 remaining to send Saraland (11-0) into the Class 6A quarterfinals next Friday at Pike Road.

Roberts ran for a 12-yard touchdown and threw a 12-yard scoring pass to Deshawn Spencer to give the Spartans a 14-0 lead in the first quarter.

William Hoffman booted a 26-yard field goal, then Brock Bradley threw a 79-yard touchdown pass to Barrett Price and a 27-yard toss to Connor Greb as the Jaguars took a 17-14 halftime lead.

But in the third quarter, Roberts raced 52 yards for a TD and threw a 3-yard score to Sye Byrd for Saraland, while Bradley fired an 18-yard touchdown to Xander McClure as the Spartans held a 28-24 lead going into the fourth quarter.

Spain Park went ahead 31-28 on Bradley’s 6-yard score to Price with 8:12 to play but the Spartans took the lead for good on Roberts’ 1-yard run with 4½ minutes left.

L.J. Nobles sacked Bradley on back-to-back plays to force a turnover on downs, allowing Saraland to run out the final 2:01.

 

Leroy 40,

Linden 22

 

 

LEROY —  Jace Sellers tossed four touchdown passes to lead the No. 3-ranked Bears to a romp in the second round of the Class 1A playoffs.

Sellers tossed four first–half TD passes to Josh Reed for 68 yards, Gabe Posey for 35 yards, Jacory Yelder for 33 yards and Ja’ Kavien Collins for 49 yards. 

Collins, who opened the game with a TD runs of 48 and 11 yards, ran for 101 yards on eight carries. 

Linden scored three second–half touchdowns on a running clock after trailing 40-0 at the half.

“The explosive plays in the first half were the difference,” said Leroy coach Chan Lowe, whose 12-0 team  visits No. 2 McKenzie (12-0) in the quarterfinals. “The chunk plays on offense allowed us to control the game and rest some guys. We didn’t play a single starter in the second half.”

The Bears improved to 49-3 since the 2022 season, with 45 coming by double digits.

— John Vella