Saraland roars to 55-0 victory over Murphy as Kelly gets 200th win; Robertsdale beats Bryant in OT

 

 

 

By ARTHUR L. MACK

SARALAND — Jamison Roberts was 8-of-8 passing for 133 yards and five touchdowns in less than one half and No. 2-ranked Saraland gave coach Jeff Kelly his 200^th career win as it routed Murphy 55-0 Thursday night at Spartan Stadium.

Roberts threw two touchdown passes to Sye Byrd of 3 and 9 yards, another to Leslie Nobles for 3 yards, one of 35 yards to Deshawn Spencer and one of 38 yards to Eric Scott.

Larry Edwards added a 6-yard touchdown run, Brady Cole caught a 12-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback Roman Woods and Ian Franklin scored on a 3-yard run as Saraland (8-0, 7-0 6A Region 1), which scored on eight of nine possessions, rolled to its 28^th straight regular-season win, 24^th straight region win and state-best 37th straight home win.

The Spartans can clinch their third straight region title next Friday with a win over Theodore.

Kelly, who is 200-71 in 23 years as a head coach, including 155-37 in 15 seasons at Saraland, deflected the glory of the milestone to others.

“It’s such a humbling thing,” Kelly said. “All our coaches throughout this year and throughout the years, and every player that’s come through here, put their heart and soul through this program. It’s a reflection of what our awesome our players, our coaching staff and our program has done and I’m just lucky to have the best seat in the house every Friday night.”

The Panthers (0-9, 0-7), who have been outscored 450-12, suffered their fifth straight shutout loss and had minus 23 yards rushing and minus 1 yard of total offense. Starting quarterback Bo Carson was sacked six times.

The Spartans jumped to a 27-0 first-quarter lead on Roberts’ 3-yard TD pass to Byrd and his 9-yard scoring pass to Byrd after Murphy fumbled the ensuing kickoff. The lead went to 20-0 when Roberts connected with Nobles after Saraland partially blocked a punt and 27-0 when Derick Durgan’s interception set up Spencer’s 35-yard touchdown reception from Roberts.

After Edwards’ touchdown run and Scott’s 38-yard TD catch in the second quarter, Kelly began substituting and the game went to a running clock. The second half was played with two 10-minute quarters.

 

Bryant 35 (2OT)

 

IRVINGTON — Junior quarterback Cub Jones accounted for five touchdowns as the Golden Bears edged the Hurricanes in two overtimes to snap a 34-game region losing streak and take the first 7A Region 1 victory in school history.

In the first overtime, Bryant’s Jayden James caught a 12-yard TD pass from Makai Vongsengphachanh and Robertsdale’s Micah Hardy grabbed a 10-yard scoring pass from Jones to tie it.

In the second overtime, Jones scored on a 1-yard plunge, then the Golden Bears stopped the Hurricanes for no gain on three running plays before an incomplete pass in the back of the end zone preserved the victory.

“What a feeling for this team, these coaches and this community,” Robertsdale coach Justin Jones said. “We made history tonight.”

Jones rushed for 101 yards on 11 carries and scored on runs of 1 yard and 2 yards and tossed three touchdown passes for the Golden Bears (4-5, 1-5), who had lost 22 straight region games in Class 6A and 12 straight in Class 7A before breaking the streak.