South Alabama Sports

          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…

  AUBURN — Most of us went back in time early Sunday morning when Daylight Savings Time ended. Auburn, too, turned the clock back to the days of Pat Dye and Shug Jordan — when defense and the kicking game were enough to win and you were seen on TV once or twice a year. Unfortunately for the Tigers, millions of people saw the weekly bleeding of a program and a coach who had no answers. The ones who showed…

    AUBURN — Most of us went back in time early Sunday morning when Daylight Savings Time ended. Auburn, too, turned the clock back to the days of Pat Dye and Shug Jordan — when defense and the kicking game were enough to win and you were seen on TV once or twice a year. Unfortunately for the Tigers, millions of people are now seeing the weekly bleeding of a program and a coach who seemingly has no answers.…

    By ROBERT LADNIER MOBILE —McGill-Toolen pieced together a 12-play drive that ate up the final 6:20 to preserve a 21-14 win over visiting Baldwin County at the Lipscomb Complex Friday night. Quarterback Blane Barre completed 12 of 20 passes for 175 yards and a touchdown and ran for 83 yards on 11 carries and another TD for the Yellow Jackets (6-4, 5-3 6A Region 1), who won five straight to close the regular season and captured the fourth…

  By BEN THOMAS FAIRHOPE — Gunner Rivers overcame three interceptions to drive St. Michael 82 yards in 12 plays in the final two minutes Thursday night and capped the march with a 3-yard touchdown pass to Nygel Mitchell with 8 seconds left for a dramatic 25-20 victory over UMS-Wright. Rivers finished 28-of-35 passing for 358 yards, including a 27-yard scoring pass to Brody Jones and a 40-yard TD to Tucker Tomlinson, who had seven catches for 149 yards. Jones had…

      SARALAND — You sometimes must strain your eyeballs through a highly magnified loupe to find any surprises from Saraland but there were a few in its 38-14 win over Theodore Friday night that awarded the Spartans their third straight region championship. Blair Evans had to punt three times and may have had to soak his size-17 foot in Epsom salts afterward. And for the briefest of moments in the third quarter, with Saraland leading 38-7, quarterback Jamison…

Staff Report MOBILE — Tate Graham completed 17 of 26 passes for 291 yards and two touchdowns and Gavin Wood scored on runs of 2 and 24 yards as Baker defeated Fairhope 35-10 to win the 7A Region 1 title Friday night. Graham’s two touchdowns covered 69 yards to Khatori Marion and 46 yards to Joshua Jones. Marion had four receptions for 139 yards and added a 2-yard touchdown run while Jones had six receptions for 86 yards as the…

      By JIMMY WIGFIELD SARALAND — For the first time all season, somebody landed a heavyweight haymaker on Saraland’s jawbone in the first quarter Friday night. But unfortunately for Theodore, it wasn’t nearly enough to take down the Spartans. Saraland spit out a little blood but was unfazed and Jamison Roberts completed 13 of 21 passes for a career-high 310 yards and two touchdowns as the No. 2-ranked Spartans blew past the Bobcats 38-14 at Spartan Stadium. Saraland…

      TUSCALOOSA — The surgeon general has determined that smoking cigars is bad for your health but perhaps the surgeon general doesn’t know how taking a puff benefits the winner of the Alabama-Tennessee game. The pungent odor of cigar smoke began to waft through Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium early in the fourth quarter Saturday night and by the time the No. 6-ranked Crimson Tide had formally dispatched the No. 11 Volunteers 37-20, it hung in the air…

  By ARTHUR L. MACK MOBILE — Todrick Withers’ 1-yard touchdown run in overtime lifted No. 2 Williamson to a 22-14 overtime win over visiting, No. 1 Vigor Friday night. In overtime, Notre Dame commit Ellis McGaskin’s 9-yard run set up Withers’ game-winning score, followed by a successful two-point conversion. On the Wolves’ possession, Sammy Dunn’s fourth-down pass was stopped short of the goal line as the Lions’ sideline erupted in celebration. “Once we went into overtime, I asked my…