Staff Reports
WOODVILLE – The Woodville Panthers defeated Spring Garden for the first time on the football field and improved to 3-1 on the season Friday night by earning a 41-26 victory in Class 1A, Region 8 action.
The win snapped Woodville’s 13-game losing streak to No. 9 Spring Garden. It was also Woodville’s first victory over a ranked opponent.
Kaden Franklin and Jonah Sparks finished with four touchdowns apiece, with Franklin throwing for three and running for one. Sparks caught two touchdowns and ran for another pair.
Brady Ruark led Spring Garden (2-2, 1-1) with 154 yards on 29 carries. He was also 7-of-13 passing for 74 yards and a touchdown.
Ben Baker ran for 70 yards on 19 carries with two touchdowns. He also caught four passes for 47 yards and a score.
Bryant Williams tallied eight tackles to lead Spring Garden’s defense. Hayes Guthrie had six stops and Zane Edwards finished with five tackles.
Woodville, now 2-0 in region play, took a 13-0 lead early in the second quarter on a pair of touchdown passes. Spring Garden scored with just under three minutes remaining in the first half on Ben Baker’s 4-yard run. The 2-point try was no good, keeping the score at 13-6 at halftime.
Woodville opened the third quarter with another touchdown to increase its lead to 19-6, but Baker brought Spring Garden back within a score with a 31-yard touchdown catch. Ruark connected with Edwards for the ensuing 2-point conversion pass, trimming Spring Garden’s deficit to 19-14 with 7:31 remaining in the third quarter.
Woodville battled back with another score to make it 25-14, but Spring Garden managed to tighten the game again at 25-20 just before the end of the third quarter on Baker’s 5-yard touchdown run.
Woodville went up 31-20 with another touchdown early in the fourth quarter. Spring Garden countered with Edwards’ 8-yard score with 7:29 left in the game to trim its deficit to 31-26.
Woodville put the game away with a touchdown with 3:38 remaining for the final.
Spring Garden hosts Valley Head on Friday while Woodville is at Ragland.
Comments are closed.