By Ronnie Hagood, for The Tribune
SPRINGVILLE — Looking to rebound after a tough road loss at Fort Payne last Friday night, the Springville Tigers faced off with another set of Wildcats on Friday night. Scottsboro made its first-ever trip to Tiger Stadium in Springville for a class 6A, region 6 game.
The home standing Tigers, under the leadership of Senior quarterback, Pearson Baldwin, erupted for 35 points in the second half to defeat the Wildcats, 42-28. Baldwin, who was one of 18 seniors honored before tonight’s game, finished the night with 306 all-purpose yards and four touchdowns.
Springville took the lead late in the first quarter with a play that can be described as “trickeration” or just great play calling. Baldwin took the snap, threw a pass to Caleb McCarty who found a wide open Gage Frederick for a 40-yard touchdown strike. After the game, Baldwin had this to say of the call: “We’ve had that since before Week 1, we just haven’t had the right time to use it in the game.”
In the second quarter, Scottsboro quarterback Jacob Manning tied the game up at 7-7 with a 16-yard touchdown run. Neither team’s offense could find much traction and the teams would go to the locker rooms tied 7-7.
Coming out in the third quarter, a quick defensive stop from the Springville defense set up the Tigers offense with great field position inside the Wildcats 20-yard line. The first play from scrimmage saw Baldwin take the ball 17 yards untouched for the touchdown.
Not to be outdone, Manning found Javaris Branford for a 9-yard touchdown strike, tying the game back up at 14. With under a minute to play in the third quarter, Daniel Smith reeled in a 7-yard touchdown pass from Baldwin, reestablishing the lead for Springville, 20-14.
The fourth quarter of the game was a wild, fast paced 12 minutes of play. Scottsboro regained the lead when Manning found Kaylem Dupree from 6 yards out, giving the Wildcats their first lead of the night, 21-20.
Springville answered right back, Baldwin hit Frederick for a 40-yard touchdown pass, giving the Tigers the lead for the remainder of the night. Frederick, also a senior, finished the night with four receptions for 118 yards and two touchdowns.
“It all started in practice this week, the seniors came together wanting to change something,” said Baldwin. “We were just tired of losing” “We wanted to go out, being a 6A people think we can’t do this. We just wanted to show people we can play with these bigger guys.”
Coach Graben after picking up his third senior night win in as many years as the Tigers head coach: “Practice was much better this week, I’m proud of our seniors. We just needed one win to get over the hump.” “We challenged our kids this week, it’s just awesome.”
Springville will host another set of Wildcats next Friday night for homecoming. The Fultondale Wildcats will come to Tiger Stadium for homecoming and the last non-regional game for the Tigers this season. Fultondale, a class 4A team will come in looking for their first win of the season.
