BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Cole Gamble had over 200 total yards and three touchdowns at the #4 Mountain Brook Spartans defeated the Parker Thundering Herd 35-6 in a Class 6A, Region 5 contest at Major Brown Memorial Stadium on Thursday night. Mountain Brook scored their first three times on offense and rolled to the region win against Parker.
Mountain Brook (6-1, 4-0) leaned on the ground game to get the win and will stay undefeated in the region. "We did an awesome job up front on running the ball," said Spartans RB Gamble. "We changed many things during our off week, and it came all together tonight. We put many reps into practice; it is just becoming second nature. The off week helped us correct some mistakes against Hoover, which paid off tonight."
Mountain Brook scored first in the game when Gamble set up the first touchdown on a long run off left tackle. Big blocks by tight end Carter Kelley and wide receiver Clark Sanderson sprung Gamble for a significant gain. With 7:58 left in the first quarter, Gamble scored on a 4-yard touchdown run, and the Spartans led 7-0 early in the game.
The offense scored again, with the Spartan's defense getting a three and out. With 3:08 left in the first quarter, quarterback John Colvin threw deep to Sanderson, who caught the long pass, broke a tackle inside the five-yard line, and scored on the play. Mountain Brook took a 14-0 lead late in the first quarter with the touchdown.
The offense scored the first three times they had the ball on offense; this time, it was another explosive play by the Spartans. With 11:50 left in the second quarter, Gamble raced 72-yards for a score. This time offensive lineman Henry Boehme and running back Jack King made the big blocks for the long touchdown run. "It was a very physical football game both ways," said Spartans head coach Chris Yeager. "I like the early explosive plays that we had. The three running backs did a great job. We have to have 48 minutes of clean football. We have room to grow, but we have made some progress over the past few weeks."
Right before halftime, the Spartan's offense was on the move again. With 2:31 left in the second quarter, Gamble scored again on a 6-yard touchdown run to give Mountain Brook a 28-0 lead. With the score, the Spartans took a 28-0 lead and did a great job limiting Kentucky commitment running back Khalifa Keith for much of the game. "The defense plays in packs and travel in packs to the ball," said Yeager. "They get there together. Their running seems are small. They played gritty defense, and I was proud of them for that."
Both defenses were solid in the third quarter, keeping both offenses from scoring. With 10:46 left in the fourth quarter, defensive back turned quarterback Na'eem Offord kept the ball and raced around left end for an 80-yard touchdown run to put Parker (4-4, 2-3) on the scoreboard but still trailed 28-6 in the game.
With 3:06 left in the game, running back Will Waldrop scored on a 1-yard touchdown run following the blocks of lineman William Courtenay and Davis Peterson. With the touchdown, the Spartans led 35-6.
Next, Mountain Brook will travel to Mortimer Jordan while Parker will travel to Minor in a big region game.
