Austin runs past Senators 24-22

Austin - It started as a dreary rainy night at Decatur's Ogle Stadium but when the final horn sounded the Senators had earned a hard fought 24-14 win. The first quarter was marred by turnovers and miscues. On the fourth play of the game the Senators fumbled the ball away but on the very next playthe Senators stripped Austin and got the ball back. The sloppy play continued and three plays later the Senators turned it over again. Austin scored quickly striking a 22 yard touchdown pass putting Austin on top 7 -0 with 8:14 left in the 1st Quarter. On the Senators next possesion they moved the ball well on the ground until the drive stalled and the Senators missed a 48 yard FG attempt. After holding Austin to a 3 and out the Senators got on the board after Josh Brown blocked a punt and Blake Burns returned it 12 yards for the touchdown , game was now tied 7-7 at the 2:04 mark in the first quarter. The two teams continued their sloppy play until Austin forged a quick drive and went up 14-7 late in the second quarter on the heels of a 20 yard touchdown pass.

Sparkman's six-game region win streak ends

Lindsay Vaught, Madison Record

Sparkman's six-game region win streak dating to last season is history after Austin held on for a 24-22 win at the Senators' home field. Sparkman led 10-3 in the first quarter but a sputtering offense and big plays given up on defense allowed Austin to get back in the game. Sparkman falls to 0-2 (0-1 in Class 6A, Region 8)."We didn't block, we didn't tackle, and we made tons of mental mistakes," said head coach Roger Haynes. "There's no phase of the game where we played well in tonight."We're hurt, we don't have any depth, we got two offensive line starters out, our middle linebacker went out, our fullback went out and we don't have anybody that can step in and play at that level. We're going to continue to struggle until young guys step up.""On defense we looked good for two or three plays then we would be in position and just not make a play," Haynes added. "Both teams played hard, neither team quit, they just made plays when they had to and we didn't."Defense helped get Sparkman their first points when Adam Korak intercepted Austin's Bailey Hardwick and returned the ball to the 48-yard line.Jusman Rivers got the Senators closer with a 22-yard gain but a sack of Whit McKinney forced a field goal attempt of 40 yards by Michael Kitchens. The sophomore connected for the second time this season.Austin mounted a drive after taking over at their 43-yard line due to a short punt. Linebacker Blake Burns stuffed a run on second down and Albert Rocker batted down a pass on third down forcing a field goal by Morgan Hull to tie the game at 3-3.A Sparkman 55-yard drive was highlighted when quarterback McKinney crashed in for the game's first touchdown from two yards out and it appeared Sparkman would take a 10-3 lead into halftime.Austin looked to be running out the clock but Rod Buford broke tackles by Jerron Mitchell and Adam Korak on his way to a 71-yard run touchdown run.Early in the third quarter Rivers fumbled a punt giving Austin the ball at the 38-yard line. Buford broke free again for a 25-yard touchdown run and Austin led 17-10.Sparkman then tied the game on a 5-yard touchdown pass from McKinney to tight end Daniel Brown."We could have gotten more underneath passes to Daniel if we had high-lowed the safety. We should have called his number a lot more, but we call routes for all five receivers and the quarterback has a progression read he goes through," Haynes said.McKinney finished the game 13-31 passing with 108 yards, two interceptions and one touchdown.The Sparkman defense forced a punt when senior defensive lineman Jamal Payne, seeing his first action of the season, sacked Hardwick.McKinney then threw the first of two fourth-quarter interceptions that ultimately cost Sparkman the game."Whitney didn't have a good night reading the coverage or picking out the right receiver. He let the pressure get to him, we had open people but he was looking at the rush," Haynes said.Austin got the winning touchdown on a 22-yard pass from Hardwick to Alf Edwards. Sparkman got a 38-yard field goal from Kitchens and Austin gave up a punt safety to close out the scoring."We can come back from this," Haynes said. "This region is wide open. I think we are all fairly evenly matched."When expectations get high and you don't reach them it hurts. We will find out what we are made of next week."Middle linebacker Chris Wilson (neck sprain) and fullback Dez Richardson (ankle sprain) left the game and their status is uncertain this week.Homecoming is Friday night as Sparkman hosts Hazel Green in a region game.

4th

Passing

• #2 McKinney 12-31 108 yards 1 TD 3 Int

Punting

# 22 Jusmon Rivers- 3 punts -35,36,57.
42.7 yard average.

Rushing

• # 27 Elston 9-48
• #22 Rivers 4-36
• #36 Williams 7-24
• #37 Richardson 5-18
• #2 McKinney 10- (-15)

Receiving

• #13 J. Brown 5-57
• #80 D.Brown 2-21 TD
• #20 Deloney 1-18
• #27 Elston 1-11
• #22 Rivers 3-1

Sparkman

Austin