Special teams are just that for Sparkman in victory

Published: Friday, September 03, 2010, 11:02 PM     Updated: Friday, September 03, 2010, 11:09 PM

HUNTSVILLE, AL - Thirteen seconds.
That's how long Grissom had the lead against Sparkman on Friday night at Milton Frank Stadium.
It's also about how long it took Blake Chapman to give it back to the Senators.
The sophomore's 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown followed a 43-yard field goal by the Tigers' Daniel Horton a little more than six minutes into the game. It set off a chain of events that saw Sparkman score twice more in the first quarter on its way to a 38-17 Class 6A, Region 8 victory.
"It was like deja vu," said the 5-foot-9, 150-pound Chapman, who returned a kickoff for a score in last week's opener against Cullman. "It was like a funnel. Then everything just opened up for me."
The Senators (1-1, 1-1) didn't exactly open the game the way they'd drawn it up on the blackboard. A muffed backfield exchange on their third play from scrimmage led to a fumble that Grissom defensive lineman Olakunle Salako recovered at the Sparkman 23.
The Senators actually sent the Tigers (1-1, 1-1) backward from there - "That was a big lift for us to stop them," Sparkman coach Roger Haynes added later - and forced the field goal.
Moments later, Chapman raced untouched on his personal 100-yard dash.
"He did a great job, but he also had some help from his teammates," Haynes said. "He had a big hole to run through."
The gap, and momentum, created by the return increased threefold by the end of the quarter.
The Senators raced 79 yards on only six plays on their second possession, which began with a bruising 34-yard catch-and-run by tailback Laquince Love and ended with a 26-yard touchdown pass from Grant Banks to Tyron Harris. Two plays after Grissom fumbled the ensuing kickoff, Love scored on a 2-yard run for a 21-3 lead.
"We gave up that touchdown on a kickoff and had that fumble," Tigers coach Keith Henderson said. "Our kids never quit (but) mistakes on special teams just killed us early. It was tough for us to recover."
It looked as though Grissom might salvage something early in the second quarter as it drove to the Sparkman 30. But the Senators put a stop to that, forcing another fumble and recovering near midfield. Love's 39-yard rumble set up his second 2-yard TD.
Just for good measure, Sparkman blocked a Horton field goal in the waning seconds of the half as it took a 28-3 lead into the locker room.
"We do (special teams) first every day, for about 25-30 minutes," Haynes said. "My assistants do a great job and our kids have bought into the notion that special teams can make the difference in a ballgame."
Love added a third score late in the third quarter on a 26-yard reception from Banks. Grissom got its two TDs in the final eight minutes, one on a fumble recovery in the end zone by Mark McCrae and another on a 15-yard pass from Thomas Hill to Casden Binns.

This file was created with Fixed It! Football ScoreBook on 9/06/2010 at 16:22:52