Playing just four days after the tragic death of their head coach Phil Watson, the Sparta Bulldogs finished off the season at 0-8 with a 39-0 loss to Red Bud Friday night.
“After losing to Columbia last week, the guys were focused at practice and came out and played a fantastic game,” said Red Bud coach Dave Lucht. “I didn’t really know what to expect from Sparta. They had an extremely emotional week and the fact they came out and played hard should be applauded.”
“Obviously it was an extremely tough and emotional week for everyone in Sparta,” said coach Will Weatherford. “It was hard to stay focused but we got great support from the school, the administration, and the community. The only way to get past a crisis like this is by getting quality support. Give the kids credit, they padded up and played a hard game tonight. They are the foundation of this program.”
Sparta couldn’t find any rhythm offensively as it took the team six possessions to gain its first first-down of the game nearly midway through the second quarter.
The Bulldogs nearly scored the game’s first points on defense as a high snap went over the Red Bud punter’s head. The ball was scooped up by Sparta and returned for a touchdown, but a referee ruled the ball down and Sparta instead took over possession from the Red Bud 35-yard line.
The good field position couldn’t jump start the Bulldogs’ offense as the team turned the ball over on downs after just four plays.
The Musketeers took over possession and mounted a seven-play 70-yard drive that resulted in a two-yard touchdown run by junior Tyler Hubert to claim the lead for good. Hubert carried the ball six times for 58 yards on the drive as his team went up 7-0 with 47.5 seconds left in the opening quarter.
Red Bud would go on to score on all four of its possessions in the second quarter to pull away for a  32-0 lead at the break.
Red Bud’s next score was set up by an interception from senior Tyler Magruder. After the turnover, Hubert carried the ball three times for 30 yards which included a one-yard touchdown run as the Musketeers went up 14-0, with 9:56 left, in the second quarter.
After a short punt by Sparta, Red Bud began its next scoring drive from the Sparta 23-yard line. Following a five-yard penalty against Sparta, Alex Phegley put the Musketeers up 20-0 with an 18-yard touchdown run.
Sparta gained its first first-down of the game on its next drive as Darius Jackson scrambled for a gain of 17 yards on second down. However, a short run, an incomplete pass and a quarterback sack forced the Dawgs to punt the ball away once again.
Red Bud pushed its lead to 26-0 after Zach Seibold connected with Kevin Crafton for a 31-yard touchdown pass with 3:27 left in the opening half.
The Bulldogs notched their second first-down of the game on their next drive, as Zach Ferguson ran for gains of four and two yards and Jackson completed a four-yard pass to London Oliver.
The drive was ended two plays later when Crafton picked off a pass from Jackson to give the ball back to the Red Bud offense.
The Musketeers moved the ball 57 yards behind a 12-yard pass from Seibold to Magruder, a 20-yard run by Hubert and a 25-yard touchdown pass from Seibold to Phegley, to go up 32-0 at the break.
Seibold wrapped up the game’s scoring with a one-yard touchdown plunge with 5:34 left in the third quarter.
The Musketeers finished with  336 yards of total offense with 251 of that coming from the ground.
Hubert led the way with 125 yards on 13 carries, while Alex Craig added 77 yards on 10 rushes.
Seibold completed 7-of-12 passes for 85 yards with two touchdowns as the Musketeers ended the regular season at 8-1.
Sparta finished with 81 yards of total offense as Jackson finished with 34 yards rushing on seven carries.