By Sean Zollner
Unable to make a 26-6 halftime lead hold up, the Sparta Bulldog football team dropped their season opener 52-32 to Dupo Friday night on the road.
The Bulldogs got on the board early and often in the first half, on their way to a commanding 26-6 lead heading into the locker room.
After fumbling the ball on the opening kickoff and giving Dupo the ball on the Sparta 40 yard line, the Bulldog defense stepped up getting a stop on their first set of downs. Freshman Isaiah Michl came up big in the series with a sack and Deunta Baker broke up a pass to get the stop. Immediately after getting the ball back, Sparta marched the ball downfield to punch in their first score picking up several big gains and first downs along the way. The drive was capped by a 15-yard Sharvell Austin touchdown run with 5 minutes 14 seconds left to go in the first quarter. Sparta missed the kick and the score was 6-0.
Dupo bounced back quickly with their first score two minutes later on a Tyler Barnes 30-yard tochdown run tying the game at 6-6 after a missed attempt at a two point conversion with 3:14 left in the first quarter.
Darius Jackson then took control of the game and put the Bulldogs on top with a 43-yard touchdown run to put Sparta on top 12-6 after a failed two-point conversion.
The Tigers had possession of the ball to start the second quarter, but not for long. The Bulldogs forced a fumble and Darreunta Baker recovered the ball to give his team possession with 10:04 to play in the first half.
Jackson didn’t waste much time getting his second touchdown of the night with a 44-yard touchdown run at the 9:52 mark. Austin punched in the two-point conversion and the Bulldogs led 20-6.
Dupo answered back and marched the ball all the way to the Sparta 18-yard line, but the Bulldog defense again came up big stopping the drive on a fourth and five attempt.
Austin got his team back toward midfield with a 25-yard gain which set up Jackson’s third touchdown of the night on a 49-yard rush. Again the kick was no good and Sparta went up 26-6.
Kyonta Fuller came up big for Sparta with an interception he returned for 20-plus yards, but the Bulldog offense would stall on Dupo’s 19-yard line giving them a 20-point lead heading into the half. New head coach Edmund Jones thought his team played well in the first half.
“I thought our defense came up big several times in the first half,” Jones said. “They had some big stops that didn’t allow Dupo to gain any momentum. I thought we were pretty sound defending the gaps and did a good job of lining up, both on offense and defense. Our gaps did get run through, but that’s a matter of strength and conditioning. We can work with that.”
After their success in the first half, things went downhill for the Bulldogs in the final two quarters. Dupo scored on a touchdown pass with 9:41 left, a run with 4:48 left and another pass with 1:54 left in the third quarter to get right back in the ballgame and tie it at 26-26 after outscoring Sparta 20-0 in the third quarter.
Then with 5:07 left in the game, the Tigers went on top with a two-yard touchdown run to make the score 32-26. Sparta wouldn’t give up, however. On their next series, Jackson took it on himself on the second play from scrimmage and fought his way 61-yards for a score to tie the game at 32 points after the two-point conversion again failed.
Dupo got the ball back with a short field after a big return as the team started its drive at Sparta’s 40-yard line. The offense quickly struck again to take the lead for good 40-32 with 3:13 left to play. The Bulldogs tried passing their way back into the game, but poor protection for Jackson at quarterback caused him to be rushed and hit several times as he was throwing, resulting in two interceptions returned for touchdowns in the remaining minutes. The Bulldogs couldn’t respond on offense and eventually fell, 52-32.
Several players had big games for Sparta with Jackson stealing the show. He rushed for 313 yards on 22 carries for 4 touchdowns. Austin had 11 carries for 70 yards and Ian Wolter had two carries for 16 yards.
On the defensive side of things, Michl led the way with eight solo tackles and five assists along with a sack. Jackson had eight solo tackles as well with two assists and two passes broken up. Fuller had three tackles and three assists with an interception and Deunta Baker had five tackles and four assists to go along with a fumble recovery. Dylan Hatley posted five tackles and three assists along with a fumble recovery as well. Luke Henley had four solo tackles and four assists.
“Anytime you lose its tough,” Jones said. “I thought our young players stepped up and played well, though. They didn’t back down. I’m trying to bring a certain mentality and being young won’t cause us to not compete. Our young players may get fooled a bit more but they will compete. Now all we can do is prep for Benton. They’re a tough prep, but we’re just going to focus on fundamentals and tryto understand what they will try to do out of different schemes. It’s going to be a tough game, they’re a very good team.”
Sparta will host the Benton Rangers at home this Friday night with a kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m. The Rangers defeated Carterville last week on the road.
