By Will Heath, For the Tribune
PELL CITY — How to describe Thursday night’s game between county foes Springville and Pell City, which entered the final week of the season with 1 win between them?
Springville running back Mahlon Alverson file photo.
How about record-breaking?
In earning their first win of the Steve Mask era on Thursday, the Panthers eclipsed what the Alabama Historical Football Society says is their record for points in a single game. Pell City trailed the visiting Tigers at halftime but roared back for a 70-40 victory.
The previous sentence is not a typo. Pell City 70, Springville 40.
“I feel like our season should’ve been better,” said Pell City’s Carlos Herring. “But it’s good to finish with a win.”
Herring was the engine that jump-started things for the Panthers (1-10) in the second half. With Springville leading 34-25 at the start of the third quarter, the wideout gathered in the opening kickoff of the second half and ran it back 87 yards for a touchdown.
“I told my teammates that if you’ll block for me and put their faith in me, that I’ll return it for them and get us a score,” Herring said.
Two possessions later, he gave Pell City its first lead, taking a reverse handoff and scoring from 31 yards away. Before the night was over, he added an interception that he nearly returned for a touchdown — Pell City scored 2 plays after the pick — and another kickoff return — this one from 81 yards out — that provided the record-setting point total.
“He’s the best athlete on our team,” Mask said after the game. “He’s supposed to make those plays and he did.”
The star for the Panthers on offense was quarterback Caleb Groce. The junior accounted for 387 yards rushing and throwing, as well as 4 touchdowns. In all, the Panthers finished with 571 total yards.
“It felt great,” Groce said. “Running the ball and throwing the ball. It felt great.”
As impressive, the Panthers held Springville’s (1-9) offense, which had amassed over 300 yards in the first half, to only 1 touchdown drive after halftime. That touchdown came from tailback Mahlon Alverson, his fifth of the game. Alverson finished with 203 yards on the ground.
“It was a tale of two halves tonight,” Springville head coach Jon Clements said. “I thought we played really good in the first half. But I thought in the second half, that we just lost our mojo somewhere.”
Clements’ team controlled much of the first half, getting 204 all-purpose yards from quarterback Asa Morrison. The Tigers also recovered a Pell City fumble at the 1-yard line to set up an Alverson touchdown. Groce contributed a touchdown pass and 2 touchdown runs for Pell City, along with a 10-yard run by Markise Bedford.
In all, the two teams combined for 666 yards in the first half.
“Our coach got on us during halftime, told us to come out here and don’t give up,” Herring said. “Told the other people to fight for the seniors and that’s what we did in the second half.”
Herring’s return proved to be the spark for the Panthers. They forced a Tiger fumble on their first possession, then blocked a Springville punt later in the quarter to set up a Jake Blackstone field goal.
When Bedford scored again, from 27 yards away, Pell City was in control.
“We finally played with some passion,” Mask said. “You can’t play football without passion. And finally, we played with some passion.”
Bedford finished with 121 yards and two touchdowns. Pell City also got a score from fullback Riley Surles.
“We made an attitude adjustment,” said Mask “We made a lot of attitude adjustments. That was the biggest change. We played with passion.”
Mask added that the night was record-setting in a few ways.
“I think we broke a record tonight,” he said. “But also broke a record for giving up too many points in a season. It all works out.”
Both teams will now begin preparations for the 2023 season.
“I’m still proud of our kids,” Clements said. “I’m proud of our organization. I’m proud of our town, our community.
“We’ll get this thing right.”
