By Loyd McIntosh, For The Tribune
SPRINGVILLE — The final score doesn’t tell the whole story as the Springville Tigers fell to Southside Gadsden Panthers Thursday night, 42-20.
Rescheduled due to the threat of severe weather on Friday, the Springville squad put together some of its best football of the season but still succumbed to some of the same mistakes that have kept the Tigers out of the win column all season long.
Springville received the kickoff to start the game. After gaining one yard on the first two plays on the opening possession, quarterback Asam Morrison hit wide receiver Noel Cox, who fumbled at the end of the run turning the ball over on the Southside 34-yard line. However, Southside quarterback Gage Nesmith fumbled the ball right back to Springville on the Panther’s first play from scrimmage.
With excellent field position deep in Southside territory, Springville put together a solid drive that stalled inside the Southside five-yard line. With 6:36 to go in the first quarter, Springville head coach John Clements decided to roll the dice early, keeping his offense on the field on a fourth down and goal from the three-yard line but were stopped short of the goal line turning the ball over on downs.
The remainder of the first half went by quickly as each team racked up some yards on offense but were hampered by a combined eight turnovers on the evening. In the end, the turnovers seemed to hurt the Tigers the most despite some great play on offense, especially by senior quarterback Asa Morrison. With the running backs unable to penetrate a solid Panther defensive line, Morrison emerged as the Tiger’s best-running threat, almost single-handedly keeping the game close throughout the first half.
Down 7-0 in the second quarter, the Tigers recovered a fumbled punt return deep in Southside territory. Two plays later, Morrison scampered straight up the middle for a 19-yard touchdown run. The extra point was blocked as South Gadsden held its slim lead, 7-6.
Late in the second quarter, following an interception by Tucker Cayse – Southside’s fourth turnover of the first half – Springville captured its first lead of the 2022 season on a one-yard run from Jamari Cash with 47 seconds left in the first half. The extra point was good, and Springville went into the locker room with a 13-7 lead.
Southside gained the momentum to start the second half, scoring 14 unanswered points to push the lead to 21-13. Cash scored again with 8:41 left in the third quarter to bring the Tigers to within one point, 21-20. That would be as close as Springville would get, however, as an exhausted defense gave up three more touchdowns while the offense missed some key opportunities throughout the second half as the Panthers finished off Springville, 42-20.
“Our defense did a great job for us in the first half. We just came out slow in the second half on offense,” Morrison said. “We’ve got to do better on offense, keeping the ball with us and making stuff happen and cut out the mistakes.”
“We had a good plan, but we made a bunch of bad mistakes,” Clements said. “We put the defense in some bad spots, and they responded, creating four turnovers in the first half, and I think we got one touchdown. That’s not good. It’s just not good.”
Despite being winless thus far on the season, Clements says the team has improved by leaps and bounds each week and believes that first win of the season is bound to happen soon.
“I’m still proud of our kids. They’re gonna come back, and they’re gonna show up next week and go to Alexandria, and we’re going to play our tails off there too,” Clements said. “At some point, it’s going to bounce our way.
“At some point, we’re going to catch a break. I don’t know when it’s going to happen, but it’s going to happen at some point. We’re just going to keep coaching them and loving them harder and come back next week.”
Springville travels to take on the Alexandria Valley Cubs on Friday, September 16.