From The Tribune staff reports
SPRINGVILLE — A match-up that was Springville’s best chance to get in the win column was not to be as a flu outbreak kept six Tigers starters out in a heartbreaking loss to Lincoln Friday night, 34-31.
Springville running back Mahlon Alverson looks for running room against Fort Payne on Friday, September 10, 2021. (Photo courtesy of Josie Howell/The St. Clair Times)
Among the sidelined was Asa Morrison, the senior quarterback who has led the Tiger offense all season long. Starting in his place was third-string quarterback Boaz Thornton, a ninth-grader drafted into action for his first start on the varsity level.
Despite the adversity, the Tigers rallied around their young quarterback and a handful of other young players as they lined up against a Lincoln squad that came into the 5A Region 6 contest with a record of two wins and four losses, 0-3 in region play.
The game evolved into a game of swinging quarters with Springville owning the first and fourth, and Lincoln dominating in the second and third quarters.
A Lincoln fumble in their first drive of the game was recovered by Cody Ingram and returned to the Golden Bears’ 30-yard line. Seven plays later, Mahlon Alverson scored to put Springville up 7-0. On the next drive, Springville recovered another Golden Bear fumble deep in Lincoln territory. Springville looked poised to score another touchdown advancing to the one-yard line. However, a bad snap and a penalty backed them up, stalling the drive, and settling for a 25-yard field goal by Peyton Griffin, to put Springville up 10-0 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, a fumbled punt return by Springville gave Lincoln great field position. Running back Jaylen George scored his first of three touchdowns to pull the Golden Bears to within three points, 10-7. The Golden Bears scored on their next two drives to take a 20-10 lead into halftime.
Thorton stepped up to start the second half, leading the Tigers on an 80-yard drive and a touchdown pass to senior Baylor Sandlin to close the gap, 20-17. However, Lincoln responded with a five-play, 62-yard touchdown drive to push the lead back to ten points, 27-17.
Springville’s issues with fundamentals returned a short time later. A bad snap forced backup punter Parker McAdams to escape the rush of defenders and attempt a pass from deep in Tiger territory. Lincoln took over at the Springville 11-yard line and scored two plays later, 34-17.
The Tigers fired back with the help of junior running back Alverson and wide receiver Noel Cox as the Tigers mounted a scoring drive as junior Jamari Cash scored from three yards out to close the gap and the third quarter, 34-24.
After a three-and-out by Lincoln to start the fourth quarter, Thornton led another drive marching the Tigers down the field. The Lincoln defense eventually held forcing Springville to attempt a field goal. The 38-yard attempt by Griffin was no good, but the Tigers still had a comeback on their mind.
“Big” Jake Conner intercepted a Lincoln pass on the following drive. Alverson capped off the ensuing Tiger drive with a hard seven-yard touchdown with 3:37 left in the game, pulling the Tigers to within three points, 34-31.
Lincoln’s ensuing drive stalled at midfield as the Golden Bears faced a fourth down with two yards to go with just 1:40 left in the game. Lincoln decided to go for giving the ball to George and converting the first down. With no timeouts left, Springville could do nothing but watch as Lincoln ran out the clock, ending the Tigers’ comeback.
Final score, Lincoln 34, Springville 31.
“I’m at a loss for words right now,” said Springville Head Coach John Clements. “We made some bad penalties that cost us, and we had a couple of busted plays on offense that didn’t get lined up right. The little things that came back to bite us.”
Clements said, despite the loss, he is incredibly proud of how the team fought through adversity all week and was pleased with the many young players who suited up for Springville Friday night.
“I thought our kids played hard. It’s tough because our kids did go through a lot of adversity,” said Clements. “Everybody’s been through it this week, and they never quit. They kept showing up to practice, they kept doing what we asked them to do, and we had guys playing in places that they didn’t need to be.”
“I’m proud of those young guys that got in there tonight because they don’t need to be playing on Friday, but they acted like they wanted to tonight,” added Clemens. “I can’t say enough about Boaz. He loves the game of football and he loves being a Springville Tiger.
There’s a lot of bright stuff in 13’s future.”
Springville has a bye next week and will return to action at home on Friday, October 21, in a region matchup with St. Clair County.
Jamey Curlee contributed to this report.
