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Spain Park fell 52-10 to Hoover on Friday, Oct. 8, in a crosstown rivalry matchup. (For the Reporter/Larry Dancy)

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Special to the Reporter

HOOVER – The Hoover Buccaneers continued their impressive form this season, improving to 8-0 by beating the Spain Park Jaguars 52-10 in the annual crosstown rivalry game on Friday, Oct. 8.

“I mean, just, Hoover’s a very good football team,” coach Raney said after the game. “I tell you man, we’re struggling a little bit offensively, so they beat us, soundly, on both fronts. So we’ve just got to continue work and finish these three games and try to get better.”

Spain Park opened the game strong with a 45-yard rush by Sam Lee, and a run-heavy drive gave way to a 36-yard field goal and a 3-0 Jaguars’ lead.

That, however, was the only time the Jaguars got the lead in the game, as the Buccaneers took advantage of a short kickoff and a 33-yard run to start the ensuing drive, which set up a Chalmer Peters rushing touchdown and take a 7-3 lead.

Following a Spain Park punt, a potentially big reception downfield for Hoover turned on its head thanks to Jamari Mosley coming up with a big interception for the Jaguars in the red zone.

Spain Park couldn’t capitalize, and Hoover’s offense rolled the rest of the half.

A 37-yard catch and run touchdown increased the lead to 11, a Jaguars’ fumble set up a 25-yard field goal after multiple failed shots at the end zone, and Ahamari Williams brought the ball in from 4 yards out to give the Buccaneers a 24-3 lead going into the locker room.

From there, Hoover had two touchdowns in the third quarter from Dallas Beck and Josh Giddens to increase its lead to 38-3.

Spain Park responded with its first touchdown of the night following a Kelby Roberson fumble recovery. The Jaguars let Ethan Gutowski punch it in from 7 yards out to cut the deficit to 28.

However, two late Spain Park fumbles sealed the deal and led to two more Hoover touchdowns, with the first on a fumble return, to finish out a 52-10 win.

After the game, Raney was encouraged by sophomore quarterback Mitchell Nutter’s first start and his future going forward.

“That’s a lot to ask from a kid from that age, but I was proud of him, and it’s a learning experience, and he’s got a lot of football left for him, so excited about that,” he said.

Spain Park plays Vestavia Hills next week, and Raney wants to bring some lessons from this week into their next matchup.

“We can’t turn the ball over, we’ve got to be able to create turnovers on defense.” coach Raney said. “Just watching Vestavia, they’re getting better each week, hopefully we are too, and we’ve went through a really rough stretch with our schedule, so makes us get back to work with the kids on Monday.”

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