Thanks to a determined defense, the Jasper Vikings celebrated homecoming with a 25-13 win over Hayden Friday night at Ki-Ro Gambrell Field.
A defensive stand late in the fourth quarter served as the catalyst to holding off the Wildcats, who had momentum and the ball with first and 10 from the Vikings 10 yard line. Jasper led 19-13 at that point.
After two incompletions from Hayden quarterback Will Vines, Jasper’s Mason Bates took Vines down for a 6-yard loss on third down. Bubba Odom knocked a possible game-tying touchdown pass away from a Hayden receiver in the end zone on fourth down.
Jasper quarterback Spencer Rosenfeld put the game away a couple of plays later when he broke through the Hayden defense for an 81-yard touchdown run. Rosenfeld finished the game with 234 yards of offense. He completed 7-of-14 passes for 125 yards, while rushing for 109 yards and three touchdowns on 13 Carrie’s.
“It wasn’t pretty, but it’s a win in a region game. We can’t lose sight of how difficult it is to win a football game against a good team. Hayden fought until the very end, and our guys did too.” Jasper coach Philip Bailey said.
Bailey praised the Jasper defense, which forced four turnovers in the game. Cole Sargent led the team with 12 tackles and a fumble recovery. Odom had 10 tackles and two sacks. Logan Naramore and Landon Castillo both had 10 tackles. Conner Elmore and Breylon Terrell had interceptions.
“Our defense played their tails off all night,” Bailey said. “They made big play after big play. The effort was there for our offense, but we played sloppy and didn’t execute very well. There’s a lot of football left to play for this team. We’ve got to keep working hard and getting better.”
Jasper led 13-0 after the opening quarter.
The lead went to 19-0 early in the second quarter. Hayden was able to get on the board with five seconds left before halftime to cut the lead to 19-7.
The teams played a scoreless third quarter before Hayden scored again early in the fourth quarter, setting up the late game suspense.
Jasper improves to 3-3 on the year and are now 3-1 in Class 5A, Region 5 after three consecutive wins. Hayden drops to 3-3 overall and 2-2 in region play.
Jasper will travel next Friday to Birmingham for a region game against Carver (4-3, 1-3).
