SCOTTSBORO – Things went south for the Skyline Vikings after one quarter of play against Spring Garden Friday night.

After playing the playoff-bound Panthers to a scoreless tie in the opening period, the Vikings’ fortunes turned when Spring Garden scored four times in the second on its way to a 43-7 Class 1A, Region 6 win at Stevenson Middle School.

The loss dropped the Vikings to 0-9 and 0-7 in region play. Spring Garden improved to 7-2 and 5-2 in region play.

Spring Garden got on the scoreboard early in the second quarter on Tyler Messer’s 1-yard touchdown run. Skyline fumbled on its first play of the ensuring possession, and

Spring Garden returned it for a score to push the lead to 13-0.

Trey Littlefield followed with a 49-yard touchdown run on the Panthers’ next possession to push it to 21-0.

Jake Scott’s 41-yard touchdown run gave the Panthers a 27-0 halftime lead.

Skyline’s Corey Scarberry recovered an on-side kick to start the second half, but the drive stalled and ended in a blocked punt. The Panthers took advantage, scoring on just one play on a 37-yard run by Littlefield.

Quarterback Reece Johnson scored on a 17-yard touchdown run in the third quarter to up the margin to 40-0.

Scott’s 30-yard field goal in the fourth quarter capped the scoring for Spring Garden.

Skyline got on the board late in the fourth quarter on an 8-yard touchdown run by Sanders and a successful PAT by Caleb Tidwell.

Sanders finished with 67 rushing yards on 11 carries, while Josh Beam returned from injury and finished with 25 yards on 14 carries.

Beam closed with a team-high nine tackles, while Sanders and Scarberry finished with five apiece.

Spring Garden hosts Class 2A, fourth-ranked Sand Rock (9-0) on Friday.