SAND ROCK – Don’t tell the Sand Rock Wildcats Thursday night was just about playing for pride.

Sure, they wanted to send their seniors out on a winning note against Spring Garden, but they also wanted to give 27-year head coach Russell Jacoway his 200th victory.

Mission accomplished on both counts.

Behind a balanced attack, the Wildcats earned a 30-0 victory to finish the 2009 football season at 6-4. Spring Garden dropped to 5-5, but its season will continue next week in the Class 1A state playoffs at Coosa Christian of Gadsden.

On Thursday though, the night belonged to Jacoway and the Wildcats.

Jacoway said he was glad to finally get the milestone monkey off his back. It was the third time in as many weeks the Wildcats had an opportunity to earn Jacoway his 200th victory.

“I’m very proud to get 200 with this group,” Jacoway said following the game. “They have faced a lot of adversity and they have been very, very positive all year long. The attitude has been great.

“It was special for our seniors, and for our whole football team. We have been beat down lately, and they’ve worked their tails off this year. We’ve battled sickness and injury – me included – and this meant a lot to our seniors.”

Sophomore quarterback Drew Norris helped lead the charge by completing 5-of-8 passes for 150 yards and two scores. Senior fullback Wesley Pruitt added 70 yards on seven carries with a touchdown. Sophomore running back Chad Thompson had another Wildcat touchdown and senior Matt Cole added a 27-yard field goal.

Norris said the younger Wildcats wanted to send the seniors out winners.

“We just gave it our best for the seniors tonight because this was their night. We weren’t going to ruin their night,” Norris said. “Last year, this game was a disappointment (a 27-21 overtime loss). We were going for an undefeated season, and this year we made sure we weren’t going to lose. We have a great bunch of seniors, and it’s going to be a lot different next year without them.”

Thompson scored the Wildcats’ first touchdown on the game’s opening possession. He capped an 8 play, 58-yard drive with a 7-yard run. Cole’s extra point made it 7-0 Sand Rock.

Pruitt added to Sand Rock’s lead after the Wildcat defense stuffed the Panthers on a 4th-and-1 at the Sand Rock 29. He powered his way into the end zone on a 34-yard touchdown run to finish off a 5 play, 71-yard drive. The score put Sand Rock in front 14-0 with 7:08 to go in the second quarter.

After another Panther drive stalled on a fourth-down play, Norris connected with Phillip Washburn for a 53-yard touchdown. Cole connected on the point after for a 21-0 Sand Rock lead.

Despite trailing 21-0 at halftime, Spring Garden coach Jason Howard felt the Panthers controlled the tempo of the game with its running attack early.

Sand Rock, however, made the necessary adjustments to shut the Panthers down.

“Coach Jacoway did a great job of changing the speed of the game up in the first half,” Howard said. “I felt like the first-quarter tempo was going toward us. It was turning into one of those grind-out things, but they picked the tempo up in the second half.”

An interception by the Wildcats’ Justin Kyser on Spring Garden’s first possession of the second half led to Cole’s 27-yard field goal, pushing Sand Rock’s advantage to 24-0.

Norris hooked up with Kyser later in the third quarter on a 60-yard scoring strike for the final.

Trey Littlefield led Spring Garden with 92 yards on 25 carries. Kaleb Morris added 31 yards on 11 carries and Jake Scott rushed for 28 yards on 11 totes.

Tyler Smart completed 2-of-5 passes for 48 yards with an interception.

Even though the Panthers couldn’t get much of anything going against Sand Rock on Thursday, Howard felt the game was good experience for next week’s playoff game.

An area of concentration for the Panthers at practice this week will be fourth-down conversions in short-yardage situations.

“We went on fourth down four different times. We had fourth and less than two, and we got it twice and didn’t get it twice,” Howard said. “We’ve got to get those. We’ve got a senior running the ball, a senior blocking for him and two senior linemen we’re running behind. When you’re a senior, and have been playing for four or five years, you get a yard. It’s just that simple.”