Spring Garden fullback Forrest Livingston looks for room to roam against Collinsville on Friday. Photo by Chris Tierce.
The Panthers had three one-play scoring drives and picked up another touchdown on a fumble return en route to a 32-7 victory over visiting Spring Garden in the Class 1A, Region 7 football opener for both squads.
In the process, Collinsville (2-0, 1-0) broke a three-game losing streak to Spring Garden (0-2, 0-1).
“Well, 2-0 is a good start,” Collinsville coach Alan Beckett said. “There’s still a lot to accomplish. We’ve got a lot to prove.
“We cleared a hurdle we hadn’t in several years in beating Spring Garden, and I thought they gave us their best game. We knew going in that they were physical.”
Spring Garden held the ball for 18:30 in the first half, but it didn’t matter, as Collinsville picked up three touchdowns on one-play drives.
Curtis Williams got the first score when he hauled in a 52-yard pass from Nathan Coker with 9:46 left in the first quarter.
Josh Gogus claimed the second touchdown on a 27-yard run at the 4:35 mark of the second period. Shon McElrath earned the third when he raced 48 yards with 2:30 left before halftime.
Coker had a big night for Collinsville for the second straight week. He carried 11 times for 88 yards and completed 6 of 10 passes for 103 yards.
Spring Garden had the ball 11 minutes in the third quarter, but couldn’t score.
Meanwhile, Collinsville continued to roll.
Coker chalked up the first touchdown of the second half when he ran 53 yards with 7:31 left in the third period. Jesse Chandler picked up a Spring Garden fumble and ran eight yards for another touchdown about four minutes later.
Spring Garden scored its lone touchdown with 2:29 to play on a 30-yard run by sophomore fullback Forrest Livingston. Livingston paced Spring Garden, carrying 22 times for 126 yards. Spring Garden senior tailback Kaleb Morris ran for 37 yards on 12 carries.
Spring Garden senior quarterback Tyler Smart, who injured his right knee in a Week 1 loss at Ranburne, returned to action against Collinsville. He completed 6 of 15 passes for 79 yards and two interceptions. He also rushed for 25 yards on 10 carries.
Senior tight end Cory Anderson led all receivers by hauling in six passes for 77 yards.
Collinsville travels to Gaston next Friday for another Region 7 battle. Spring Garden looks to capture its first win when it hosts Region 7 rival Valley Head.
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