Playing a complete game on both sides of the ball is a point of emphasis for many teams. When your offense and defense click in unison, you rarely lose.
Three defensive touchdowns and 38 points later, South Park certainly understands that if they didn’t before.
The Sparks put up all their points in the first half, dominating McKinley 38-0 to claim the Section VI Class A title on Saturday afternoon at New Era Field.
“We play really good team football,” South Park coach Tim Delaney said. “When you’re playing good on both sides of the ball, good things happen, and that obviously transpired tonight.”
A 45-yard Brandan Brown interception returned for a touchdown kicked off the scoring with 9:25 left in the first quarter, and then the avalanche commenced.
Keith Jackson tallied a 21-yard rushing score and followed that up with a fumble recovery touchdown of 35 yards. Brown then ran back his second pick six of the afternoon, this one a 56 yarder, and a 30-yard Mykell Hepburn to Anthony Mack connection capped off the first half and game’s scoring at 38-0.
“Coach was telling us all week, come out and play hard, outplay them physically,” Jackson said. “That’s what we did, straight from the jump.”
While there’s been plenty of praise for South Park’s (10-0) electrifying and high-scoring offense, it was the Sparks’ defense that put up a majority of their scoring on the day.
For Delaney, the defensive praise is well-deserved.
“We obviously play really well on defense … we felt like we had some favorable matchups against what they do,” Delaney said. “Brandan Brown, two fantastic plays to get in off pick sixes, plus we had the fumble recovery for the touchdown. We didn’t have to do too much offensively.”
In what was not only a battle of unbeatens, but the first sectional title game between Buffalo public schools. The game meant a little bit more to South Park, and despite the loss, McKinley (9-1) too.
“Its obviously historic … we try to have everything be in that light, a special moment,” Delaney said. “To play McKinley, whose had a little bit of resurgence here athletically … I think that they’ll continue to be better.”
“It was a big day but at the end of the day we wanted to be on the other end of this,” McKinley coach Brian Davis said. “Its great for Buffalo Public Schools and its great for South Park, but it is what it is.”
With the win, the Sparks advance to the NYSPHSSA Class A quarterfinals where they will take on Section V’s Canandaigua Academy at 8 p.m. on Nov. 15 at SUNY Brockport.
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