PREP ROUNDUP: Cold Springs defeats Vinemont 28-8; Fairview eases past Holly Pond

Ayden Alexander scored a pair of first-half touchdowns, Cold Springs got two second-half defensive scores, and the Blue and Gold knocked off Vinemont 28-8 at home on Friday night.

The Eagles finished the regular season 5-5 heading into the Class 2A state playoffs.

“I thought our kids played really hard, played with a lot of passion and played with a lot of desire — which is what I challenged them to do,” Cold Springs coach Rod Elliott said. “Last week, the passion we needed to play with was not there. So the first thing I noticed was our kids played with a lot of passion, had a lot of fun and just played outstanding on defense all night.”

Alexander’s touchdown run and a 2-point conversion put Cold Springs ahead 8-0.

Vinemont blocked a punt that rolled out of the end zone for a safety to make it 8-2 late in the first quarter, but Alexander made it 16-2 with another touchdown run in the second stanza.

The visiting Eagles got a touchdown on Colby Miller’s quarterback keeper to make what would be the halftime score at 16-8.

It was all Cold Springs’ defense from there, as Jordan Lacey’s scoop-and-score on a Vinemont fumble made it 22-8. Roberto Ayala’s pick-six capped the scoring later in the fourth quarter.

“We played extremely well on defense,” Elliott said. “Offensively, we moved the ball pretty much all night. But we had five or six holding penalties and had a bad break on a long run where we lost the ball crossing the goal line that ended up being a touchback. We had a first-and-goal on the one-foot line and ended up not scoring because of mistakes offensively. We’ve got to clean that stuff up.”

Elliott’s squad gets a chance to do just that next week. The Eagles travel to Ranburne for the first round of the playoffs.

“I know they (Ranburne) play really good football and are really tough,” Elliott said.

Cold Springs’ win avenged last season’s 34-0 loss to Vinemont.

The Red and White ended the 2019 campaign at 3-7.


Fairview 35, Holly Pond 8

Tyvn Ellis ran for three touchdowns and the 4A No. 10 Fairview Aggies rolled to a 35-8 win over Holly Pond on Friday night to close out the regular season.

Ellis scored two touchdowns in the first half to help the Aggies take control and improve to 8-2 overall heading into the state playoffs next week at home against Central-Florence. 

Holly Pond ended the season at 2-8.

Ellis’ touchdowns in the first half put Fairview up heading into the break. His 3-yard plunge made it 7-0 in the first quarter, but Holly Pond struck back. A touchdown pass from Kyler Chaney to Landon Perkins and a subsequent 2-point conversion put the Broncos ahead 8-7.

Two long runs by Parker Martin, though, helped set up the Aggies’ next score to retake the lead. Ellis’ short touchdown run made it 14-8 with 9:33 to go until the half.

Ellis’ 5-yard scoring run at the 7:13 mark of the third quarter made it a two-score game, and Mason Black’s 5-yard touchdown reception put things to bed on the first play of the fourth quarter.

The Aggies added a window-dressing score with four minutes remaining, as Oakley Mullican ran in for a touchdown to make the final tally.


Cordova 20, West Point 7

A defensive touchdown sealed things for Cordova on Friday night, as the Blue Devils took down the West Point Warriors 20-7.

West Point (4-6) trailed by just a touchdown in the waning moments, but a pick-six by Justin Calloway with just 1:18 to go sealed the win. Cordova finished 5-5 on the year.

The teams fought to a scoreless tie through the first two quarters. It was 7-all heading into the fourth quarter, and Cordova figured out a way to come out on top throughout the final frame.

This was just the second matchup of these two North Alabama teams all time, as West Point took last year’s matchup 55-14.