High school football got in full swing on Friday night. Each week we’ll take a quick look around the state at what happened under the Friday night lights.

*In need of a fantastic finish? How about Briarwood Christian scoring on the final play to pull out a 23-21 victory over visiting Spain Park? The winning points came on a nine-yard scoring pass that Christopher Vizzina fit into a tight window to Brady Waugh. Spain Park had a pair of defenders nearly get their hand on the football.

Briarwood Christian led 17-6 heading into the final quarter. Spain Park clawed its way back and took a 21-17 lead with just over a minute remaining on a three-yard run by Evan Smallwood.

*Need another fantastic finish? Check out Priceville’s 54-47 victory at Fairview in a game between two of the better recent small school programs in North Alabama. The winning points in this came with 14 seconds remaining on a 50-yard pass from Jackson Prickett to Mason Cartee. Cartee added a two-point conversion.

Big plays were the norm for Priceville. Cartee also had an 80-yard touchdown run in the first half and Xander Gaines scored on a 92-yard run and Prickett had a 41-yard touchdown pass to Sage Smothers.

*Decatur didn’t erase seven years of frustration but the Red Raiders did get on the right side of the River City Rivalry. Quarterback Ellis Dickman threw three touchdown passes to lead Decatur past Austin, 28-14, in a game played at Austin.

Not that anyone was counting, but it had been 2,912 days since Decatur beat their crosstown rival in varsity football.

*Hoover bounced back from the Week Zero loss to Auburn. The Bucs rushed for more than 200 yards and had interceptions returned for touchdowns by Devan Carlisle and Bradley Shaw in the 56-7 victory of Bartlett High from Tennessee.

The win was Wade Waldrop’s first as the Hoover coach.

*Fyffe quietly went about dismantling Geraldine, 34-6, to gain a measure of revenge for last year’s loss that ended the Red Devils’ 51-game winning streak.   

*Times are good at Moody High under first-year head coach Jake Ganus, a former UAB and University of Georgia linebacker and assistant coach under Thompson’s Mark Freeman. Playing on a newly-installed turf, Moody beat Sylacauga, 58-24, to improve to 2-0.

In the first two games, Moody outscored its opponents, 114-45, and scored more than 50 points in back to back games for the first time in school history.

*If bouncing back from a tough loss is a mark of a good team, then consider Spanish Fort and Mars Hill. Spanish Fort lost its opener on a final play pick-six interception. A week later, the Toros used the gritty running of Jake Godfrey to pull out a 16-6 win over Blount. Mars Hill lost its opener on a final play fumble from punt formation that resulted in a recovery for a touchdown by Cullman. Mars Hill skipped the dramatics this time by dismantling a good Brooks team, 64-35.

To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email steve.irvine@1819news.com.

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