Spartans hope to end 0-5 drought as region play begins
By Diana Royal Staff Writer

A Valwood ball carrier hits the ground hard after a tackle from Spartans' Brett Jenkins in the fourth quarter.

As the first region game of the season nears, the Spartans are still looking to turn around their 0-5 record.

Edmund Burke suffered a 25- 6 loss against Valwood School last Friday night, and the blow of that fifth straight loss came just a week prior to the Spartans' first region match-up against Bulloch Academy.

Last season, the Spartans proved to be the better of the two teams, defeating the Gators 26-15. Bulloch, 4-1 this season, suffered their only loss to Pinewood Christian Academy, 19- 0, and is ranked in the top five AA schools by GISA (Georgia Independent School Association) coaches.

Spartans' head coach Jeremy Blackstock said his biggest concern going into region competition is the inconsistent play the team has shown. "I know that comes with young teams, but it is still something that concerns me," he said, adding that Bulloch is an experienced football team that executes very well. "We need to play a pretty solid game in order to have a shot."

Against Valwood, Blackstock said the Spartans came out flat and unfocused. "I'm not sure whether it was the four-hour trip or something else. We came out to play but, our heads were somewhere else. The guys woke up a bit in the second half, and we played much better. The field was pretty sloppy from all the rain, and it was tough to get anything going all night. Overall, the effort was there as it has been all year long."

The team's awareness, however, does not appear to be a major concern to their coach. "I think we can focus on a whole game," he said. "It's just that when you are a young team, you're still learning. Knowing how to focus when good and bad things happen is something that comes over time."

According to Blackstock, Valwood scored all 25 of their points in the first half of the game, and the Spartan defense rendered them scoreless in the second half. "They (Valwood) certainly did not change their game plan when they were up," he said. "They tried to run a reverse with less than a minute and a half left … To our kids' credit, we kept them out of the end zone."

Freshman quarterback Alex Sturkie scored the Spartans' sole touchdown on a 65-yard run in the fourth quarter. He earned 76 yards on 12 carries and completed one reception for 23 yards. As a team, EBA had 125 total yards, while Valwood picked up 350.

Tyler Rowland boasted a total of 12 tackles on the night, and Sturkie had 7.