The Wetumpka football team is coming off its bye week, and now the Indians are entering the first round of the playoffs at full health.
Wetumpka (5-5) is the No. 4 seed out of Region 3 in the AHSAA Class 6A playoffs, and they travel to Region 1, No. 1 seed Saraland (8-2) on Friday at 7 p.m.
Saraland plays at Spartans Stadium at 401 Baldwin Street, Saraland AL, 36571.
Wetumpka clinched its playoff berth two weeks ago in its regular-season finale against Stanhope Elmore, a 8-7 win. In that game, Wetumpka was without starting quarterback Nate Rogers due to an injury.
In his place, receiver Dorian Jackson started the game after two days of practice, but he went down with an injury as well. Freshman Tyler Johnson came in and threw the game-winning touchdown pass in the fourth quarter.
But after last week’s bye week, Rogers is back healthy and ready to play in the first round.
“Dorian did such a great job to step up and play in a tough situation,” Wetumpka coach Tim Perry said. “We are super proud of him for that. But obviously, having the starter back, especially at quarterback, makes everything run. Obviously Nate is the one who has gotten the majority of the reps, so having him back lets us get back to our regular offense and now we don’t have to hold anything back in the playbook.”
Rogers and company will go up against a Saraland defense that is allowing only 16.3 points per game this season. Saraland, which hasn’t lost since Week 2 of the year, has allowed only 45 points across its last six games and has shutout two opponents.
During that stretch, Saraland has held four opponents to a touchdown or less and has outscored its opponents by an average of 34 points per game.
Saraland shut out Citronelle, 49-0, in its last game on Oct. 22. The Spartans also had an open week last week to prepare for the playoffs.
“It’s obvious after watching on film why they’re having the success they’re having,” Perry said of Saraland. “From a defensive standpoint, they have a lot of team speed. Their secondary plays a lot of man coverage, and you understand why with the athleticism they have back their. In the box, they’re fast and get to the ball and get off blocks fast.”
As good as the Saraland defense has been, the offense has been just as good if not better.
Saraland’s offense averages only 33 ppg this year, but that’s mostly due to only scoring 14 combined points in the two losses to start the season.
Since then, Saraland has scored over 28 points in every game this year and has really been on a tear in October. In its four games in October, Saraland scored over 41 points in three consecutive games and is averaging 42 ppg.
The Spartans offense is led by quarterback Gabe Reynolds, who has only thrown seven interceptions this year. Only three of those have come in October.
The Spartans spread the ball out well, and they have four receivers who average over three catches per game. Their best receiver, 6-foot-3 senior Jarel Williams, has 525 yards this year with a team-high seven touchdowns.
In the running game, sophomore Santae McWilliams Jr. leads the attack with 114 carries for 632 yards and four touchdowns, an average of 5.5 yards per carry. Sophomore DaArrius Washington adds three touchdowns to the run game.
“You can’t focus on one specific player,” Perry said. “They have some outstanding skill players and their quarterback, despite being only a sophomore, does a great job running the offense. He doesn’t turn the ball over often. They line up in a ton of different formations, so it’s tough on a defense to try and make sure we are in the right spots.”
