Mountain Brook Dominates Southside-Gadsden 45-7 To Advance to Round 2

GADSDEN, AL – The Mountain Brook Spartans (8-3) secured a decisive 45-7 victory over Southside-Gadsden in the opening round of the AHSAA Class 6A playoffs Friday night, on the road, at Barney Hood Stadium.

Head coach Chris Yeager’s Spartans stormed to a commanding 31-0 lead at the half, paced by four Cayden Hofbauer touchdown passes.  Hofbauer continued his impressive performance in the second half, tossing two more touchdowns to put the visitors up 45-0 until the Panthers crossed the goal line with 18 seconds remaining in the contest.

Hofbauer shined for the Spartans, completing 11-of-16 pass attempts for 219 yards and a total of six touchdowns. Archie Andrews was Hofbauer’s favorite target, catching three of those touchdown tosses, finishing the night with six receptions for 125 yards.

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On the ground, Stuart Andrews led the Spartan rushing attack with 85 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries. Anderson Roberts was flawless in his kicking duties, converting all six extra-point attempts and nailing a 28-yard field goal.

Southside quarterback Jordan Bryan completed 5-of-9 passes for 61 yards and added 35 rushing yards on six attempts.

The Panthers season comes to a close at 6-5 to cap first year head coach Ben Stewart’s first season at the helm of the Etowah County program. 

Next week, Mountain Brook will look to extend their winning streak to five games as they welcome the second ranked Parker Thundering herd to Spartan Stadium.   Parker came out on top of the Spartans 30-16 when the two metro area teams met in week one of the regular season.