FRIDAY PREPS: Prattville runs through Stanhope Elmore
Albert Taggart runs through tacklers in Prattville’s win over Stanhope Elmore on Friday. (Dylan Hurst)
By DYLAN HURST
PRATTVILLE -- The Prattville Lions defeated Stanhope Elmore 29-6 on Friday night at Stanley-Jensen Stadium, thanks to four touchdowns from their two running backs.
The Lions’ running back duo of junior Mario Parks and senior Albert Taggart scored two touchdowns each. Taggart scored both of his touchdowns in the first half, with one receiving touchdown and one rushing touchdown. Both of Parks’ touchdowns were rushing touchdowns and came in the second half.
The win marked the home debut of first-year coach JB Wallace, who helped the Lions extend their home winning streak against their arch rival to 16 straight in Stanley-Jensen Stadium dating back to 1981.
“Our guys have been focused in all week, and they came into this game and performed well,” Wallace said. “It feels good to get a big win in our first home game, especially against Stanhope.”
Prattville got things going late in the first quarter after a Mustangs’ fumble was recovered by the Lions. Taggart scored his first touchdown to put the Lions up 7-0.
Early in the second quarter, the Lions took advantage of a drive with three first downs to score again off another Taggart touchdown. Prattville successfully converted a two-point try to go up 15-0.
Early in the third quarter, Parks scored his first touchdown of the game to bring the score to 22-0. During their first drive of the fourth quarter, Parks ran in another touchdown to make the score 29-0.
The Mustangs got on the board with 19 seconds remaining in the game after a wild snap from the Lions’ center was recovered by the Mustangs in the end zone.
Wallace, once a student athlete for the Lions, was vocal about how important Taggart is to the Lions’ offense and how he expects his senior running back to step up big this year.
“He’s going to be a big part of what we do offensively,” said Wallace. “We build our run game around him, and he caught a touchdown, and ran one in on the outside, so he stepped up.”
Prattville started 2-0 for the fourth consecutive year, but now faces one of its biggest challenges of the season with next week’s region opener at home against Auburn High.
“I spoke to the team this summer about how I can’t tell you how we’re going to end up this year, but we’re going to work like we will go 10-0,” said Wallace. “We’re just worried about the next game.