Josh Ward threw two touchdown passes as Sparkman capped an emotional week with a 21-18 win over Austin in a Class 7A, Region 4 opener.

Brodie Slate caught both TD passes, from 5 and 2, in the first half at Sparkman Field in Harvest, as the Senators played their first game since teammate Jaiden “JD” Dejarnett died in a car accident on Monday.

“The coaches and the seniors kept everybody level-headed with an emotional week that we’ve had,” Sparkman first-year coach Ronnie Watson said. “We came in, we knew we had to stop the run. Coach (Jeremy) Perkins is always going to have a physical team. And we knew we were going to have to match that. And that was our goal going in.”

Sparkman (3-0, 1-0) withstood a furious fourth-quarter rally by the visiting Black Bears (2-1, 0-1). Austin missed a 41-yard field goal attempt as time expired.

Jayden Thomas scored on a 53-yard run for Sparkman in the fourth.

Austin’s Ruben Guevara kicked a 33-yard field goal in the third quarter. Kenneth Joshua scored on a 3-yard run in the fourth. Gavin Fuqua’s 8-yard run, plus two-point conversion run, ended the scoring with 4:13 left.

Play of the game: On the first play of the fourth quarter, Thomas broke loose on the Sparkman 47 and ran 53 yards down the sideline to the end zone. Christian Burrus kicked the extra point for a 21-3 lead with 11:48 to go, ending a three-play drive covering 64 yards.

Stat sheet: Sparkman – Thomas had 11 carries for 117 yards and a touchdown. Ward completed 12-of-19 passes for 179 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions. Defensive end Jamarion Matthews, a sophomore, recovered a fumble and had three sacks. … Austin – Gavin Fuqua had 17 carries for 92 yards and a touchdown. Quarterbacks J.L. Davis and Judd Bailey combined to complete 18-of-37 passes for 272 yards.

By the numbers: 305, Sparkman total yards with 126 rushing and 179 passing. … 352, Austin total yards with 80 rushing and 272 passing. … 10, Sparkman wins against Austin while the Black Bears lead the all-time series 12-10.

Coachspeak: “It’s big. We have a very competitive region. Every region win counts. We’ll go in and start getting ready for next week, get ready for Albertville.” – Watson

“We didn’t play well enough to win. But our kids showed a lot of fight. They bounced back and gave themselves a chance at the end.” – Austin coach Jeremy Perkins

Quoteable: “We had to come out and establish our dominance first. We came out kind of slow but we picked it up and our defense took it home. And we pushed through to the end.” – Sparkman receiver Jon Rozier

“We started off the game really well. We had a lot of emotion coming into this game, the death of a very loved teammate. And we knew we were a really good football team and we took this opportunity to make a statement.” – Slate

“We just held each other close, kept fighting. To our team this win was truly a heartwarming moment for our team. It means everything to me. I love all these boys. We’re all like family. We lost one, that wasn’t fun.” – Ward

“Every time we made a mistake, I always picked my teammates back up when we made a mistake. And we had good communication on defense. And we played our heart out for our brother, JD.” – Matthews

“We fought hard all game. I knew that it would be upfront war and at halftime we knew it was a 0-0 football game. And we stayed persistent and came out on top.” – Thomas

What’s next?: In Class 7A, Region 4, Austin will host Florence and Sparkman visits Albertville.