Mountain Brook’s Cole Gamble scored six times on the ground and John Colvin threw a touchdown pass as the seventh-ranked Spartans cruised to a 49-7 victory over Pinson Valley on Friday at Spartan Stadium.

The Spartans advance to face Gadsden City on the road in the second round of the Class 6A playoffs.

Mountain Brook (9-2) received the opening kickoff and immediately went to work with its dominant rushing attack. The Spartans marched 79 yards in 7 plays, capping the drive on a 3-yard touchdown run by Gamble, and went up 14-0 on Gamble’s 6-yard touchdown run following a Pinson Valley punt.

The Indians were held to a second straight three-and-out and Mountain Brook extended the lead to 21-0 on a 14-yard touchdown run by Gamble, capping a 5-play, 88-yard drive. A third consecutive three-and-out by Pinson Valley allowed the Spartans to take a 28-0 lead, Gamble scoring on a 1-yard run, and Mountain Brook extended its halftime advantage to 35-0 on a 16-yard touchdown pass from John Colvin to Clark Sanderson.

Pinson Valley (6-4) was able to drive into Spartan territory on its first possession of the second half, but Keywone Posey was picked off by defensive lineman William Hoyt on a screen pass. Gamble gained 10 yards on the first play on the ensuing possession and finished it off on the next play with a 24-yard touchdown run.

Another failed drive from the Indians allowed Mountain Brook to take over at their 46-yard line, and Gamble scored two plays later on a 34-yard touchdown run. The Spartans emptied the bench following Gamble’s sixth score of the game and Pinson Valley was able to prevent a shutout on a 4-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback Cam Jennings to DeMarion Hatten.

Star of the game: Gamble. Who else could it be? The junior running back had 18 carries for 154 yards and 4 touchdowns in the first half alone and played only two series in the second half. He finished with 22 rushing attempts for 234 yards and 6 touchdowns.

“I wasn’t keeping track but it was awesome. We did a great job upfront. We really put it all together. We played like we did in practice and all our reads were crisp,” he said.

By the numbers: 6, the number of sacks collected by the Mountain Brook defense. …4, the number of wins for Mountain Brook in the 5-game series. …1, the number of third-down conversions, out of 12 attempts, for the Pinson Valley offense.

Stat sheet: Mountain Brook – Colvin finished 8-of-10 passing for 137 yards and a touchdown, and Sanderson had 5 catches for 98 yards and a score. Will Waldrop added 61 yards on 5 rushing attempts and Douglas Johnson finished with 13 carries for 22 yards. Pinson Valley – Posey was 8-of-19 passing for 80 yards and an interception, and Jennings was 3-for-8 for 61 yards and a touchdown pass. Taurus Chambers led the rushing effort, producing 50 yards on 8 attempts and adding 32 yards on 3 receptions, and Joshua Woods had 17 yards on 5 touches. Hatten finished with 5 catches for 48 yards and a touchdown, and Virginia commit Amare Thomas had 3 receptions for 61 yards.

Coachspeak: “We blocked well, we tackled well, and we secured the ball. The most important thing. We put the ball on the ground one time, it rolled out of bounds, and that’s one time too many. We had a procedure penalty but we played one of the cleanest games that we’ve played all year long.” — Mountain Brook’s Chris Yeager

“I’ve been around this team the whole time they’ve been in high school. It was a privilege to be able to have a chance to see them through from the beginning of the season all the way to the end. Their fight and desire to want to be able to do everything the right way. If we win, we’ll win the right way. If we lose, we’ll lose the right way.” — Pinson Valley’s Lee Guess