The Spartans opened the season with a convincing 31-6 win over an improved Alvin squad on a beautiful evening at Alvin Memorial Stadium. 

The Spartan defense came ready to play and were having none of Alvin’s flexbone option offense in the first half. The swarming defense forced several turnovers in the game and had great plays from Colin Tenney, Drew Arend, and Jackson Piercy. The defense was stout despite giving up a late touchdown. The defensive line and linebackers controlled play most of the game. Reco Griffin led the team in tackles with 6 solo and 6 assists. Alvin chose not to test the secondary in the passing game and attempted just one pass.

The Spartan offense, led by senior AJ Abbott, looked crisp despite dealing with an enormous defensive lineman on Alvin’s side. The offense moved the ball throughout the game. Abbott (14/22 149 yds, 2 TDs) delivered beautiful TD strikes to Hawkins Polley; first on a corner and then later on a post route. The running game got on track in the second half as the offensive line opened big holes for Darese Steptoe who scored on two long TD runs. Rushing stats - Steptoe 7 carries 80 yds, Diego Denson 4 for 13 yds, and Abbott 6 for 31 yds. Receiving - Polley 3 receptions for 48 yds, Ben Moseley 7 for 61 yds, Will Kight 2 for 19 yds, Denson 1 for 13 yds and Steptoe 1 for 8 yds. 

Jacob Folh got the scoring going with a 25 yard field goal, and It was all Stratford after that. It was a good team win highlighted by good team tackling and good team blocking for much of the game.