Stratford’s JV Green Team traveled to Crump Stadium in Alief to take on the Hastings Bears last Wednesday in the heat of the afternoon – luckily the fans had shade, but the turf field was sizzling. The Spartans' opening drive on offense featured sophomore QB Will McCarroll making plays with his legs and arm with several nice throws while scrambling outside of the pocket. Junior WR Tyler Fewell made a nice grab and turned upfield for a 25-yd gain and a first down. The drive would stall in Bear territory, but the Spartan defense was up to the task as Hastings could not convert on 4th down near midfield and would turn it over on downs.

On the next drive, sophomore QB Luke Tamez bought some time and found sophomore WR Liam Bowman in the end zone for a 15-yd TD pass to give the Spartans a 7-0 lead. The Spartans weren’t done as sophomore RB’s Davis Kendall and Corbin Morris would get the running game going on the next drive behind a solid offensive line led by sophomore center Kenny White. Kendall would score on a 5-yd TD run to put the Spartans up 13-0.

The Hastings offense continued to struggle to find positive yards as the Spartan defense held their ground. Junior LB Sam Salas made several key tackles to force a punt that would be blocked by sophomore LB Dylan Ward and result in a safety. On the ensuing kickoff, sophomore WR Xaviera Campbell flashed his speed and eluded defenders on his way to the end zone for 50-yd TD return,  and Stratford increased their lead to 22-0. Speaking of special teams, sophomore WR Jake Weinhardt was very solid in the kicking game - with help from long snapper Eli Manuel - converting on his extra points along with several successful deep punts.

Hastings would add a score on a long rushing TD on the last play of the first half, but the Spartans held a commanding 22-8 lead.

Stratford would move the ball in the second half, but couldn’t convert on 4th downs to keep drives alive. The Spartan defense would dominate in the second half, as sophomore DT Bradley Olivera had a few tackles for loss, and sophomore DE Jackson Holz added a QB sack that caused a fumble.

It was a total team effort as the JV Green Team improved to 1-1 and look for continued success next week in their rescheduled game at Tomball.