HS Football: Sparks Earn Historical Title Win

The South Park Sparks wouldn’t be denied history two years in a row.

In 2014 South Park made it to the Class A final before falling against Sweet Home.  This time around, they left no doubt from the opening kick they were leaving Ralph Wilson Stadium historically victorious.

South Park defeated West Seneca East, 54-30 and became the first Buffalo public school to ever win a Section VI high school football championship.

City schools joined Section VI football in 2010.

"For me personally it means a lot,” South Park head coach Tim Delaney said. “I've kind of been one of the guys that really talk about how good city football can be over the past few years so for us to be the first to do it… it's pretty exciting.”

Sparks senior quarterback Tyree Brown has performed like a Connolly Cup frontrunner all season.  Tonight he staked a strong claim to winning.  Brown completed 14 of 19 passes for 274 yards and three touchdowns through the air, while adding 76 yards rushing and two scores via his legs.

"Offensively we were clicking on all cylinders,” Delaney said. “We felt like we could pretty much call in any play and we'd be good."

As good as Brown is, he had plenty help from a bunch of talented teammates that frankly were too athletic for West Seneca East to keep up with.  Senior David Thomas ran for 55 yards on seven carries and a touchdown while catching four passes for 96 yards.  Fellow senior Daryl Moore caught five passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns.

Moore also had nine tackles and two sacks on defense.

“We have some really good football players,” Delaney said. “That’s what grabs your eyes in the paper—all those yards… all those points. We have Dave and we have Darryl and they’re lucky to have a kid throwing it to them that’ so versatile.”

“They’re really good football players, which you need to have a championship team.”

South Park took the opening kick and drove 52 yards effortlessly on four plays for a touchdown, capped by a Brown eight yard scoring run.  Brown then scrambled before finding Tony Robinson for a two point pass and the Sparks were up 8-0 before some fans found their seats.

East stalled on their first drive and before they could catch their breath Brown connected with Moore on a long pass before Brown finished the possession off himself with a two yard run. He then hit Thomas on the conversion pass.

Their 16-point cushion after one quarter increased one play into the second when Brown hooked up with Moore on an 11-yard score.

South Park amassed 238 total yards in the first half on just 23 offensive plays.

East’s grit wasn’t gone—but their chances of pulling the upset seemingly were.

Well, not so fast.

John Dolac got East on the board at 9:56 of the second when he bulldozed his way into the end zone from 13 yards. He also added the two point conversion as East trailed 24-8.

They’d cut the deficit in half with just 25 seconds left before halftime when Jalexis Santiago capped a long drive with an eight yard touchdown run, and Dolac’s two point conversion run was successful.

The Trojans only trailed at the half, 24-16.

They cut it even closer on the first drive on the third quarter. East took advantage of a short field following a failed South Park onside kick and Ray Johnson scored on a 32-yard touchdown run. The two point conversion attempt was stopped and just 1:40 into the third the Sparks had the lead all the way down to 24-22.

Thanks to a pair of turnovers before the third quarter was over, it was as close as the Trojans would get.

East lost fumbles on consecutive drives and it carried heavy consequence. First, Austin Neal scored for the Sparks on a seven yard touchdown run, and Thomas scampered in from two yards out to inflict further damage----16 points off two Trojans gaffes to blow the game open.

“We had to crack down,” Thomas said of his team’s defense. “We knew coming into the second half they were going to make a comeback. We knew we had to crack down on defense and cause some turnovers.”

South Park forced three turnovers on the night without committing one themselves.

Johnson scored on a four yard touchdown run for East to stop the bleeding, but South Park quickly reopened the wound when Brown threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to De’Andre Brown.

The Sparks led after three quarters, 46-30 and scored their final points on a 22-yard Brown to Moore touchdown pass.

The 54 points tied a Section VI single-game points record set by North Tonawanda in 2009.

One of the best all-around players in Western New York, Dolac wrapped up a successful West Seneca East career with 93 yards rushing on 14 carries to go with a touchdown and three two-point conversion runs. He also had 13 tackles on defense.

Santiago finished with 65 yards rushing while Johnson had 43.  As a team the Trojans ran for an impressive 257 yards but could generate little in the passing game and more importantly, rarely had an answer for the explosive Sparks offense.

As for the Class A champions, South Park move on to play in Rochester next weekend against the Section V champion.

For at least one night anyway, Delaney will enjoy the moment.

“What is great about tonight is that we probably played our best game on the biggest stage, which just bodes well for us going forward. “Delaney said. “We responded to a little bit of adversity that we had, and the kids made plays when they needed to make plays.”