“We had to go against what we’ve been through all year,” said Springfield senior Duncan Bradley III. “We didn’t have the record we thought we would, but we came out and we fought back. It’s a new season now and we wanted to keep moving game-by-game.”
Springfield junior Brent Upshaw threw for 101 yards and two touchdowns, one to Bradley and another to senior Da’Shawn Martin. Senior Aaron Scott, senior Jayvin Norman and sophomore Deontre Long all rushed for TDs as the Wildcats improved to 6-5.
“We were just happy to get the win and I think the numbers on the (scoreboard) said enough,” said Springfield coach Maurice Douglass. “Everybody underestimated us. We had four quarterbacks play the first game. We were able to go out tonight and play with two and they were successful.”
Junior quarterback Tyrell Lewis rushed for two touchdowns as the Warriors finished the season 7-4. Warriors coach Roosevelt Mukes was disappointed for 14 seniors who fought hard all season, he said.
“We just wanted them to go out the right way,” he said.
Springfield took a 7-0 lead on a 17-yard TD run by Long with one minute remaining in the first quarter. The Wildcats extended the lead after back-to-back TD passes by Upshaw to Bradley and Martin. Wayne cut the lead to 21-7 on a 1-yard TD run by Lewis with 2:57 remaining in the first half.
The Warriors cut it to 21-14 on a 4-yard run by Lewis in the third quarter, but Wayne wouldn’t get any closer. Scott scored on a 1-yard run to give Springfield a 28-14 lead.
“Coach always says when your back is against the wall, the worst thing you can do is turn your back,” Scott said. “You’ve got to fight and get out of that hole. We were without a lot of key players, so we did this for them and for our city.”
Norman broke free for a 25-yard TD run to make it 35-14 after three quarters. Junior Brayden Herron hit a 25-yard field goal with 5:37 remaining for the final margin.
“Right now, we’ve got nothing to lose,” Bradley said. “We didn’t have the season we wanted. We came from two state championship games, and we want to get back to that point. We’re going to keep fighting every week.”
Springfield chose not to shake hands with Wayne, opting to wave to the Warriors as they walked off the field. Douglass said he meant no disrespect to Coach Mukes or Wayne’s program, but wanted to make sure there were no altercations after the game. Mukes wasn’t aware there would be no postgame handshake and said he was disappointed by the situation.
Springfield advanced to face rival Centerville (9-2) next Friday at Centerville Stadium. The Elks beat the Wildcats 24-16 in Week 8 in Springfield.
“We’ve got to have a great week of preparation and let them lie on Friday night,” Douglass said.
“We knew who we needed to depend on this game,” Douglass added. “It wasn’t about what anyone out here could do, it was only God and tonight God did.”
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