SPANISH FORT, Ala. – As sure as the seventh game of football season means fall is in the air, it also means the 5A Region 1 football standings are predictably getting tight down the stretch.

Spanish Fort's 28-6 homecoming win over LeFlore puts the Toros, the Rattlers and St. Paul's Saints at 3-1 each in region play.

"It's like I've said before, we play in the toughest region in the state," said Spanish Fort coach Bryant Vincent. "And now the proof is in the pudding."

Vincent said before the game that his defense would be key to a home win for SFHS and the Toro defense came through in a big way.

"Our defense played extremely well all night long. LeFlore is a very good team. But the bottom line is, our guys fought hard with tremendous effort and made plays when we had to. Offensively, we stuck to grinding it out until we could break one and we broke several."

The Rattlers dared the Toros to throw or break through the stacked Rattler defense and SFHS quarterback Ameriol Finley did both. Twice on the ground and twice in the air.

"LeFlore stacked the box with no safety and zero coverage," Vincent said. "It made it tough to run but we were patient to break a big one and we knew we would and we did. We just kept grinding."

On the second SF possession of the game, Finley broke outside for a 46-yard TD run set up by a 16-yard punt return by Christopher Beasley and option hand offs to Davares Ambrose into Rattler territory. Bobby Creighton’s extra point made it 7-0 Spanish Fort with 3:16 left in the first quarter.

LHS made it a 7-6 game about four minutes into the second period when Terriol Wallace reversed field and raced 43 yards to score. But the PAT was low and wide to preserve the Spanish Fort lead.

SFHS was forced to punt after the kick-off and LeFlore got the ball back at their 48. On the first play of the drive, the Rattlers showed how dangerous they can be on offense when QB Joseph Pough connected with Jevon Dixon down the sideline for a 51-yard gain to the Toro one.

The Toro defense withstood one straight-ahead run by LHS' Danny Woodson who was stopped at the two. Woodson then attempted to dive over and in, but the ball was stripped away. Jake Brackhan got control at the three and raced the other way for an apparent Toro touchdown. But a holding call brought the ball back to the SFHS 4-yard line.

Toro defensive coordinator Earnest Hill was proud of the defense for stopping the Rattlers at the goal line, shifting the momentum and keeping the Rattlers on the deck the rest of the game.

"They got down on the 1-yard line but we didn't let them score. The kids stopped them and we got the take away. Got called back but we'll take that any day of the week."

Hill added that he knew it would be tough to stop a team averaging more than 30 points per game.

"We had a good game plan and the kids played hard. LeFlore has a lot of talent and they can hurt you quickly, but they didn't get in. In the second half, we made some adjustments but then went back and ran our regular defense. I'm really proud of the kids effort."

The goal-line, take-away stand turned into the longest (96 yards) drive of the night for Spanish Fort.

Starting at their own 4 after the penalty, the Toros drove to their 43 picking up two first downs on Finley keepers and a third-and-5 conversion pass to Billy Harris before facing a fourth-and-3. SF punter Zac Fowler – who had monster punts of 50 and 62 yards to boost his 43-yard average – faked a loose ball while Ambrose at the up back spot ran it up the middle for a first down with less than a minute left in the half. Finley then hit Adam Adcock for a 21-yard gain and a first down at the LeFlore 34 and with 15.2 seconds remaining found Troy Brown open just over the goal line for a 14-yard TD catch that made it 14-6 at the half.

SFHS made it 21-6 five minutes into the fourth quarter on their fourth possession of the second half. The five-play drive started at the Toro 26 and advanced to the 35 on runs by Finley and Otis Smith. Finley then hit Billy Harris over the middle at the 50 for a 65-yard TD pass.

Forced to throw, Wallace was sacked three times in the second half with Demarco Montgomery, Shane English, Osmond Curtis and David Sullivan among others shutting down the Rattler attack.

On the next SFHS drive Finley ran for the final TD from 34 yards out on a burst off the right side of the Toro line. Creighton added his fourth PAT with Brown holding with 5:08 to go for the 28-6 final.

Vincent added it was no small feat to outscore LHS by three touchdowns and the Toro D made it possible.

"This was the biggest challenge that our defense faced up to this point and I'm very proud of our effort. We beat a very good football team."

Finley finished with 297 total yards, two TDs rushing and two passing.

Ambrose carried nine times for 37 yards including a 14-yard gain and caught three passes, one good for 16 yards.

Spanish Fort (6-1, 3-1) travels to Prichard Stadium to face Vigor next. The Wolves dropped to 2-2 in Region 1 last week. LHS (5-2, 3-1) will host Faith.