BELLEVILLE — Already an elite wrestler, 5-foot-6, 150-pound Belleville West senior Mech Spraggins showed Friday the type of impact he can have on a football field.
Spraggins nearly returned an interception for a touchdown, had a long punt return, four pass receptions and helped anchor the Maroons' tight defense in an impressive 35-0 victory over Evansville (Ind.) Memorial.
Memorial was held to one yard rushing in the first half and in the game had just eight yards on the ground on 25 carries.
"Fantastic," West coach Cameron Pettus said when asked about the elusive Spraggins, who had four catches for 37 yards and on punt returns and interception returns looked like a Madden Football video game player in continuous fast-forward mode. "He can tell you it's because of those big, fat ugly guys out there blocking on the edge. He's just an outstanding young man and I'm glad he's out here with us -- not to mention he's a halfway decent wrestler."
West sophomore Antoine Davis picked up 73 of his 112 yards rushing on an early touchdown run and junior Brian Hill tacked on a 48-yard TD run among his 77-yard total.
Even though they had little in the way of sustained offensive drives and just two first downs, the Maroons headed to the locker room at halftime with a 28-0 lead against the 0-2 Tigers.
Big plays were the main reason as Hill took a pitch on the sixth play of the game and scored from 48 yards out. Davis then took his turn, nearly fumbling a handoff before sliding through the line of scrimmage and then high-stepping away from the final defender en route to a 73-yard touchdown run.
"I saw a lot of good things out of Mech and some of our running backs did some nice things with the ball," Pettus said. "I thought Nick Simmonds did a nice job with some catches out there and Sherand Boyd did well."
That made it 14-0 and Boyd, the West sophomore quarterback making his first varsity start, tacked on a 1-yard TD run late in the first quarter to push the lead to 21-0.
Spraggins, who nearly broke free on a big punt return, picked off a pass late in the half and was finally hauled down at the Memorial 1-yard line.
It typically took more than one tackler to bring him down as Spraggins showed the strength and balance that makes him one of the state's top wrestlers.
"It was a great," Spraggins said of the win. "We had a horrific season last year and we just wanted to do better. We came out pumped and I just did what I tend to do with my team.
"The coaches put me in the right positions to succeed and I want to thank all of the coaches for putting me in the right spot."
On Friday that could have been practically anywhere.
With Boyd out with a leg cramp following Spraggins' interception, backup quarterback Ian Baumann scored on a 2-yard run just before the half ended. Austin Seibert's fourth extra-point gave the Maroons a 28-0 cushion.
Boyd added an 18-yard TD run in the second half as the Maroons finished off the win. He was 11-of-15 passing for 95 yards and also ran the ball 17 times for 66 yards.
"He was nervous of course and I told him that's natural, but I thought he did well," Pettus said. "There's some things he's going to have to learn, but we'll correct it on film and come back and get ready for next week."
Memorial Tigers quarterback Dane Hurley was 21-of-40 passing for 143 yards, but also was sacked three times.
Contact reporter Norm Sanders at nsanders@bnd.com or 239-2454.
