By Gary Thomas

The road has not been kind to the Crenshaw Christian Academy (CCA) Cougars the last two weeks as they fell to the Sparta Academy Warriors Friday night, 52-23.

Reeling off an overtime loss to Edgewood Academy, 27-21, the Cougars took the 61-mile trip to Evergreen in hopes of getting back on the winning side of the ledger. But that would not be the case in this Alabama Independent School Association (AISA) Region 2 matchup.

The Cougars jumped out to fight early in the opening quarter when defensive tackle Nathan Carroll dropped the Warriors running back in his end zone for a safety and a CCA 2-0 lead. Sparta answered quickly on a 32-yard pass to take a 8-0 lead after the two-point play.

On the Warriors’ next possession, they hit the Cougar end zone on a 24-yard play to go up 14-2. The Warrior defense stood strong to force a Cougar punt.

From that point, the Warriors drove 75 yards in 11 plays. That resulted in a 10-yard touchdown pass. The pass for two points on the PAT was good as they went up 22-2. Sparta got a late touchdown in the first half to go into the locker room up 30-2.

The second half got started when the Cougars drove 48 yards in six plays with Dalton Jordan going in from 54 yards out for the score. The Cougar PAT kick was good as the scoreboard stood at Warriors 30, Cougars 9.

Sparta widened their lead and the Cougars added two more scores as the final score read 52-23. With the loss, the Cougars are now at 4-3 and 2-1 in Region play. They will host 6-0 Lowndes Academy Friday with kickoff at 7 p.m.