Cass overcomes early deficit, rallies past Sprayberry 50-29

August 29, 2026

Charles Wilson / BartowSportsZone.com

Cass overcame two costly early miscues and a 14-point first-quarter deficit Friday night, erupting for 34 unanswered points over a stretch spanning the second and third quarters to defeat Sprayberry 50-29 at Doug Cochran Stadium.

The Colonels improved to 2-0 with the victory, while the Yellow Jackets fell to 1-1.

Cass struggled to find its footing early.

After receiving the opening kickoff, the Colonels went three-and-out, and Anthony Quijada’s punt attempt from his own end zone was blocked. Sprayberry’s Noah Wideman recovered the ball for a touchdown with 10:34 remaining in the first quarter. Max Madayag’s extra point gave the Yellow Jackets a 7-0 lead.

Cass suffered another setback on its next possession when quarterback Noah Rogers was intercepted by Wideman, who returned the pick to the Cass 21-yard line. Three plays later, Sprayberry quarterback Durrell Wilson connected with Edris Nickerson on a 15-yard touchdown pass, putting the Yellow Jackets ahead 14-0 with 7:44 left in the opening quarter.

Colonels’ head coach Steve Gates talked about the slow start on Saturday morning.

“We don’t have a lot of game experience, but we are very talented. This group only knows one speed: fast. So the mistakes they make, they make them flying around. You can’t coach effort, and these kids give it their all regardless. For example, our QB is still 14 years old, so he’s going to make mistakes, but man, he threw some dimes last night. He’s such a great kid too.”

The Colonels began their comeback early in the second quarter.

Defensive back Tyson Beauford recovered a Sprayberry fumble, and Cass turned the takeaway into its first touchdown. Defensive end-turned-fullback Codey Dean powered into the end zone from one yard out, and Anthony Diaz added the PAT to cut the deficit to 14-7 with 9:01 remaining in the first half.

Sprayberry answered with a 10-play drive that ended with Madayag’s 27-yard field goal with 4:35 left before halftime, extending the Yellow Jackets’ lead to 17-7.

Cass then put together its most important drive of the first half, marching 80 yards before intermission.

The Colonels leaned heavily on running backs Kalil and Kalel Charles, while a key pass from Rogers to Jah Abdullah-Kortey helped set up the score. Rogers finished the drive with a 4-yard touchdown keeper with 2:45 remaining in the second quarter. Diaz’s PAT made it 17-14 at halftime.

Cass seized control in the third quarter.

The Colonels opened the second half with a five-play, 91-yard touchdown drive that took little time. Kalil Charles broke loose for a 60-yard run to launch the march, then finished it with a 9-yard touchdown run. Diaz’s extra point gave Cass its first lead, 21-17, with 6:07 remaining in the third quarter.

Gates was excited about some of the adjustments his staff made at the break.

“I  can tell you this: we’ve never had a group of wide receivers that have blocked like this at Cass. I challenged Coach Price preseason about our wide receivers' lack of blocking in the run game. He has done an outstanding job with Jahlil (Abdullah-Korrtey), Jeremy (Barrett), Raymond (Woodard) and King (Lloyd). They all four blocked their tails off last night. It was fun to watch. All I heard on the headset all night from our OL coach was, “We can mash them up front,” and we did. Plus, having Kalil and Kalel makes things a little easier if you know what I mean.”

From there, the Colonels capitalized on three consecutive Sprayberry kickoff return fumbles.

Beauford, Marcus Daniels and Kalel Charles each recovered a Yellow Jackets fumble, and Cass turned all three takeaways into touchdowns.

Rogers connected with Raymond Woodard for a 29-yard touchdown, Kalel Charles added a 4-yard touchdown run, and Charles scored again on a 1-yard run. With 2:16 remaining in the third quarter, Cass had turned a 17-14 halftime deficit into a 41-17 advantage.

Gates talked about ultimately winning the turnover battle.

“Coach Spencer runs our special teams, and he takes extreme pride in it. He found areas we could exploit, and the guys executed the plan perfectly, resulting in several turnovers. Anthony Diaz and Trent Cullifer had an incredible night for us on special teams.”

Sprayberry, however, refused to go quietly.

The Yellow Jackets drove 78 yards in seven plays, with Wilson throwing a 15-yard touchdown pass to Kamren Scott. The two-point conversion failed, leaving Cass with a 41-23 lead with 11:50 remaining.

Sprayberry then ran into more trouble when a low snap on a punt attempt from its own end zone resulted in a safety with 8:59 left, extending Cass’ lead to 43-23.

The Colonels added one more touchdown when Rogers hit Jeremy Barrett for a 45-yard touchdown with 6:11 remaining.

Sprayberry closed the scoring with 2:39 left when Wilson connected with Nickerson for a 3-yard touchdown pass, producing the final 50-29 margin.

Coach Gates praised the efforts of the Colonels’ defense.

“The defense played fast and physical. Just like our offense, we don’t have a lot of experience, but man, they love to play the game, and they love to hit. They’ve learned to practice the right way, and it’s translated to Friday nights. Zach (Stiles) and Eli (Simmons) had big plays all over the field; Tyson (Beauford) had several big hits. We had one busted coverage which resulted in a touchdown, but outside of that, Demarcus (Daniels), Holden and Zxavion (Turner) played great. The entire defense played hard; they limited a very good Sprayberry team to only two offensive touchdowns. The other two were the result of a tipped ball by our offense and on special teams.”

Cass returns home Friday night for a matchup of unbeaten teams as the 2-0 Colonels host 2-0 Creekview at 7:30 p.m. The Class 6A Grizzlies enter the game with victories over Forsyth Central, 33-0, and North Springs, 57-12.

The game will be broadcast live on BartowSportsZone.com.

Sprayberry will host Kell on Friday at 7:30 p.m.