The drive ultimately stalled, but Spain Park extended its lead to 17-13 on a field goal with 3:53 remaining in the third quarter.

From there, the Jaguars’ defense took over.

Sparkman continued to threaten with Naylon’s legs, but Spain Park repeatedly found ways to limit the damage. MJ Evans made a key stop in the third quarter, while the secondary also came up with several strong plays to keep the Senators from creating explosive passing plays.

The Jaguars appeared poised to extend their lead early in the fourth quarter, but Davis threw an interception on an ill-advised pass across his body, giving Sparkman possession with a chance to take the lead.

Spain Park’s defense answered again.

The Senators moved the ball but eventually faced fourth-and-7 with 2:41 remaining. Under pressure, Naylon couldn’t find an open receiver, and the pass fell incomplete.

The Jaguars took over and turned to their running game and clock management.

CJ Davis picked up several important yards, and Spain Park converted a third-and-1 with a quarterback sneak to keep the clock moving. The Jaguars then closed the game in victory formation.

“I thought Nash played really well and did a lot of really good things,” Vakakes said. “He moved in the pocket well and kept his eyes downfield, extending the play a couple of times on some scrambles. He made a couple of those first-game mistakes that he’ll clean up.”

Davis’ first varsity start was a mixed but promising performance. He showed poise moving around the pocket and made several big-time throws, while also experiencing the kind of mistakes expected from a first-time starter.

“He’s got a chance to be special, but he’s got to keep getting better every week,” Vakakes said.

The bigger story for Spain Park, however, may have been what happened defensively after halftime.

The Jaguars entered the season with several new faces and plenty of questions after losing key contributors from last year’s team. They struggled early against Sparkman’s rushing attack but adjusted after the break.

“Our defense wasn’t executing early on in the game,” Vakakes said. “They weren’t playing with leverage or technique, and they were just trying to do too much.”

Vakakes credited Naylon for creating those problems.

“He’s one of the best pure athletes we’ll see,” Vakakes said. “He could just really fly, and hurt us on the outside with his legs. We lost contain a couple of times, and things like that you can’t lose contain with. He’s a really good player.”

Spain Park corrected those issues after halftime and held the Senators scoreless over the final 24 minutes.

“Our defense, though, did a much better job in the second half and played well and preserved the game,” Vakakes said.

The Jaguars finished with a road victory despite struggling to establish the run consistently and committing several penalties.

Those are areas Vakakes knows must improve, but the Jaguars leave Sparkman with exactly what they wanted to begin the season: a win.

“We’ve got a lot of new guys in different spots this season,” Vakakes said. “Tonight, we couldn’t run the ball as well as we’d like to, but again the kids fought and did what they had to do.”

For a Spain Park team with aspirations of competing in a loaded Class 6A, Region 3, Friday’s opener provided an early test of its ability to win a close game.

The Jaguars passed that test.

Now they’ll have an opportunity to clean up the mistakes before the next one, a home game against Bessemer City on Friday, Aug. 28 at 7 p.m.