Quick start sparks Alma to 26-14 scrimmage win

By Kevin Taylor 

Alma Schools 

On Monday night, it didn’t take Israel Towns-Robinson long to leave his mark at Jim Rowland Stadium at Southside High School. 

Towns-Robinson ripped off a 69-yard touchdown run on the game’s third play and added a 47-yard jaunt midway through the second quarter to give a 26-14 scrimmage win over the Mavericks.

Alma opens the regular season on Aug. 29 against Van Buren. 

Both teams played two quarters (one half) before a 24-minute running clock in the second half, with mostly backups on the field.   

Towns-Robinson finished with 146 yards on just eight carries, and sophomore Daniel Rodriguez kicked two field goals for the winners. 

“I thought we played well,” Alma head coach Rusty Bush said. “If anything was disappointing, I thought it would be getting into the low red zone twice - we came out there with a field goal on one of them and didn’t score on the other. But other than that, I’m extremely pleased."

“We could have put up more (points), but we did come out and play fast and physical.”

Alma scored on its first three possessions, with Towns-Robinson turning a third-and-one into a long touchdown run. Quarterback Michael Taylor threw a touchdown pass to Jacob Dollard on the team’s second possession, and Rodriguez booted a 29-yard field goal on the third possession to make it 16--0. 

The Airedales amassed 229 total yards in the first quarter.

“I’m thankful to be back. I was excited to come out here and play,” Taylor said. “I knew we were ready; we were excited to return from that last Parkview game (playoff) game last year … we were bummed out about that."

“But we came out and got it done. I think we’re ready for August 29th.”

Towns-Robinson added his second TD to stretch the lead to 23-7 in the second quarter. Rodriguez booted a 30-yard field goal in the second half to account for the final points. 

“We need a little work, but we’ve got to focus on throwing the ball and executing every play,” junior Sam Schlegel said. “It’s awesome that football is here. We’ve got brothers that back you up. Next week we have VB, but we all to trust each other as brothers.”

Southside, which is dropping from 7A to 6A this season, amassed 212 total second-quarter yards thanks to a pair of long scoring drives. The Mavericks open the season on Aug. 30 against cross-town rival Northside. 

“We’re looking for a big year,” senior defensive back Cash Farris said. “We’ve got a lot of senior experience on defense … about 10 or 11 returning starters. We’re excited for the season and ready to go play VB this week.”