Pro Mindset Earns Spain Park’s Bradley OTM Offensive Player of the Year Honor

Members of the 2024 OTMJ All-OTM offensive team are, front, from left: Dakarai Shanks, Spain Park; Jackson Bell, Spain Park; Aubrey Walker, John Carroll; Corey Barber, Spain Park; Brock Bradley, Spain Park; Stuart Andrews, Mountain Brook; Kylen Newell, Homewood; Evan Ausmer, Homewood. Middle: Jonah Winston, Hoover; Rocco Gray, Mountain Brook; Zack Fitzgerald, Oak Mountain; JD Livingston, Vestavia Hills; Walker Williams, Homewood; Whit Armistead, Homewood; Landon Page, Vestavia Hills. Back: Chris Warren, Hoover; Daniel Ellis, Mountain Brook; Toby Richard, Hoover; Will O’Dell, Oak Mountain. Not pictured Bruce Littleton, Vestavia Hills.

By Rubin E. Grant

Brock Bradley is only a high school junior, but the Spain Park quarterback approaches football with the mindset of someone much older.

At least, that’s how Spain Park head football coach Tim Vakakes characterizes Bradley.

“Nothing Brock does surprises me,” Vakakes said. “He has the ultimate drive to be the best. He’s a professional in a high school body.”

Bradley was at his best this fall. He accounted for 2,786 yards total offense and 38 touchdowns while leading the Jaguars to the first undefeated regular season in the 23-year history of the program.

He completed 65.5% of his passes (173 of 264) for 2,667 yards and 32 touchdowns with only five interceptions. He also rushed for 119 yards and six touchdowns as Spain Park reached the Class 6A quarterfinals and finished with a 12-1 record.

For his performance, Bradley was voted the 2024 OTM Football Offensive Player of the Year in balloting of Over the Mountain coaches.

“I was very pumped when I found out,” Bradley said. “I appreciate it. I couldn’t have done it without my coaches and the people around me. The guys up front, the receivers and the running backs were great, and we had a special senior class. 

“This season was definitely special. We were fortunate to finish the regular season undefeated.” 

Vakakes said Bradley was “very deserving” of the honor.

“Last year, we broke the school record for points in a season and we broke it again this year,” Vakakes said. “A lot of that is because we had Brock Bradley behind center. He’s a really talented kid and a student of the game.”

The Jags lost to Class 6A runner-up Saraland 45-19 in the quarterfinals. But right after Thanksgiving, Bradley was already looking forward to 2025, his senior season.

“We got back to work, starting the grind over again,” Bradley said. “We’re going to focus on the little things and hope to bring home the state championship next year.”

The 6-foot-1, 185-pound QB already has committed to Clemson.

“I am looking forward to getting up to Death Valley and playing there,” Bradley said, referring to Clemson’s home stadium. 

Bradley heads up the 2024 All-OTM Football Team offense. He is joined by Oak Mountain senior quarterback Will O’Dell, who broke the school’s single-season record for all-purpose and passing yards. O’Dell threw for 1,993 yards and rushed for 1,096, finishing with 3,089 yards total offense, and accounted for 17 touchdowns (9 passing, 8 rushing).

The running backs are Mountain Brook’s Stuart Andrews, Spain Park’s Dakarai Shanks and Homewood’s Evan Ausmer.

Andrews rushed for 1,805 yards and 23 touchdowns on 309 carries. Shanks rushed for 1,292 yards and 11 touchdowns and caught seven passes for 133 yards and two touchdowns. Ausmer rushed for 884 yards, caught 16 passes for 135 yards and scored 14 touchdowns.

The wide receiver and tight end corps includes Hoover’s Jonah Winston and Chris Warren. Winston had 38 receptions for 542 yards, rushed for 152 yards and scored eight touchdowns. Warren, a tight end committed to Jacksonville State, caught 19 passes for 272 yards and three touchdowns and was a great blocker.

Joining them are Spain Park’s Corey Barber, Homewood’s Kylen Newell, Oak Mountain’s Zack Fitzgerald, Vestavia Hills’ Bruce Littleton and John Carroll Catholic’s Aubrey Walker.

Barber had 74 receptions for 1,429 yards and 17 touchdowns and had a rushing touchdown; Newell had 58 receptions, for 1,020 yards and eight touchdowns; Fitzgerald had 51 catches for 901 yards and six touchdowns; Littleton, a versatile tight end, had more than 1,000 yards total offense with 46 catches for 578 yards and four touchdowns and 86 carries for 492 yards and 11 rushing touchdowns.

Up front on the offensive line are Mountain Brook’s Daniel Ellis and Rocco Gray, Vestavia Hills’ J.D. Livingston and Landon Page, Homewood’s Walker Williams, Hoover’s Toby Richard, and Spain Park’s Jackson Bell. 

Ellis, who has been chosen to play in the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star game, allowed no sacks this season. He had 38 pancake blocks, 62 knockdowns and a 91% blocking efficiency. Gray made all the running game checks and recorded 24 pancakes, 41 knockdowns and had a 94% blocking efficiency.

Livingston had 91% blocking efficiency and 57 knockdowns, and Page graded out at 92% with 85 knockdowns.

Williams graded 90% for the season and gave up only one sack. Richard graded 83% and Bell graded 84% and did not allow a sack.

The place-kicker is Homewood senior Whit Armistead. He made 47 of 50 extra point attempts and 9 of 11 field goal attempts with a long of 42 yards. He finished the season with 74 points, eclipsing 200 for his career.

Coach of the Year

Vakakes was voted 2024 OTM Football Coach of the Year. After going 3-7 in his first season and 7-3 in 2023, he led the Jags to their most wins since they finished 12-2 in 2015.

“This is a culmination of a lot of hard work from the parents, to the kids, the coaches, the administration and the community,” Vakakes said. “Everybody was pulling the rope the same way, so this is an award for all of them, not just me.”

Vakakes expected the Jags to have a good season, but they surpassed his expectations.

“I knew we had a chance to be good,” he said. “Our kids believed in what we were doing and never panicked. “Even in the game at Saraland, we kept fighting until the end. We had a good group of senior leaders.”