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The Hoover Buccaneers, with a dominating 42-7 win over Gadsden City in the semifinals of the Class 7A playoffs, are right where everyone thought they’d be.
But coach Josh Niblett was clear the Bucs (11-2) had to do more than show up on any given Friday to make it happen, to return to the state championship game for a seventh time.
“People don’t understand,” Niblett said. “You get there. And you get there again. But to get there seven times, it’s just a true blessing. God’s got his hand on our program. But more than that, it’s a credit to our players, to our coaches. It all starts back in January, it doesn’t just happen tonight.”
The Bucs suffered horrible field position in the first quarter, starting inside their 5-yard line twice. But Niblett said he’d challenged his team to “pound the rock” and continue to attack with the running game against the Titans. Hoover’s running game broke through in the second quarter, as Bradrick Shaw ran for three touchdowns in the quarter and Marcus Webb added one as the Bucs built a 28-0 lead.
“The game didn’t start out like we wanted it to with field position, but then we kind of started imposing our will," Niblett said.
“I also thought we came out in the third quarter with a great drive, going 13 plays, 75 yards was big for us.”
That drive culminated with a 29-yard scoring pass from Jack Hutcheson to Leonard Wood to make it 35-0 less than 2 minutes into the half and take all the life out of the Titans. Another TD run by Webb late in the quarter pushed the lead to 42-0. Gadsden City managed a consolation score with a little over 5 minutes left in the game.
The Bucs will face Prattville on Dec. 3 at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn in the 7A title game. The Lions beat Foley 42-17.
“What a blessing it is to get back, but now we got to finish it.”
