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Tuscaloosa County’s Collin Sherrill got plenty of work on Friday night in a Class 7A, Region 3 matchup with Hoover at the Hoover Met.
Considering that Sherrill is the Wildcats’ punter, that is not a good thing. But it was that kind of night for Tuscaloosa County as the Bucs’ defense dominated in a 45-3 victory over the Wildcats.
Tuscaloosa County ran 42 offensive plays on Friday night and the net total was 71 yards with only two of those yards coming on 22 rushing attempts. Ten of the 12 offensive possessions for the Wildcats ended in a Sherrill punt and they had just three first downs. Another possession, started and ended when quarterback Samuel Cooper knelt down to run out the final seconds of the first half. The Wildcats only positive drive ended with a first half 42-yard field goal by Frank Garcia.
“We got guys over there that like to fly around, we got guys over there that are physical and we got guys over there that like to play the game,” said Hoover head coach Josh Niblett. “We do a really good job of keeping you behind the sticks, where you’re 2nd-and-long, 3rd-and-long.”
The Bucs (6-1 overall, 4-1 region) had 10 tackles for loss and the lone double-digit gain was a 11-yard scramble by Cooper in the first half. Jeremiah Moon led Hoover with six tackles, a sack and tackle for loss and Kholbe Coleman and Tyler Byrd each had five tackles with three of Byrd’s tackles coming behind the line of scrimmage.
It was just part of a pleasant evening where the Bucs rebounded from last week’s 17-0 loss to rival Spain Park. But Niblett stopped short of saying the lopsided victory over the winless Wildcats (0-7, 0-5) completely wiped away the bitter taste of last week’s loss.
“We don’t want to get all of that out of our mouth,” Niblett said. “We want to keep a little of that in the back of our throat. I’m a firm believer in certain events happen in your life, certain things happen to you, but it’s all about how you respond to it.”
Hoover’s offense actually looked like the effects from last week’s shutout loss lingered into Friday night.
Hoover didn’t have a first down in the first quarter and its lone first quarter touchdown – a 7-yard pass from Christopher Vacarella to Jimmie Johnson – was set up by a 46-yard punt return by PJ Hall to the 10-yard line.
“That’s just getting out of that funk,” said Niblett. “I think we may have broken out, we’ll find out next week (at Vestavia Hills). I think, tonight, we starting finding a little bit of our identity.”
The Bucs started that with two solid drives in the final six minutes of the first half and an explosive second half. The first long scoring dirve, a six-play, 76-yard sprint, featured a 22-yard connection from Vacarella to Cortez Hall and concluded with a 35-yard touchdown pass from Vacarella to Kam Ford. The final points of the first half – a 37-yard Barret Pickering field goal – came with 37 seconds left before halftime.
Vacarella helped Hoover blow out the Wildcats in the second half. The senior quarterback used his arm to set up third quarter rushing touchdowns of eight yards by C.J. Sturdivant and 16 yards by R.J. Randle as the Bucs extended the lead to 31-3. Vacarella finished 11-of-17 for 199 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Backup quarterback Garrett Farquhar was also sharp, connecting on 10 of 15 attempts for 127 yards with touchdown passes of 10 yards to Quincy Cox and 27 yards to Shedrick Jackson.
“The big thing is whatever is called we got to go make plays,” said Niblett, whose team gained 481 yards on 67 plays and punted just once. “We’re not always going to be in the perfect play. Tonight, we made plays on third down, we made a play (by Ford) when the ball went up and we had to go up and get it. I was proud of Vac, the way he played and commanded the offense, and I thought Garrett came in and played well.”
