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Thompson High turned big plays into points in its Class 7A, Region 3 showdown against Hoover on Friday night at the Hoover.
The good news – at least for those sporting Hoover colors during the Bucs homecoming game – was the Warriors managed only two of those big plays. Other than that, the Bucs defense was dominating during the 31-14 victory.
The two big plays produced 156 yards in offense. The other 54 offensive snaps for Thompson netted a grand total of 63 yards.
“I know defensively we’d like to take those two big plays away, but you can’t,” said Josh Niblett, who won his 101st game as the Hoover head coach. “I’m proud of our effort defensively. I thought we lined up and did what we were supposed to do. Our guys fly around and play fast. They don’t give up much on the perimeter. We do a really good job of pressuring the quarterback.”
The Bucs (5-0 overall, 3-0 region) had 10 tackles for loss and sacked Thompson quarterback Walker Lott three times. Cornerbacks P.J. Hall and Malachi Herron had interceptions for the Bucs and the Warriors were 3 of 15 on third down. Jeremiah Moon led the way with nine tackles, Christon Taylor had nine tackles with a piece of two sacks and Kholbe Coleman had eight tackles.
“The big plays were complete busts on our part,” said Hall, who had another outstanding night from his cornerback spot.
The first big play – an 86-yard run by Thompson’s Carlos Stephens – ended a yard short of the goal line. It took three plays but the Warriors (3-2, 1-2) were able to cut Hoover’s lead to 14-7 on an 8-yard pass from Lott to Jordan Haywood.
The second big play came on the opening possession of the second half when a wide open Stephens gathered in a Lott pass in the middle of the field and sprinted 70 yards untouched into the end zone.
Before, in between and after those big Thompson plays, however, was a game that was largely controlled by the Bucs, despite being penalized 109 yards on 13 infractions. Hoover took quick lead by zooming 70 yards on four plays with the game opening possession. C.J. Sturdivant capped it with a 33-yard touchdown run. About 10 minutes later, Hoover quarterback Christopher Vacarella connected with Jimmie Johnson on a 56-yard touchdown pass.
Hoover took a 21-7 into halftime when Vacarella scored from 14 yards out with 3:09 left in the first half.
Thompson scored first in the second half but Hoover built the lead back to 10 points on a 25-yard field goal by Barret Pickering. The Bucs then put the game away with a 23-yard scoring pass from Vacarella to Cortez Hall with 11:28 remaining. It was the first time in three weeks that Hoover didn’t go down to the final possession before putting away an opponent.
“I was proud the way we responded at certain parts of the game,” said Niblett, whose team produced 386 yards on 63 plays. “I liked how we started the game. When we are able to start the game fast and stay fast, it allows us a chance as a team to play up tempo in all three phases.”
However, the Bucs now get the chance to slow down before facing another opponent. Hoover has a bye next week before playing host to school district rival Spain Park on Oct. 1 at the Hoover Met. Niblett said the week off comes at a good time.
“They got to heal up a little bit and just become a better football team as we got a little time off,” Niblett said. “We got some guys defensively that didn’t play tonight that were starters for us. We got to get those guys back. And, you know, the wear of tear of playing five games, against the physical football teams we’ve played, you’re going to get guys banged up. We just want to heal up, try to get our legs back under us.”
