Bucs face Rebels after clinching region title
The Hoover High School football team is in familiar territory. Following the results of last week, the Class 7A, Region 3 trophy is assured to rest with the Buccaneers.
Hoover held up its end of the bargain by improving to 6-1 overall, 5-0 in Region 3, with a dominant 38-6 win over Huffman. The Bucs locked up the region as Vestavia Hills beat second-place Mountain Brook in double overtime, 17-14.
The region title is the 11th for Hoover since 2001, and continues a streak that has seen the Bucs advance to the state playoffs every year since the millennium turned.
In last week’s contest, quarterback Garrett Farquhar hurled three touchdown passes, while the defense made its impact felt as well.
Hoover linebacker Kholbe Coleman-Abrams set the tone early when he intercepted Huffman quarterback Anthony Wiggins on the second play from scrimmage. Coleman-Abrams, who was named homecoming king at halftime, led an impenetrable Bucs defense that limited Huffman to only 25 first-half yards. The Vikings finished with 119 yards and just seven first downs.
“We just come out every game ready and excited to play,” Coleman-Abrams said following the game. “We love playing with each other.”
Running back Vonte’ Brackett rumbled into the end zone from 5 yards out, and Farquhar fired a pair of second-quarter TD passes. The first came on a screen pass that wide receiver Kam Ford took 34 yards to the house. On the second, Farquhar found wide receiver Cortez Hall streaking across the front of the end zone for an 8-yard score.
Hoover led 24-0 at half.
“I thought Garrett moved around the pocket well tonight,” Niblett said. “[He] made some plays on third down and came up with a couple of big throws we needed on some drives, and our guys did a really good job catching the football.”
Hoover totaled 399 yards of offense: 192 rushing and 207 passing. Farquhar went 15-of-21 for 207 yards and 3 TDs, while Randle paced the ground attack with 47 yards on eight carries and a touchdown. Wide receiver Jimmy Turner led the receiving corps with six catches for 57 yards.
Friday, the Bucs will take on rival Vestavia Hills at 7 p.m. at the Hoover Met. The Rebels kept their playoff hopes alive with the victory last week and added to the chaos that is the Region 3 playoff race.
Six teams are battling for spots 2-4, as the top four teams from each region advance to the postseason. Mountain Brook, Spain Park and Oak Mountain have 3-2 marks in region play, while Thompson, Vestavia Hills and Huffman are 2-3.
Last fall, the Rebels notched a win over the Bucs, 20-13, before Hoover exacted revenge in a big way in the second round of the playoffs, with a 24-0 victory.
Hoover wraps up region play at Thompson next week.
- Sam Chandler contributed to this story.