Bucs advance to second round with big win over Bob Jones
HOOVER -- The streak is over, but Hoover is moving on.
The Bucs, for the first time this season, allowed double-digit points to an opposing team from Alabama, but cruised past Bob Jones 31-10 in the first round of the Class 7A playoffs at the Hoover Met on Friday night.
The Bucs (9-2) picked off Bob Jones quarterback Brady Polson four times in the win. The first three came at the most opportune of times. After a Garrett Farquhar interception for Hoover, Chase Brown returned the ball for his offense one play later when he picked off Polson. Hoover drove it 25 yards before Barrett Pickering booted a 30-yard field goal to put the Bucs up 3-0 midway through the second quarter.
Three minutes later, Ben Abercrombie picked off Polson and returned it 10 yards for Hoover’s first touchdown of the game. He picked off another pass with :27 left until halftime.
“It felt great,” Abercrombie said. It was the first (touchdown) of my career. It felt great.”
The second half got off to a shaky start for the Bucs. C.J. Sturdivant lost a fumble on the first play from scrimmage, and Bob Jones (7-4) got on the board on the ensuing drive when Ian Kurowsky made a 35-yard field goal. That’s when Hoover shifted into high gear.
Sturdivant redeemed himself, toting the ball six straight times for 44 yards, capping an 11-play drive with a 2-yard touchdown run. It put Hoover up 17-3 with 4:48 left in the third quarter. The Hoover defense got its fourth interception two plays later from Will Singleton, setting up another touchdown drive, capped by an 8-yard run from Sturdivant on fourth-and-1 that put the Bucs up 24-3. Hoover’s final touchdown came on the next drive when Larry McCammon found paydirt from four yards out.
“I thought our offense did a really good job,” said Hoover head coach Josh Niblett.
Bob Jones scored its lone touchdown on a 41-yard throw from Polson to Damontrez Brown with 7:11 to play. Hoover’s Brown, who battled a fever and cough all week and Friday night, said his team is not satisfied with its effort.
“We’re not (satisfied),” he said. “We said in the locker room, ‘No score November.’ They scored 10 points.”
For Hoover, Farquhar finished 9-of-20 for 127 yards and an interception. McCammon rushed 15 times for 104 yards and a score. Sturdivant churned out 73 yards on 15 carries and found the end zone twice. Cortez Hall caught four passes for 47 yards to lead the Bucs in receiving. Shedrick Jackson grabbed two passes for 56 yards, both in the first half.
For Bob Jones, Polson finished 16-of-24 for 160 yards and four interceptions. He did throw one touchdown pass. Brown caught four passes for 71 yards and a touchdown. Brad Anderson rushed 12 times for 76 yards.
Hoover, aside from the two turnovers, played a clean game. The Bucs were penalized only five times for 45 yards.
“You’ve got to be at your best when your best is required,” Niblett said. “Our whole motto for the playoffs is, ‘Everything counts all the time.’”
Hoover hosts James Clemens, which defeated Spain Park 21-12, next Friday.
“They’re really, really good defensively,” Niblett said. “Our biggest thing is we have to worry about us. We’ll break them down and try to figure out what we’ve got to do to give our kids the best opportunity to win. It boils down to how we play. We can’t sit here and worry about how they play. Our kids understand that. They know the next round is going to be harder, tougher. That’s what it’s all about. That’s why you play in the playoffs.”
Brown said the playoffs are all about going 1-0 every week, something the Bucs are trying to do four times.
“They don’t get any easier,” Niblett said. “Our kids understand that.”