Bucs beat Gadsden City, advance to state final
GADSDEN – The Bucs are back in the state final.
And if you ask Hoover head coach Josh Niblett, that’s right where his team belongs.
On Friday night at Titan Stadium, Hoover (11-2) bested Gadsden City (7-6), 42-14, in the Class 7A state semifinal. With the win, the Bucs advanced to the state championship, which will be held Wednesday, Nov. 30, at Auburn’s Jordan-Hare Stadium.
“They’ve worked their tails off since last February to get back to this spot,” Niblett said. “They want to be where they’re at right now. I’m just proud of them. I’m proud of our coaches, proud of our fans. Everybody involved, I can’t say enough about them.”
Awaiting Niblett’s squad will be defending state champion McGill-Toolen. The Yellow Jackets beat Central-Phenix City, 35-21, in the other state semifinal to clinch a return trip to the championship.
Hoover last advanced to the state title game in 2014, when it beat Prattville, 35-21, to claim the program’s 11th blue trophy.
Senior linebacker K.J. Vault was on that team, and he said this year’s group had to dig deep during Friday’s game in order to make it back.
“We all just looked at each other in the eye and said, ‘We want it for ourselves,’” Vault said. “We wanted to go ahead and bring that state championship back to Hoover. Now, we have a chance to.”
Vault helped lead a Hoover defense that limited Gadsden City to 10 total yards of second half offense. The Titans only gained one first down in the final two quarters of action. Gadsden City ended the game with 113 yards and eight first downs.
Hoover, on the other hand, rolled up 393 yards of total offense and 24 first downs. The bulk of that load came in the second half, when the Bucs exploded for 35 points.
The score had been tied 7-7 at halftime thanks to two quarters of relatively balanced play from both sides.
“We just had that look in our eye, and we knew what we had to do to be able to go out and dominate the second half,” Vault said.
It started immediately.
After Gadsden City went three-and-out on its opening drive of the third quarter, the Hoover special teams produced a pivotal play. A pair of Bucs tackled the Titans’ punter after he bobbled the long snap, jarring the ball loose. Hoover senior Jayson Evans recovered it in the end zone to put his team on top 13-7. Place-kicker Barret Pickering drilled the ensuing PAT to make it 14-7.
“I think any time you get something off of special teams, it’s huge,” Niblett said. “It was a spark.”
That spark turned into a flame, and eventually, a full-fledged fire.
Hoover tacked on two more third quarter touchdowns to make it 28-7 with 12 minutes to play. Vonte’ Brackett rushed in from 5 yards, and C.J. Sturdivant rushed in from 2.
Brackett paced the Hoover backfield with 58 yards on 10 carries.
The Bucs struck twice more in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Garrett Farquhar connected with wide receiver George Pickens on a jump ball in the back, left corner of the end zone at the 11:53 mark to push Hoover’s advantage to 35-7.
Pickens landed with one foot in bounds to complete the highlight-reel catch.
“I basically went inside, went outside, and then they threw it up and I just held on for dear life,” Pickens said.
The TD toss capped a three-play, 21-yard drive that was set up by a Vault interception.
Farquhar finished the game 10-of-19 passing for 152 yards and two interceptions, both of which came in the first half. Shedrick Jackson led the receiving corps with 81 yards on five catches.
Hoover capped its scoring with 4:45 left in the fourth quarter. Running back Corwin Russell scampered in from 16 yards out to extend his team’s lead to 42-7. Gadsden City scored on a 99-yard kickoff return following the touchdown, which brought the contest to its final point total.
One last game now stands between Hoover and a blue map. To capture it, the Bucs will have to down a McGill-Toolen team that has won 22 straight. The Yellow Jackets last lost on Sept. 25, 2015.
“We’ve got a week and a half to heal up,” Niblett said. “I’m proud of our kids; I’m proud of their effort.”