Special teams mistakes doom Bucs in loss
Special teams miscues were the undoing of the Hoover High School football team on Friday night in a 36-14 loss to Grayson (Ga.) at the Hoover Met.
The game, nationally televised on ESPNU, was the final regular season game for Hoover, who finishes the regular season 8-2 overall. Its 7-0 Class 7A, Region 3 record earned the Bucs the No. 1 seed for the state playoffs, which begin next week.
A 1-yard touchdown from Garrett Farquhar to tight end Joseph Timpa on a jump pass drew the Bucs to within 22-14 near the end of the third quarter. They were unable to sustain that momentum, as one of a handful of special teams mistakes occurred following Hoover’s next offensive possession.
A snap sailed over punter Barret Pickering’s head, giving Grayson prime field position. The Rams scored three plays later on Jamyest Williams’ first of two fourth-quarter touchdowns. Grayson went ahead 29-14 and the Bucs never recovered.
“When you play great team and you get an opportunity to make plays, you got to make them,” Hoover head coach Josh Niblett said. “We got a chance and we got it cut to a one-score game and all the sudden we have a miscue.
“I don’t like our demeanor after that.”
Later in the final quarter, Grayson punted the ball away, but Hoover muffed the punt and gave the Rams the ball at the 15-yard line to set up Williams’ other touchdown run.
The game started with a special teams lapse from Hoover, as the Bucs were forced to punt on their first drive of the game. The punt was blocked and scooped up by Jalen Alexander, who walked into the end zone easily, giving Grayson a 6-0 lead.
The Bucs’ only lead of the game came late in the first quarter, as CJ Sturdivant capped off an eight-play drive with a 1-yard plunge to give Hoover a 7-6 edge. Quarterback Garrett Farquhar completed a pair of big passes on the drive; a 32-yarder to Cortez Hall and an 18-yard gainer to Shedrick Jackson.
Grayson took a 12-7 halftime lead thanks to a pair of Will VanPamelen field goals.
VanPamelen tacked on another three points midway through the third quarter, as his 47-yard attempt split the uprights to put the Rams ahead 15-7.
Hoover turned the ball over twice in the third quarter. Farquhar threw an interception on the opening drive of the half and R.J. Randle fumbled after a solid gain. The fumble was scooped up by Breon Dixon, who ran the ball all the way down to the 5-yard line. Camron Thompson scored on the following play, putting the Rams up 22-7.
KJ Vault’s fumble recovery set up Hoover’s final scoring drive to cut the game to one score, but the fourth quarter was all Grayson.
Niblett said, “I’m proud of the fight of our kids, but I want to see us finish better. We’re better than that.”
In the other two facets of the game, Hoover actually played well. The defense was put in multiple short-field situations with little chance to succeed. The Bucs held Clemson commit Chase Brice to just 108 yards passing, as he completed 8-of-18 passes.
Grayson managed 250 total yards, while Hoover accumulated 201. The Bucs’ running game was bottled up and gained just 11 yards total. Farquhar finished the night 17-of-34 for 180 yards and a score.
I thought our defense played their tails off,” Niblett said. “I thought the offense came up with some big drives when it needed to. Field position was a huge issue offensively, but we didn’t play very well on special teams at all.”
Hoover lost both games against out-of-state foes, also losing in the Tom Landry Classic at Allen, Texas, in late August. But now the attention turns solely to in-state teams the rest of the way, as the playoffs begin next Friday, Nov. 4.
The Bucs will host Bob Jones at the Hoover Met.
“It’s my job as a head coach to make sure that we’re where we’re supposed to be,” Niblett said. “I’m a little upset right now, because I expected us to beat (Grayson). I don’t know how many people did, but I expected us to beat them.”