Bucs earn Wade Waldrop's maiden win
HOOVER -- Orange lights flickered across Hoover Metropolitan Stadium on Friday night as the Hoover High School football team celebrated its first win of the Wade Waldrop coaching era. Looking to right the ship after a loss to Auburn last week in the AHSAA Kickoff Classic, Waldrop had his Bucs firing on all cylinders, en route to a 55-6 win over Bartlett from Tennessee.
“This was a good response. It’s the first of many,” Waldrop said. “It’s a win. I hadn’t had one in the last three tries going back to last season [at Florence]. We needed one personally, but this team needed it. It’s a good way to come home and start region play next week, which is what it’s all about. I thought we got better in our deficiencies this week. We’ve got to find a way to eliminate some more.”
The Bucs rushed for 204 yards and averaged more than 10 yards per carry in their home opener, starting with a 72-play opening drive. Hoover marched down the field to score on a 13-yard touchdown run by Ahamari Williams in less than four minutes of play. Bartlett answered with an eight-minute drive when Jeremiah Reed reeled in an 11-yard touchdown pass from Braylen Ragland. That was the most offense the Panthers had all game, as the Bucs held them to 136 yards total offense.
Bartlett held Hoover on its next series, but a 62-yard punt by Peyton Argent flipped the field and the Bucs’ switch. On the next play, Devan Carlisle intercepted a Ragland pass and ran it back 27 yards for a Hoover touchdown. Aftera short five-play drive stalled for the Panthers, Hoover marched down the field in three plays to make it 21-7 on an 11-yard LaMarion McCammon touchdown run. Williams kickstarted the drive with a 55-yard scamper down the home sideline.
Less than a minute later, Bradley Shaw added a second Bucs’ pick-six. Hoover made it 35-7 with 4:12 left in the first half when Jeremy Cook recovered a Kemal Anderson fumble in the end zone to cap a 56-yard drive in 75 seconds of play. Four plays later, the Bucs’ special teams blocked their second punt of the season. Jay Avery scooped it and was headed for the end zone in the Met’s right field, before being brought down at the 1-yard line. Williams, who led all players with 87 yards on seven carries, punched the ball in on the next play to give Hoover a 42-7 halftime lead.
“The defense has worked really hard. Outside of that first drive, I thought they did really well. It’s good to see our offense going. It’s going to take a little more time to get [quarterback] Brewer [Smith] going and in synch after having a month off,” Waldrop said.
Smith was limited to 3-of-7 passing for 71 yards in his first start of the season as Hoover’s quarterback, but managed the Bucs’ offense to a dominant first half.
“We came in with a lot more focus. We had some mistakes we made against Auburn, and we cleaned those up,” Smith said. “We punched them in the mouth early, which was good. Auburn blitzed a lot, and Bartlett didn’t bring that pressure, and we were able to control it a lot better.”
Hoover wasted little time to extend its score in the second half. Benefiting from a bad Bartlett punt, the Bucs took over on the Panthers’ 35 to start its second half. McCammon carried the ball three times, and found the end zone on a 23-yard run up the middle to start the running clock with 7:20 left in the third.
The second half expired quickly, but not before Jacorey Hayes took a handoff from sophomore quarterback Brady Sheppard and raced 42 yards around right end to the end zone to cap the scoring with 3:37 remaining in the game.
Four Hoover QBs saw action Friday. Brody Stacey took snaps in the third quarter for the Bucs, and Jonah Winston and Sheppard traded out plays in the fourth quarter.
Hoover (1-1) was playing an out-of-state opponent for the 18th time in the last 20 seasons, while Bartlett (1-1) was making its first trip to Alabama and only traveling out of Tennessee for the second time in 20 seasons.
The Bucs will host Spain Park (1-1) next week for its intracity rivalry and Class 7A, Region 3 opener. Hoover leads the all-time series, 18-3.