Bucs rally to defeat Oak Mountain
HOOVER – The Hoover High School football team’s thrilling 24-21 Class 7A quarterfinal win over Oak Mountain came down to one final spot.
The Bucs were sure they stopped quarterback Evan Smith on fourth-and-1 at the 25-yard line with 1:14 left. The Oak Mountain sideline was just as certain that it got the first down.
But after a referee’s spot and the ensuing measurement, Oak Mountain was short. The Bucs had clinched victory, provided they would take care of the ball. They did, and Hoover (11-1) will advance to the Class 7A semifinals at No. 1 Thompson. The Eagles finished the season 7-5.
Hoover quarterback Josh Lundy was on the sideline without a good view, but he was certain the ball would turn back over to the Bucs. Hoover linebacker D.J. Estes finished the tackle that Corey Warren started.
“I came up from the edge,” Estes said. “Corey stood him up and I came up and wrapped his legs up. Automatically, I felt like we got him short.”
The measurement after the spot confirmed that. Four plays and 10 yards earlier, Oak Mountain converted a fourth-and-short after a measurement. The idea, after taking over at its 19 with 7:40 left, was to drive the field but drain the clock, not allowing Hoover to score.
But coach Cris Bell didn’t agree with the spot.
“[The referee] just said it was a good spot,” Bell said. “I said, 'I’ll show you the film and that it’s not.' It’s just tough. I thought both teams played hard. I thought it was a great football game. It was a fun game to play in and a fun game to coach in.
“I just hate it for our seniors because they’ve come a long way. We came out on the short end and I wish I could have done something to change that.”
It was all Oak Mountain early. The Eagles went up 13-0 on touchdown runs of 20 and 53 yards from Smith, the quarterback running the option offense. He finished with 217 yards on 29 carries, but had 138 yards after six carries when he scored his second touchdown.
Hoover came back, getting a 27-yard field goal from Constantine Hontzas with 8:38 left in the second quarter. The Bucs were forced into a third-and-24 after receiver RJ Hamilton was flagged for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, but then Hamilton burned the Eagles defense and caught a 62-yard touchdown pass from Lundy. Hamilton caught five balls for 171 yards and two touchdowns, as Lundy completed 10-of-13 passes for 208 yards and two scores.
“RJ always plays great on offense, so he’s always going to be making big plays no matter what’s going on in the game,” Lundy said.
Dylan Pauley put Hoover up 17-13 early in the third quarter with a 2-yard run, but Oak Mountain went back up 21-17 when Judah Tait scored on a 14-run and the Eagles hit the two-point play.
The game’s final score came with 11:55 left in the game when Lundy hit Hamilton for a 21-yard score on a fourth-and-5 play.
“They sent an all-out blitz,” Lundy said. “We had 1-on-1 across the board so I took my guy RJ across the middle.”
After both teams went three and out, Oak Mountain took over and went 16 plays before the turnover on downs, all on the ground. Tait finished with 104 yards on 25 carries. But the Eagles hit just 1-of-4 pass plays for 2 yards, and that came on the game’s first play.
“Certainly when you get beat 42-7 in the regular season [by Hoover], nobody gave us a [chance],” Bell said. “I’m really proud of them. I thought we got [the fourth down spot] by a lot. I have no idea where they came up with that spot. That’s life. Sometimes you get them and sometimes you don’t.”
But Hoover also rose to the challenge with some key defensive players out. Starting linebackers Marcus Williams (injured last week) and Josh Smith (also injured) didn’t play. Other young players such as Estes, a sophomore, had to make plays.
“We were better with our eyes in the second half,” Hoover head coach Josh Niblett said. “We did a better job of reading our keys and playing our assignments.”
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