2nd quarter surge pushes Bucs past Prattville
PRATTVILLE – The Hoover High School football team got the win on Friday night, but head coach Josh Niblett would have liked to see more from his unbeaten Buccaneers.
The Bucs did enough to earn a 35-16 win over Prattville in a non-region contest at Stanley-Jensen Stadium, with four of those five touchdowns coming in a nine-minute window spanning the first and second quarters.
“We’ve got to get to where we’re playing to the standard that we’re supposed to play at,” Niblett said following the game. “We’re not playing to the standard. There’s certain things you can’t control that go on during the game, but we can control us.”
Hoover (6-0) got on the board late in the first quarter on Ahamari Williams’ 41-yard game-tying touchdown run, the beginning of a big night for the junior tailback. He was a workhorse for the Bucs, gaining 144 yards on 23 carries.
Prattville (4-2) drove right back down the field, hitting a big play to set itself up with first and goal. But a bobbled pass deflected into the waiting arms of Paul Thompson, who picked off the pass and scampered 92 yards for a pick-six, giving the Bucs a 14-7 lead.
“If you want to win championships, you’ve got to make plays like that,” Niblett said. “There might be times when you bend but don’t break and then you’ve got to make a play when you’re called on. Paul made a play and so I’m proud of him.”
Following the first of three Corey Warren sacks on the evening, Hoover got the ball back and needed just one play to strike again. Bennett Meredith threw the first of three touchdowns on the night, hitting Lamarion McCammon for a 56-yard score to make it 21-7.
After forcing a quick three and out, Hoover got the ball back and drove down for another score, as Meredith hit Jabari Gaines on a 32-yard pass. Meredith scrambled for a first down and the Bucs got to the line with tempo, catching the Lions off guard and allowing Gaines to spring open.
James Rogers hit three field goals, two in the final 1:21 of the second quarter and another midway through the third quarter to cut the Prattville deficit to 28-16.
Prattville got to or beyond midfield three times in the final quarter, but were unable to put any points on the board. Hoover put the game away with a late, time-consuming drive. Meredith threw a strike to Sky Niblett over the middle on fourth down for a 12-yard touchdown.
Meredith finished the night completing 11-of-22 passes for 226 yards and three touchdowns.
Niblett lamented his team’s inability to put the game away earlier in the second half. Notably, the Bucs had a big play called back due to an offensive pass interference call in the third quarter.
He was, however, proud of the defense, which held Prattville to 50 rushing yards and 352 total yards on a night when a few players were playing different positions to account for injuries.
With the win, Hoover remains unbeaten and knocks off Prattville for the second year in a row. Prior to last season’s regular season meeting, the only previous meetings between the programs came in state championship games between 2004 and 2014. They met six times, each team winning three titles in that span.
“This is a great matchup for the middle of the season. It was kind of a playoff atmosphere and that’s how we approached it coming in,” Niblett said.
EJ Ousley completed 21-of-38 passes for 302 yards and an 8-yard touchdown pass to Kameran Shanks to open the game’s scoring. Shanks was Ousley’s favorite target all night, as he caught 10 balls for 203 yards. Omarion Parks rushed 22 times for 54 yards.
Both teams return to region play next week. Hoover has a critical matchup with Hewitt-Trussville, while Prattville remains at home to play Enterprise.
Niblett’s team will need to play to that standard in order to knock off the Huskies. He believes the ceiling for his squad is pretty high.
“This team could be special, it could be a really special group,” he said.