Bucs roll into second round
HOOVER -- The Hoover High School football team was back to its usual self on Friday night.
The Bucs, coming off their first back-to-back on-field losses since 1998, had no problem wiping the slate clean entering the Class 7A playoffs, dominating Sparkman 49-7.
“All we talked about this week is being 1-0. If you want to be 4-0 at the end then you first have to be 1-0,” Hoover head coach Josh Niblett said. “That was our first goal. One plank at a time, when Noah built the ark. You have to start with one plank. You have to visualize where you want to be at the end, but it’s all about right now.”
The Bucs (8-3) seemed determined to get that first win from the opening kickoff on.
Hoover drove 67 yards on its first drive, with a 5-yard connection from Jalen Parker to Kendall Parker giving the home team a 7-0 lead less than three minutes into the contest.
Sparkman (7-4) was held to a three-and-out, and Hoover scored three plays later on another pass from Parker. The touchdown pass went to Shedrick Jackson, who danced around to find the end zone from 37 yards out.
After the Senators were unable to cross the 50 on their ensuing drive, Hoover traveled 81 yards in four plays to take a 21-0 lead with 2:08 still left in the first quarter. The drive was concluded on a 29-yard touchdown run by Jacquez Allen.
“I thought we came out fast tonight,” Niblett said. “I told them any thought [Sparkman] might have had, you have to take that away early. Any time you play at home you should start out fast, and we were able to do that tonight.”
Niblett said what set his team apart in the first quarter was its ability to spread out the Sparkman defense by mixing up play calls. The head coach said he liked the tempo and that the defense was able to stop the Senators on third down.
Following the offense’s fast start, Hoover’s dominance transitioned to special teams and defense shortly afterward.
In the second quarter, while the offense spent nearly the first 10 minutes of the quarter without having a snap, George Pickens did some scoring of his own. The junior fielded a Sparkman punt at his own 23-yard line and took it straight down the home sideline for a touchdown.
The Bucs defense played stingy throughout the first three quarters, keeping Sparkman from crossing the 50-yard line on eight of its nine possessions. The defense also benefitted from interceptions by Tyrell Goldsmith, Myles Spurling and Isaiah Hubbard.
Hoover’s lone blemish Friday night came late in the second quarter when a Sparkman punt hit a Hoover player and the Spartans recovered, giving them the ball on the Hoover 17-yard line. Five plays later, Hunter Gibson scored from a yard out for Sparkman’s only touchdown.
“We had some miscommunication,” Niblett said. “I don’t like that because it’ll cost you in big games. We have to make sure we get that cleaned up.”
Hoover returns to the field next week and will travel to Hewitt-Trussville in the second round of the 7A playoffs.