Ashford, Bucs fall at Thompson

ALABASTER — Hoover High School quarterback Robby Ashford buried his head in his helmet, and then in his hands, late in the fourth quarter of Friday’s Class 7A, Region 3 opener at Thompson. 

There was nothing he could do. 

As Thompson running back Jarrett Crockett ran for a 34-yard score to give his team a two-possession lead, Ashford sat on a table along the Hoover sideline with a walking boot strapped to his left leg. 

He had injured his ankle on the first play of the final quarter, and it proved the difference in the Bucs’ 48-30 loss. 

“It was awful,” Ashford said. “You break a long run, and you end up breaking your foot while doing it. We had the game in the bag, and we just gave it away.”

Ashford grimaced whenever tried to put weight on his ankle. After the game, he said an X-ray revealed a stress fracture that will require surgery. He said he'll likely be out for a month or longer. 

“He’s a big part of what we do. There's no doubt about, it” Hoover head coach Josh Niblett said. “My biggest concern’s just for him.”

Ashford's injury knocked the wind out of his team's sails. 

Hoover (2-1, 0-1 in region) scored on its first three drives of the game and staked claim to a 17-0 lead early in the second quarter.

Running back Dylan Pauley capped his team’s opening drive with a 1-yard run; Ashford capped his team’s second drive with a 17-yard touchdown pass to Jamari Buye; and kicker Constantine Hontzas capped his team’s third drive with a 25-yard field goal. 

"I thought we had a chance to get them a little bit tired," Niblett said of Thompson. "We kind of tempo’d them a little bit."

But the Warriors (3-0, 1-0) caught their breath in the second quarter. After being held in check initially, they found the end zone on their final three drives of the half. 

Quarterback Sawyer Pate, who completed 19-of-25 passes for 199 yards, scored on an 11-yard run and fired a 5-yard touchdown pass to Michael Pettway. Then, Crockett took off for an 80-yard scamper up the middle in the final minute of the second quarter.

“They got a couple of big plays on us, so when that happens, you’ve just got to try to bounce back," Niblett said. 

Hoover sandwiched Crockett’s dash with a 39-yard field goal from Hontzas and a 31-yard touchdown pass from Ashford to Buye with only 12 seconds left in the half. 

The strike, which Ashford celebrated by running up and down the Hoover sideline, gave the Bucs a 27-21 halftime lead. Their quarterback was largely responsible for it. 

In the first two quarters, Ashford completed 11-of-20 passes for 209 yards and rushed for 103 yards.

“He was tremendous,” Buye said. “Went through his reads and had some good throws and just made some plays.” 

It only lasted so long. With his team clinging to a 30-28 lead at the start of the fourth quarter, following a 34-yard field goal from Hontzas and a 2-yard pass from Thompson’s Pate to Crockett, Ashford bolted on a routine scramble. 

He fumbled the ball about 17 yards in and fell to the ground. Hoover recovered, but trainers had to help Ashford limp off the field. The game was never the same. 

Thompson intercepted Bucs backup quarterback Josh Lundy on his first attempt of the fourth quarter, and Thompson capitalized on the ensuing possession with the go-ahead score. Pate rifled a 33-yard touchdown to Pettway to make it 34-30 Warriors. 

Ashford tried to rebound. He got his ankle taped, took a few swigs of Gatorade and returned to the field for one drive. But with Ashford severely limited, the Bucs went three and out, ending his night. He finished 16-of-29 passing for 258 yards and 129 yards rushing.

“I hate that I went down, but that’s a part of the game," he said. "I’’ll just try to do whatever I can to get back and be there for my team.”  

Crockett scored his third touchdown, the 34-yarder, shortly after Ashford's exit. The Warriors then added another touchdown to put the game away. 

In their quarterback's absence, the Bucs were unable to move the ball and punted on their final two possessions.

“In the end," Niblett said, "it just kind of got away from us a little bit.” 

Next week, Hoover hosts Hewitt-Trussville, while Thompson heads to Oak Mountain.

Click here to purchase photos from the game.