Jags fall in low-scoring game
HOOVER — A chilly mid-October night became an icy one for Tyler Crane. Oak Mountain High School notched its first Class 7A, Region 3 win of the season and the head coach was doused by his players with ice water after a 9-3 victory at Spain Park on Friday night.
Oak Mountain (3-7, 1-6 in region) snapped a seven-game losing streak in the process.
“I am so proud of these guys to go out with a win and a good taste in our mouths,” Crane said. “They battled all night and we made some big plays in the special teams game that turned the tables for us."
Spain Park (2-7, 1-6) dropped its second straight contest.
“Hats off to Oak Mountain, as they made plays and we were not able to,” said Jags head coach Tim Vakakes. “We have a long way to go but we’re going to fix it."
Oak Mountain surprised the home side with an onside kick to open the game that the visitors scooped up at the Spain Park 47-yard line. The Eagles could not score, though, as Caldwell Bussey and Nikolas Alston broke through on a fourth-and-1 at the 26-yard line to shut down the drive.
Spain Park pieced together a long drive later in the quarter and pushed it inside the 10-yard line. Evan Smallwood had a pass sail high on second down from 7 yards out that Eagles’ defensive back Bobby Laury soared into the air to intercept. The senior defensive back got both feet down along the back of the end zone to end the drive and conclude a scoreless opening frame.
Oak Mountain attempted to utilize Devan Moss’ speed the next drive for a big play but the senior saw a deep shot fall through his hands.
The Eagles went into their bag of tricks again while facing fourth down. They executed a fake punt that saw Garrett Murphy toss it to Jack Ronilo for a gain of over 40 yards to bring Oak Mountain to the 22-yard line. Will O’Dell capped off the drive a few plays later with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Sawyer Smith. The extra point attempt missed as Oak Mountain took a 6-0 lead with 8:25 showing in the second quarter.
Smallwood was intercepted once more later in the quarter after taking a blindside hit while trying to throw. The ball fluttered into the hands of Murphy near the line of scrimmage who then sprinted to the Jaguars’ 27-yard line before he met Smallwood with a big collision and only 2:21 left in the first half.
Oak Mountain failed to move the ball after the interception and settled for a 41-yard field goal by Murphy. The Eagles led 9-0 at the break.
Spain Park’s first drive of the second half saw Brock Bradley come in as the signal caller. The freshman led an impressive 12-play march down the field, featuring a fourth-and-5 conversion on a pass to Andrew Thornton. The sophomore wideout was initially short of the sticks but bounced off a tackler and sprinted to the 4-yard line.
The Jaguars sputtered out at that point and took the field goal by Alex Lloyd to make it a one-possession game at 9-3 with 1:25 left in the third quarter.
Spain Park took possession two more times in the game but gained only one first down across the two drives and were forced to punt each drive.
Oak Mountain got the ball for the final time with 6:20 remaining. The Eagles began at their own 39-yard line and powered down the field with O’Dell and Trey Vassell splitting the carries. The Eagles pushed the ball inside the 10-yard line on nine plays before being able to go into victory formation to end the game.
“I really challenged those guys at halftime to battle and they did,” Crane said about his offensive line. “They won the game for us.”
Spain Park outgained Oak Mountain 211-178 but the Jags two turnovers compared to the Eagles zero proved costly.
Vassell finished the night with game-highs of 25 carries for 93 yards.
Bradley finished the game 7-for-9 for 88 yards passing.
Jonathan Bibbs notched 7 catches for 89 yards receiving to lead all players. He accounted for over 60 percent of Spain Park’s passing offense.
This was the Eagles last game of the year. The Jaguars will finish the season at Pelham next week.