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Any effects from a shorter week of practice than accustomed for the Hoover High football team failed to show up on Friday night as the Bucs dominated every phase in a convincing 42-21 victory over Manatee (Fla.) on rainy night at the Hoover Met.
About the only thing that slowed down the Hoover offense was a lengthy lightning delay that extended halftime for more than a hour. The biggest problems for the Hoover defense were some drive-extending penalties on third down. All in all, though, it was a good night for Josh Niblett’s team as they improved to 2-0.
“The kids did a great job understanding what we wanted to do game plan wise in all three phases of the game,” said Niblett, whose team opened the season with a victory last Saturday. “We made some mistakes in the game (but) that’s a good football team. I’m just so proud of the kids, proud of our effort.”
Quarterback Chris Vacarella was sharp early, completing his first nine passes, and ended the evening 16 of 26 for 241 yards with a long touchdown strike to Quincy Cox. The running game also clicked with the Bucs gaining 178 yards on 27 carries and scoring four times on the ground.
“We were able to hit some runs that we needed to hit, based on what we saw from their front and their pressures,” Niblett said of the running game. “I’m proud of our kids, proud of our o-line because that’s not an easy bunch to run on. I think the group that played against them last week (in an exhibition game) might have had minus yards rushing.”
Hoover had five first half possessions with four ending in touchdowns and 280 total yards before halftime. Vacarella rushed for 42 yards to open the scoring and threw a 72-yard touchdown strike to Quincy Cox, on a ball tipped by Manatee defensive back Sirkevius Williams, to give Hoover a 28-14 advantage with 1:40 left before halftime. In between, the Bucs cashed in on a 4-yard scoring run by Garrett Farquhar and a 6-yard touchdown burst by C.J. Sturdivant.
The Bucs scored quickly all four times. The longest drive took six plays to cover 80 yards and the Bucs took a total of four minutes and 18 seconds off the clock during all four of the first half scoring drives combined. Hoover reached third down only twice in the first half.
Vacarella didn’t throw his first incomplete pass until 4:59 left before halftime. He finished the first half 12 of 18 for 209 yards.
Hoover’s defense dominated early but a pair of costly 15-yard penalties, both after stopping Manatee (0-1) on third down, helped the Hurricanes move 80 yards for their first touchdown. The score came when quarterback AJ Colagiovanni hit Reggie Carter for a 30-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 14-7 at the time.
“We gave them two third down conversions by not getting off the field – we got to be more disciplined than that,” Niblett said. “That’s on me. We got to be able to get off the field at that point. At that point in time, we had kind of taken control of the game and we kind of let them sneak back in.”
The Hurricanes' other score came on a 25-yard run by Lorenz Allen with 7:24 left in the second quarter.
Niblett said it wasn’t easy waiting out the long halftime but the Bucs dominated defensively early in the second half and rushing touchdowns by Sturdivant (23 yards) and Vonte Brackett (35 yards) put the game out of reach.
