Photo by Barry Stephenson
Hoover's Mac Beason (15) scrambles during a game between Hoover High School and Hewitt-Trussville High School on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, at Hewitt-Trussville High School in Trussville, Ala.
NORTHPORT – Sitting at 5-0 in-region, Hoover remains in the Class 7A, Region 3 driver’s seat following a 56-6 road victory at Tuscaloosa County on Friday night. The Bucs out-gained the Wildcats by 400 yards through the night, accounting for 528 yards of offense.
“We’re in the position that we want and we have to make sure we stay there. That comes with a lot of hard work and getting some things right this week,” Hoover Head Coach Chip English said.
The Bucs were caught off guard on the first play of the game when Kamorri Jackson raced 74 yards to the end zone to put the Wildcats on the scoreboard. The extra point bounced off the right upright, keeping it 6-0. However, Hoover answered with its own big play, a 66-yard touchdown pass from Mac Beason to Demarion Gardner. Matthew Diabes’ extra point gave Hoover a 7-6 lead, and sparked 56 unanswered points for Hoover.
Beason connected twice more on scoring drives, first a 19-yard pass to Reggie Jackson with 3:33 left in the first quarter, and then a 2-yard jump pass to Christopher Warren to close the first half. Beason set up the last touchdown with a 47-yard QB keeper up the middle of the field. Beason finished the night 12-of-15 for 220 yards and three touchdowns, despite throwing two interceptions. He also rushed for 73 yards.
It was 21-6 at the half, but Hoover left points off the board following a pair of penalties that negated two touchdowns in the second quarter, two interceptions and two fumbles. While the turnovers and penalties kept providing opportunities to Tuscaloosa County, the Hoover defense swarmed the Wildcats all night, collecting more than a dozen tackles for loss, including at least six sacks.
“We’ve got to clean all of that (penalties) up. We’ve got to clean the turnovers up. Thankfully we got some stuff going defensively, and the offense came together and we were able to run the ball. There’s a lot to work on this week going into next week,” English said. “We gave up one (touchdown) early, but then we locked it down. I’m really proud of the adjustments they made. It’s hard to tackle someone all night long, and we were able to do that.”
Hoover added 35 points in the second half to run away with the victory. JR Mosely’s 16-yard touchdown run opened the third-quarter scoring, followed by Jacorrey Hayes 6-yard touchdown and a 17-yard, direct-snap touchdown for Jona Winston to make it 42-6 after three quarters. Trey Sanders recovered a blocked punt and returned it 30 yards for a score early in the fourth quarter, while AJ Allen capped the night on a 10-yard touchdown run with 5:24 to play.
Jackson led Tuscaloosa County with 113 yards rushing, accounting for nearly all of the Wildcats’ offense. Moseley and Jefferson each had more than 50 yards rushing for Hoover.
Hoover (6-2, 5-0) will travel to Thompson High School (6-2, 5-0) next week to decide the Region 3 championship.
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