By Lee Davis
Journal Sports Writer
To understand why Over the Mountain football rivalries are so intense, look no further than Hoover vs. Vestavia Hills. They have a history.
It really began in the early 1970s, when the City of Vestavia Hills launched its own school system. Previously, students from Vestavia, Hoover and nearby unincorporated areas of Jefferson County all attended W.A. Berry High School on Columbiana Road.
Once Vestavia Hills High School was born in 1971, younger students in the area attended the new school, while their older siblings remained at Berry – which, by the way, was physically located in Vestavia. The loyalties of some of the Vestavia students were mixed, so it was easy to see why tensions brewed from the beginning.
Berry, coached by the legendary Bob Finley, dominated the early years of the rivalry, but that changed when Buddy Anderson took the reins of the Rebels in 1978. Vestavia won the state championship two years later and defeated Finley’s Bucs 7-0 in a key playoff game along the way.
Berry and Vestavia battled on nearly equal footing for most of the remainder of the decade.
The 1990s brought changes to the rivalry, including Finley’s tragic and untimely death shortly before Berry become Hoover High School in 1994. Vestavia commanded the years that followed and won another state crown in 1998. The tide turned again when Rush Propst became head coach of the Bucs in 1999.
As Hoover has made an incredible run in the first years of the 21st century, only one Over the Mountain team has had anything close to consistent success against the Buccaneers’ machine: Vestavia, with victories in three of 14 meetings since 2001.
So when the 2012 Alabama High School Athletic Association realignment placed Hoover and the Rebels in different regions, it might have been easy for both programs to walk away from one of Alabama’s best high school traditions. Fortunately for everyone, the powers that be understood that although Hoover and Vestavia no longer shared a region, that didn’t mean they shouldn’t share a rivalry.
“We want to keep this rivalry whether we are in the same region or not,” said Josh Niblett, the Bucs’ coach since 2008. And happily, Vestavia’s Anderson agreed.
Hoover and Vestavia renewed their series Friday night and, to a large degree, both teams held up their end of the deal at the Rebels’ Thompson Reynolds Stadium. The hosts gave the Bucs their toughest battle of the season before Hoover showed a packed house why this may be the best team in school history by earning a 35-15 triumph.
“We needed a game like this tonight,” said Niblett, whose Bucs had thrashed their first four opponents by an average score of 46-6. “A game like this is why kids grow up wanting to be Hoover Bucs. It’s to play against a great program like Vestavia Hills. This is always something special.”
And for at least a half, the Rebels offered a showcase of why Vestavia vs. Hoover is special.
With the game less than three minutes old, Rebel quarterback Spencer Towns passed to Stuart Jacobs, who raced 49 yards for a touchdown. Colin Harper’s kick gave Vestavia a 7-0 lead with 9:15 left in the opening quarter. The Rebels’ rapid score put Hoover behind for the first time in 2012.
The deficit didn’t last long. Kyler Jackson matched the Vestavia score with a four-yard touchdown run as 4:29 remained in the period. Hunter Schmith’s conversion tied the game 7-7.
Hoover took the lead early in the second period. Quarterback Connor Short passed 11 yards to Michael Powers for a touchdown with 10:40 remaining in the first half. Schmith’s conversion gave the visitors a 14-7 halftime advantage.
The Bucs got a big break early in the third quarter. Vestavia’s Jordan Johnson lost a fumble, which Hoover recovered at the Rebels’ 24-yard line. Vestavia’s coaches argued that Johnson’s forward progress had ended before Johnson lost possession of the ball, but their protests were unheeded.
A few minutes later, Jackson’s second touchdown run – this time from two yards away – gave Hoover a 21-7 margin with 7:20 remaining in the stanza.
Niblett and his team weren’t finished. Jamare Gillard’s spectacular catch in the end zone of a pass from Short from nine yards out lifted Hoover’s lead to 28-7 as the third quarter ended.
Vestavia gallantly battled back despite the odds. Towns’ six-yard touchdown dash closed the gap to 28-13 with 7:30 remaining in the game. The conversion attempt failed.
The Rebels, however, got another momentum shot later when Hoover’s Short was tackled in the end zone for a safety. The Bucs’ margin was cut to 28-15 with six minutes left in the game.
Any hopes for a Vestavia comeback ended, however, when Hoover’s Calen Campbell raced 52 yards for a touchdown on a fourth and one play, bringing the final score to 35-15.
Short completed 20 of 27 passes for 200 yards and two touchdowns. Campbell ended the night with 115 yards on the ground, and Jackson picked up 77 yards on 16 carries.
The Hoover defense effectively shut down the normally potent Vestavia ground attack. The Rebels completed the night with only 67 rushing yards.
The winners moved to 5-0 for the season and tightened their grip on the top ranking in Class 6A. Vestavia – ranked fifth going into the game – fell to 4-1.
“The great thing about a game like this is that you always grow from it,” said Niblett. “A game like this only makes a team better down the road.”
Hoover safety Devon Earl made the controversial tackle on Johnson in the third quarter that may have been the game’s turning point. But afterward Earl only wanted to talk about his friend Campbell.
“Calen was ready,” said Earl. “He had a big night against a really good team.”
It was a big night for Campbell, Niblett and Hoover overall. In the greater scheme of things, the game was another chapter in Alabama’s best high school football series.
