By Lee Davis
The date of Nov. 4, 2016, may never live in infamy, but for four Over the Mountain football programs, it was certainly a night not to remember.
On that cool night, highly regarded Spain Park and Mountain Brook, along with dark horse Oak Mountain, were all defeated in the first round of the Class 7A playoffs. Homewood met a similar fate in Class 6A. Seldom in area history have so many teams seen their seasons end on the same November evening.
Much better news came from Hoover and Briarwood, as both took impressive victories in Class 7A and 5A, respectively, to move on to the second round. Both also extended their seasons by at least a week Friday, keeping alive their hopes of adding a blue championship trophy to their school’s hardware case.
Hoover showed why its defense may be the best in its class with a 14-7 win over James Clemens at the Hoover Met. The Bucs held the potent Jet attack to a mere 146 yards of total offense for the night. Clemens played a strong defensive game as well, allowing only one offensive touchdown. There were 19 punts in the game.
The hosts scored in the second quarter when Vonte’ Brackett hit pay dirt on a six-yard run. The touchdown was set up by Cortez Hall’s 30-yard punt return and a 40-yard completion from quarterback Garrett Farquhar to Shedrick Jackson.
Hoover’s second score came when defensive back Will Singleton scooped up a Jet fumble and returned it 15 yards for a touchdown early in the third quarter, giving the Bucs a 14-0 advantage.
James Clemens finally got on the scoreboard late in the third quarter, blocking a punt and returning the loose ball for a touchdown.
The Jets repeatedly threatened to score in the final period but were turned away by the Hoover defense, preserving the victory for Coach Josh Niblett.
“You don’t get style points in the playoffs,” Niblett said later. “Winning 2-0 is as good as winning a shootout.”
It’s interesting to note the transformation of the Hoover program in the years since Niblett took over from Rush Propst nearly a decade ago.
Under Propst, the Bucs played solid defense, but often those efforts were overshadowed by a flashy and prolific offense that seemed to score almost at will.
The Niblett era brought more of a blue-collar approach. Certainly Hoover can roll up big point totals, but a 17-9 type of win is more common than a 42-21 win. And nobody in Hoover appears to have a problem with that as long as the Bucs continue to win.
Hoover moves to round three against Gadsden City, which turned some heads by upsetting previously unbeaten Hewitt-Trussville. We can’t predict the future, but it’s hard to see what might stop the Bucs at this point.
Briarwood showed more offensive flash in their 33-13 second-round conquest of Russellville. Lion quarterback William Gray – showing himself again to be one of the best quarterbacks in metro Birmingham – put together another big showing, passing for three touchdowns in the victory.
By moving its overall record to 11-1, Briarwood has vindicated the longtime premise that moving the program back to Class 5A was all that was required to make the Lions a perennial state championship contender again. For years, Briarwood battled in Class 6A and despite competing against schools with significantly larger student bodies, the Lions qualified for the playoffs every season. Now, with Briarwood facing schools with comparable-sized enrollments, the Lions are in the thick of a championship hunt.
The hosts jumped to a 16-0 lead over the Golden Tigers early in the second period, thanks to Gray’s scoring strikes to Luke Miskelley and Barrett Tindall, respectively. Briarwood made consecutive two-point conversions after the touchdowns.
Running back J.R. Tran-Reno’s 36-yard scoring sprint gave the Lions a 23-0 lead in the third quarter. Russellville rallied for 13 consecutive points, but Briarwood stopped the uprising with a field goal by Noah Nall and Gray’s touchdown pass to Caleb Daniels.
Briarwood travels to Mortimer Jordan on Friday for round three. The Lions defeated the Blue Devils 23-14 in September, although that’s no guarantee of a repeat performance in the post-season.
For his part, Briarwood coach Fred Yancey seems to be enjoying the ride.
“We’re happy to be going on the road to play, because that means we’ve reached the third round,” he said. And there’s a good chance that the Lions could go even further.
The first round of the 2016 football playoffs were a rough hurdle for four area teams. But Hoover and Briarwood look capable of carrying the load the rest of the way.
