By Loyd McIntosh
After jumping out to an early 7-0 lead, Homewood fell to Briarwood Christian School on the road Friday, 17-14. With a full moon shining in the north Shelby County sky, bad juju seemed to follow the Patriots all over the field as a series of miscues doomed their chances as soon as the sun set over Lion’s Pride Stadium.
Dropped passes, missed field goals, a fumbled punt return, more penalties than you can shake a stick at, and two big plays by Briarwood all conspired to hand Homewood its first loss of the season.
Despite the setbacks, the Patriots battled back in valiant fashion, with an opportunity to take the lead late in the fourth quarter. However, an interception deep in Briarwood territory with just 25 seconds to play ended Homewood’s bid to earn its second win ahead of an important 5A Region 4 matchup with rival Mountain Brook next week.
“The story of the night was special teams and penalties,” said Homewood head coach Ben Berguson. “We missed two field goals, muffed a punt, and then gave up a 98-yard touchdown; that was the difference in the game.”
“I’m proud of our guys and the way they fought the whole game. We needed somebody to make a play in the end, but we just didn’t get it,” Berguson added. “This is a tough one.”
Homewood stuck with their two-quarterback scheme, with senior Jack Myers getting the starting nod. The Patriots received the opening kickoff and, while the first drive wasn’t exactly as smooth as silk, Myers led Homewood on an efficient 15-play, 80-yard drive capped off with a 29-yard touchdown pass to Beckham Newell to grab a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
So far, so good.
The Homewood defense was dialed in on Briarwood’s first possession, forcing the Lions to punt from their own 17-yard line. Homewood fumbled the punt, giving the rock right back to the Lions on the Patriots’ 44-yard line.
The Homewood defense held strong, stalling the Lions’ ensuing drive on the 13-yard line. Briarwood settled for a 37-yard field goal by Harrison Hebert, cutting Homewood’s lead to 7-3, but grabbed the game’s momentum for good.
With Myers and Timothy Roshell taking the reins at quarterback every other drive, the Patriots could never find a rhythm on offense as they struggled to complete passes and failed to establish a run game.
Briarwood took the lead as wide receiver John Campbell surprised the Homewood defense with a 47-yard touchdown on an end-around— his first of two big plays on the night—with 8:38 to play in the first half.
Again, Homewood could gain no traction offensively and trailed 10-7 at halftime.
Any change in the game plan went right out the window as Campbell took the opening second-half kickoff down the right sideline for a 98-yard touchdown. Before the marching bands were completely off the field, Briarwood extended its lead to 17-7.
With Myers struggling and another missed field goal midway through the third quarter, the Homewood coaching staff put the ball in Roshell’s hands for the remainder of the game, and the junior darn near pulled the Patriots’ chestnuts out of the fire.
After the Homewood defense forced another Briarwood punt late in the third quarter, Roshell led the Patriots on a quick 55-yard drive, culminating in a five-yard quarterback keeper for a touchdown with just under 11 minutes to play in the game.
The Patriots’ defense continued to keep Homewood’s hopes alive, forcing Briarwood into consecutive punting situations from deep in their own territory in the fourth quarter. The offense simply could not take advantage of three-straight possessions starting from excellent field position.
Despite their struggles, the Homewood offense was given golden opportunities with a pass interference penalty followed shortly by a 15-yard roughing the passer call on fourth down and eight yards to go with just 1:06 to play.
Roshell managed to push the Patriots to the Lions’ 21-yard line. However, on third down with six yards to go, as he was flushed out of the pocket by the Briarwood defense, Roshell’s pass over the middle was intercepted by Briarwood’s Radford Andrews, ending Homewood’s comeback attempt.
“The (defensive) front gave us problems, obviously. We never could establish the run tonight, and it’s hard to win when you can’t establish the run,” Berguson said. “But it’s a young team that’s going to get better.”
The Patriots (1-1) will host Mountain Brook in a key region matchup at Waldrop Stadium on Friday, September 4.
In Other Action
Vestavia Hills 23, Benjamin Russell 7
Vestavia Hills improved to 2-0 with a 23-7 road win over Benjamin Russell on Friday night in Alexander City.
After trailing Benjamin Russell 7-0 after the first quarter, the Rebels answered with 16 unanswered points in the second quarter. Quarterback Charlie Taaffe struck first with a 1-yard touchdown, followed by a 16-yard touchdown run from backup quarterback Hudson Mote. Sloan Morgan tacked on a 34-yard field goal as time expired, giving Vestavia Hills a 16-7 lead at halftime.
Carter Stagner added an 11-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter to push the lead to 23-7, and the Rebels’ defense shut the door from there.
Vestavia’s offense piled up 430 total yards. Mote got most of the action at quarterback, completing 13 of 16 attempts for 187 yards, while Luke Stubbs had six catches for 99 yards. Noah Boylan led all rushers with 72 yards on 16 carries.
Vestavia Hills will travel to Alabaster to take on Thompson in an important 6A, Region 3 contest on Friday, September 4.
Mountain Brook 6, UMS Wright 13
Mountain Brook lost a defensive struggle to UMS-Wright, 13-6, in Mobile on Friday. The Spartans built a 6-0 lead at halftime on a pair of William Russ field goals of 40 and an incredible 52 yards.
However, UMS-Wright gained the momentum after returning a blocked Russ field-goal attempt 94 yards for a touchdown, tying the score at 6-6 following a failed extra point attempt. UMS-Wright then took the lead for good in the fourth quarter on a 27-yard touchdown pass from Max Fowler to Dean Waite.
Mountain Brook outgained UMS-Wright 234-201 in total yards and won the time-of-possession battle, 28:41 to 19:19, but committed three turnovers that proved costly.
With the loss, the Spartans fall to 1-1 and will make the bus ride to Homewood to take on the Patriots in key 5A Region 4 action on Friday, September 4.
John Carroll 16, Talladega 14
John Carroll Catholic survived a scare on the road, beating Talladega 16-14 thanks to senior kicker Max Sullivan’s 25-yard field goal with 55 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
The Cavaliers trailed for much of the second half after Talladega built a slim 14-13 lead late in the second quarter on a touchdown run and two-point conversion. However, the John Carroll defense came up huge, helping the Cavaliers overcome three turnovers and putting the team in a position to win.
John Carroll improves to 1-1 and will host American Christian Academy in AA Region 2 action on Friday, September 4.
