By Loyd McIntosh
Call it the Mountain Brook Miracle.
If you weren’t there to see it in person, chances are you wouldn’t believe it. Trailing by a touchdown to Homewood with a minute to play in the game, the stars aligned perfectly as the Spartans pulled off one of the most improbable and thrilling come-from-behind victories since Cal defeated Stanford and its band way back in 1982.
Leading 17-10 with just under six minutes to play in the fourth quarter, Homewood started a drive on its own 20, relying on quarterback Kaleb Carson to handle the ball and put Mountain Brook away. Despite running four minutes of the clock, the Spartans’ gritty defense held up against the Patriots’ high-flying offense, forcing Homewood to punt from its own 45-yard line.
Homewood punter Gabriel Carlson nailed a beauty, pinning the Spartans on their own six-yard line with 59 seconds to play.
This is where things got chaotic and stranger than fiction
Mountain Brook quarterback Cayden Hofbauer, who had struggled through the air for most of the night, converted pass after pass to receivers John Colvin and Sam Smith. As the seconds ticked away, Mountain found themselves with the ball in their own 46-yard line with just 11 seconds on the clock.
On the next play, Hofbauer’s Hail Mary down the left sideline was caught by a diving Trey Vinson at the Homewood 10-yard line. With four seconds left, Hofbauer scrambled up the gut, plunging across the goal line as time expired. The extra point attempt was good, sending the game to overtime with the score tied 17-17.
That was improbable happenstance number one.
In Homewood’s first possession in overtime, running back Davis Griffin plowed into the end zone from six yards out. Judson Eanes converted the extra point, giving the Patriots a 24-17 lead over the Spartans.
Needing a touchdown and an extra point to force a second overtime, or a TD and a 2-point conversion to win, Mountain Brook started their first overtime possession from Homewood’s 10-yard line. On third down from the nine, Hofbauer found a wide-open Wallace Hunter in the end zone for six.
Now for improbable happenstance number two.
Mountain Brook Head Coach Chris Yeager decided to go for the win, lining the offense up for a two-point conversion. Lined up in the shotgun formation at the three-yard line and facing the loud and distracting Homewood Patriots band, an early snap sailed past Hofbauer, rolling nearly 30 yards backward before he corralled it at the 40.
Hofbauer managed to scoop the ball, evaded multiple Homewood defenders, somehow set his feet, and then heaved another Hail Mary. The pass was caught by tight end Bennet Jordan in the end zone, giving the Spartans a wild and wooly 25-24 win as pandemonium exploded on the Mountain Brook sideline.
Yeager, still in disbelief after the game, emphasized the grit and determination the Spartans displayed against a Homewood squad that had outscored its opponents 228-22, and in which many starters hadn’t played much of the second half through the first four games of the season.
“Did that just happen?” said Yeager. “It’s one thing to do a design play and that happens, but man alive, I don’t know. I guess it’s better to be lucky than good.
“We told our guys, they haven’t been in a four-quarter game this year. We’ve been saying all week long, ‘let’s get it into the fourth quarter. Let’s make this a fight to the very end.’ When it went into overtime, we felt pretty good about it.”
In the end, Hofbauer had a terrific performance, completing 22 of 28 attempts for 226 yards and 1 touchdown, including five of six completions and 85 yards on the final drive of regulation. His final stats, however, do not include the bizarre two-point conversion that sealed the victory.
“The best thing he does is extend plays. He’s just got a sixth sense,” said Yeager. “He just put that ball to the tallest guy on the football team.”
“A lot of people talk about having football IQ, but he’s got something that’s sort of outside of that I can’t explain and can’t teach,” added Yeager. “He just makes it happen.”
Regarding the final play, Hofbauer said he knew the you-know-what had hit the fan the moment the ball blew by his ear. His only thought was to make lemonade out of a seriously rotten lemon.
“I was thinking, ‘oh crap, we’re in a pickle,’” Hofbauer said. “We had a miscommunication, and so I’m thinking, ‘well, I’ve got to try to make something happen.’
Homewood Head Coach Ben Berguson said he knew this game was going to be the first true test for his team, which has faced inferior competition thus far. The Patriots had several chances to put the game away, including a third-quarter drive that stalled inside the Mountain Brook ten-yard line due to a penalty and ended with their second missed field goal attempt of the night.
“It was a dogfight. I knew it was going to be a dogfight, but we made way too many mistakes,” Berguson said. “Give credit to Mountain Brook for the comeback. It was a heck of a game.”
Leading the Patriots was Carson, who threw 16 completions on 24 attempts with 210 yards and one touchdown through the air, and gained 110 yards rushing on 20 attempts and one touchdown. Tomon Felton caught 7 passes for 151 yards and a touchdown, a 67-yard bomb on the third play of the game.
Overall, Homewood gained 358 total yards, 216 passing and 142 rushing.
Other leaders for Mountain Brook were running back Stuart Andrews, who gained 58 yards on 14 carries and one touchdown, Colvin with 8 receptions for 85 yards, and Smith with 8 receptions for 49 yards. Overall, the Spartans amassed 389 yards of total offense, 226 passing, and 163 rushing.
The win moves Mountain Brook to 4-2 overall and will host Clay-Chalkville in an important 6A Region 6 matchup on Friday, October 3. Homewood drops to 5-1 overall and will be on the road to face Gardendale in 6A Region 6 action also on Friday, October 3.
