By Bill Lumpkin III
Homewood coach Ben Berguson was looking for greatness when the Patriots took the field for their Class 6A playoff game against Pike Road last Friday at Waldrop Stadium.
“I told the kids before the game a nine-win season was good, but a 10-win season was great,” Berguson said.
Homewood earned its 10th victory with a 24-21 win, now the Patriots will play in the quarterfinals for the first time since 2018, their last 10-win season. Homewood (10-2) will visit Saraland (11-1) Friday. Saraland routed Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa 56-31 in the second round.
“This is great for our fans and our community,” Homewood quarterback-punter Woods Ray said. “I’ve never been this far in the playoffs before, so it’s great to get this far in my senior season. I just wish we were at home.”
Ray threw for 171 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 85 yards and another score during the game last week. But it was his 42-yard punt that rolled dead at the Pike Road 2 in the final 96 seconds that was a real game-changer.
“It turned out to be huge,” Ray said. “We were able to pin them back and give our defense another chance to stop them and hit them in the mouth. The defense really responded against a really good football team.”
Homewood led 21-14 at halftime thanks to Ray’s third and fourth down magic. He converted a fourth-and-14 before scoring on a 3-yard run for a 7-0 lead. Then, he converted a third-and-12 and fourth-and-one before throwing a 29-yard touchdown pass to Jackson Parris for a 14-7 advantage.
Deadlocked 14-14, Ray drove Homewood 63 yards in nine plays, passing for 20 yards and running for 36 to set up Montrell Odell’s 3-yard scoring run with 36 seconds remaining in the half.
In the second half, Homewood managed only a field goal, three first downs and 65 yards.
“We’ve been real explosive on offense all year so you have to give them a heck of a lot of credit,” Berguson said.
Pike Road (7-5), which won the 2021 Class 5A state championship before moving up to Class 6A this year, appeared to tie the score on a 51-yard pass from Kaleb Foster to Jordan King, but a holding penalty nullified the score and the drive ended with a fourth-and-31 from the 28.
Berguson said he didn’t see all the play, but it changed momentum.
“They were spreading us out at the time,” he said. “I know it had to affect them mentally after that.”
Homewood finally got untracked after taking over on its 49. Ray found Charlie Reeves for 20 and 17 yards before Whit Armistead kicked what turned out to be the difference, a 26-yard field goal for a 24-14 lead with 9:21 remaining.
Reeves and Parris combined to catch 12 of Ray’s 13 completions. Reeves had seven catches for 82 yards and Parris had five catches for 83 yards and a touchdown.
Pike Road closed to 24-21 with 4:41 remaining on Tre’marcus Webb’s 17-yard touchdown run.
Following the kickoff, Homewood picked up only its third first down of the second half as Ray completed a 15-yard pass to Reeves before the drive stalled at the Pike Road 44. Then, Ray boomed the 42-yard punt.
Homewood stopped Pike Road’s sophomore running back sensation Anthony Rogers two yards short on fourth-and-four from the 8 to clinch the victory.
Rogers, who has more than 30 college offers including Alabama, finished with 192 of Pike Road’s 300 total yards. He carried the ball 27 times for 140 yards, including a 17-yard touchdown and caught two passes for 52 yards with a 52-yard touchdown catch.
‘Gutsy Performance’
“We knew they were pretty one dimensional,” Berguson said, “but they are good at what they do. I felt like we tackled better than we have in weeks. It was a real great and gutsy performance. I knew (defensive coordinator) Freddy (Lawrence) would dial them up.”
Ray was glad to escape with the victory.
“It’s the playoffs, so you have to learn to take it one play at a time,” Ray said. “I thought we fared pretty well in the first half, but it was frustrating in the second half. It’s the playoffs and we’re just happy to get the win.”
