By Rubin E. Grant
Vestavia Hills football coach Robert Evans figured the only way for the Rebels’ offense to move the ball consistently during the 2023 season was to turn senior quarterback John Paul Head into a workhorse.
Head embraced the role, displaying remarkable durability.
“It was tough on my body, but I didn’t mind at all,” Head said. “Some guys throw it a lot and some guys run a lot. I did both.”
And he did it brilliantly, compiling 2,961 yards total offense and accounting for 38 touchdowns while leading Vestavia Hills to a 9-3 record and a second-round Class 7A playoff appearance. He completed 130 of 210 passes for 1,786 yards and 16 touchdowns, and he rushed 230 times for 1,175 yards and 22 TDs.
For his performance, Head was voted the 2023 OTM Offensive Player of the Year in balloting by Over the Mountain football coaches.
“I was kind of caught off guard by it,” Head said of the honor. “It was kind of anticlimactic. I passed coach Evans in the hall at school and he told me about it. It’s pretty cool, though.”
Evans said the honor was well deserved.
“I think he was as important as any player in the program in the last 20 years, being able to carry the load for our offense the way he did the last two years and take a beating on Friday nights,” Evans said. “We probably overused him a bit, but he was one of our better running backs and he was also able to throw the ball. On third-and-one or fourth-and-one, it was impossible to stop him. It was guaranteed. To get a yard is a big deal.
“He’s what high school football is all about. He laid it on the line every Friday. He’s hyper competitive.”
Head, a standout catcher/third baseman, has signed a baseball scholarship with UAB to play for Vestavia Hills alum Casey Dunn, the Blazers’ head coach. Head helped the Rebels win the 2023 Class 7A baseball state championship in the spring.
He hasn’t had any thoughts about trying to play college football as well. His dad played football at Ole Miss.
“We joke about it,” Head said of himself and his dad. “He said, ‘You know you can have free college,’ but he doesn’t mind that I want to play baseball. He knows that’s what I love at the end of the day.
“Now if Nick Saban called and said he would love for me to play football at Alabama, then I’d do it. Or if (Ole Miss coach) Lane Kiffin called, I’d consider it.”
Head will miss football, especially being around his teammates.
“What I’m going to miss the most is the bus rides home after we win an away game with my buddies around me recounting what we did good,” he said. “I’m going to miss all my buddies.
“This might sound strange, but I’m also going to miss practice and the camaraderie of coming in every morning to work out and going 100 percent in practices.
“I made some great memories that will last forever.”
One of those buddies Head is going to miss is Rebels defensive end Jordan Ross, who was voted the 2023 OTM Defensive Player of the Year, giving Vestavia Hills a sweep of the OTM player of the year awards.
“I think it just shows how Vestavia football is on the come up, and how we are going to grow as a program,” Head said. “Jordan is the most athletic guy I have ever played with. We’ve played with each other since we were 8. He’s going to continue to get better and maybe even play on Sundays (in the NFL).”
Head is one of four Vestavia Hills players named to the 2023 All-OTM Team offense. Junior running back William Tonsmeier, senior receiver Keown Richardson and senior lineman John David Livingston are the other three Rebels.
Tonsmeier rushed for 842 yards and four touchdowns on 118 carries and Richardson had 51 catches for 760 yards and five TDs.
Mountain Brook senior running back Cole Gamble, the 2022 OTM Offensive Player of the Year, was one of four Spartans on the offense. He was joined by senior receiver Clark Sanderson and senior linemen Watts Alexander and William Courtenay.
Gamble rushed for 2,041 yards and 29 touchdowns and had 2,671 all-purpose yards and 31 TDs overall. He finished his high school career with 5,266 yards rushing and 6,097 all-purpose yards. Sanderson caught 44 passes for 936 yards, averaging 21.3 yards per catch, and six touchdowns.
John Carroll Catholic also had four players voted to the offense: senior quarterback Carson McFadden, senior running back Mitchell Nutter, senior receiver Zach Archer and senior lineman Jack Chandler.
McFadden passed for 1,676 yards and 15 touchdowns and rushed for 1,337 yards and 19 TDs. He also caught a touchdown pass while amassing 3,039 yards total offense and accounting for 35 touchdowns. Nutter ran for 1,232 yards and five TDs, and Archer had 49 receptions for 822 yards and 10 TDs and ran for 210 yards and three more scores.
Rounding out the offense are junior running back Luke Reynolds and senior lineman Luke Schultz from Briarwood Christian, senior lineman Jaxson Brooks (graded 92%, allowed 1 sack, recorded 56 pancake blocks) from Homewood, senior receiver Jonathan Bibbs (61 receptions, 1,031 yards, 10 TDs) from Spain Park and sophomore receiver Jonah Winston from Hoover.
The place-kicker is John Carroll senior Charles Farr, who made 7 of 7 field goal attempts with a long of 43 yards and 35 of 37 PATs with both misses being blocks. He also booted 95% of his kickoffs into the end zone, resulting in touchbacks.
