Home playoff game awaits Spartans with win

The Mountain Brook High School football team took care of business last week and clinched a playoff berth.

If the Spartans (6-2, 4-2 Class 7A, Region 3) take care of business this week, they will secure a home game in the first round of those playoffs.

The task is Huffman, a team that still has something to fight for. The Vikings still have a very slim opening to make the playoffs, even though that scenario -- which requires Thompson, Oak Mountain and Vestavia Hills to lose -- is not likely to occur.

“They scare me,” Mountain Brook head coach Chris Yeager said of Huffman. “We’ve got to be real smart.”

Huffman boasts a solid ground attack led by senior running backs Jacoby Johnson and Rodarrius Brooks. The Vikings won’t put the ball in the air much, but a team that can run the ball as well as they do always presents a challenge for the opposing defense.

In last week’s playoff clincher against Oak Mountain, the Spartans showed resolve after three tough quarters to pull away from the Eagles in the fourth quarter to win 41-27.

Mountain Brook made the fourth quarter difficult for the Eagles. The Spartans rushed the ball 18 times for 127 yards in the final frame to put the game away. Mountain Brook led 21-19 at halftime and pushed its lead to 27-19 when quarterback Hamp Sisson rushed nine yards for a touchdown late in the third quarter.

Sisson finished 12-of-18 for 154 yards and rushed 10 times for 121 yards and three touchdowns.

Running back Sam Everette rushed 16 times for 92 yards and two touchdowns. Harold Joiner finished with 88 rushing yards on 17 carries, and A.J. Gates rushed for 49 yards on six carries. Sims Herron caught six passes for 67 yards.

Yeager said he was most proud of his team’s sound offensive play and the defense’s ability to persevere through the first half and play shutdown football in the fourth quarter.

“They adjusted to it,” Yeager said. “I’m really proud of them. We were thinking the dam was about to bust. We just kept patching it up, patching it up.”

Defensive back Reid Hogue said reaching the playoffs feels amazing.

“I’ve been looking forward to this,” he said. “It feels really good.”

It will feel even better to host a playoff game.

Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. at Spartan Stadium on Friday.

- Gary Lloyd contributed to this story.