Hoover claims region title in win over Spartans
HOOVER – Two games were left to decide the Class 7A, Region 3 championship on Friday. The Hoover High School football team did its best to eliminate any surrounding drama around one of them.
Hoover (7-2, 6-1 in region) took control early in the second quarter and never relented, as the Bucs cruised to a 31-7 victory over visiting Mountain Brook at the Hoover Met.
“Any time you win 31-7 in a game of this magnitude at this point in the season, I’m proud of the guys,” Hoover head coach Josh Niblett said.
In the other game that helped decide the Region 3 outcome, Thompson outlasted Hewitt-Trussville in an offensive shootout, 63-49. With the results, Hoover gets the edge in a tiebreaker with Thompson due to its head-to-head win earlier this season, giving the Bucs the region title.
“We’re all about winning championships, so I’m proud of these kids for putting themselves in this situation,” Niblett said. “Early in the year, we had a few bumps. We had to get on a winning streak, almost to a point where last week we had to win to get to the playoffs.”
Mountain Brook (7-2, 5-2) ends up as the No. 3 seed and will take to the road for the first round of the playoffs in two weeks. The Spartans won the first seven games of the season before falling to Thompson and Hoover each of the last two weeks.
“We left a lot of points on the board, and you can’t do that against Hoover,” said Mountain Brook head coach Chris Yeager. “We made some mistakes before the ball was snapped and after the whistle was blown, and that’s not Mountain Brook football.”
The Spartans struck first in the contest, although that would be all they got. Midway through the first quarter, Jarret Harrison broke through the line to block Hoover’s punt, setting Mountain Brook up with first-and-goal at the Hoover 8-yard line.
It took just one play, as the Spartans reached into their bag of tricks. AJ Gates took a handoff from Strother Gibbs and ran right, before tossing the ball to wide receiver Hamp Greene on a reverse. Greene tossed a pass to Pierce Rodrigues, who made a diving grab in the end zone to give his team a 7-0 advantage.
Two plays into Hoover’s next drive, Robby Ashford hit George Pickens on a 75-yard touchdown strike down the sideline to tie the game. Ashford and Pickens connected just three times on the evening, but the senior wideout racked up 169 yards and scored on two of them.
“He’s a big part of what we do,” Niblett said. “I’m proud of what he does and what he’s able to accomplish, and he does a really good job of changing directions and make people miss.”
Pickens’ second grab came on an extended play in which Ashford rolled toward the sideline and hit Pickens near the boundary. Pickens made a couple defenders miss and went 57 yards for the score.
“It’s crazy, it’s really a great play,” Pickens said. “With Robby, you just want to move around. He’s like Cam Newton, so you never know. He’s not going to stay in the pocket.”
Hoover pulled away with a big second quarter, as Ashford hit Dylan Pauly for a 10-yard score, Pickens returned a punt for a 66-yard touchdown, and Will Reichard nailed a 33-yard field goal to give the Bucs a 24-7 lead at the break. Pickens’ 57-yarder made it 31-7 in the third quarter.
Mountain Brook was only able to accumulate 161 total yards on the night, with Gates rushing for 58 yards and Gibbs racking up 55 on 12 carries.
Hoover piled up over 500 yards of offense in a balanced attack. Ashford completed 10-of-17 passes for 229 yards and three scores, while running for 81 yards. Larry McCammon led the way on the ground with 98 yards on 16 carries.
Hoover wraps up the regular season next week by hosting IMG Academy (Florida). On Nov. 9, the Bucs will host Bob Jones in the first round of the playoffs. Mountain Brook plays Gardendale next week ahead of a first-round playoff trip to Austin.