Spartans storm back to knock off Huffman
The game started with a bang and ended with three roars from the crowd.
All three roars were needed, as the Mountain Brook High School football team stormed back in the fourth quarter and defeated a pesky Huffman team, 24-17, on Friday night at Spartan Stadium.
The first rise in the noise level came with Mountain Brook (7-2, 5-2 Class 7A, Region 3) facing a 4th-and-5 from the 10-yard line with just over five minutes to play. Hamp Sisson dropped back and floated a fade route to the end zone for Sean Elmore, who went up high and hauled the pass in to tie the game at 17-17.
Elmore redeemed himself after allowing a pass to slip through his hands into the waiting arms of a Huffman defender earlier in the game, one of Sisson’s two interceptions on the evening.
Sisson completed his evening with 50 rushing yards on 12 carries, and was 6-of-15 passing for 84 yards and a pair of scores.
The second wave came as Harold Joiner powered in from four yards out with 1:04 remaining on the game clock to put the Spartans ahead for the first time all game, 24-17.
Joiner also caught a 31-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter, as he snuck out of the backfield to find himself wide open on the check down. Joiner finished with 86 total yards and two touchdowns – one rushing and one receiving. Sam Everette set up Joiner’s rushing score, with a handful of time-consuming runs. He finished with 51 yards on eight rushes.
The final wave came as Sam Colvin crushed Huffman quarterback Malachi Jackson, jarring the ball loose and into the waiting arms of Colton Yeager, his second fumble recovery of the night. The Spartans took one final knee and escaped the victors.
Mountain Brook was forced to respond after Huffman’s Anthony Wiggins broke through the line of scrimmage and sprinted 80 yards untouched on the second play of the game to give the Vikings the early 7-0 edge.
Mountain Brook tacked on a Mason Dillard 33-yard field goal, but an interception late in the second quarter allowed Huffman to match with one of its own, leaving the halftime score at 10-3.
“I thought we showed pretty good composure (after that first play), especially on defense,” said Mountain Brook head coach Chris Yeager. “We got some things to get corrected and trimmed up, but I’m proud of them for just continuing to fight. That was a good football team.”
Joiner’s 31-yard score tied the game at 10-all, but Huffman had more left in the tank. After switching to Jackson at quarterback, he immediately threw a 40-yard bolt down the sideline, and scrambled 36 yards on the next play to put Huffman back out in front, 17-10.
Zachary Carroll and Joey Keating both notched interceptions in the third quarter, prompting the QB switch for the Vikings.
Even after Mountain Brook took the lead with a minute to play, Jackson found Gerell Green for a 33-yard gain to put the Vikings back in business. But Colvin’s sack-fumble on the next play effectively ended the contest.
With the win, the Spartans are allowed to stay at home for at least the first round of the state playoffs, and will host one of Bob Jones, James Clemens and Gadsden City from Region 4.
“It’s everything,” Yeager said of hosting a playoff game. “We get to stay in our routine."
Then he reflected a little on his team’s journey.
“Nobody thought we belonged in the conversation for the playoffs,” he said. “If somebody would’ve told me on the front end that we were going to make the playoffs, I’d have signed up for that. The kids believed that they could do more than that and they have.
“This has been a heck of a season.”
The Spartans round out the regular season next week with a game against Ramsay, a team having a phenomenal season in Class 6A. Huffman will fail to qualify for the postseason, and wraps up its season against Bessemer City next week.