Spartans rally to defeat Huffman

BIRMINGHAM — Before Mountain Brook fans were firmly settled in their seats on a blustery Friday night at Vikings Stadium, Huffman was clicking on all cylinders.

The Vikings faked a punt to gain a first down and scored four plays later to take a 7-0 lead on the No. 8 Spartans. That was surprising.

After Mountain Brook opened with a three-and-out, Huffman scored again, this time on a 75-yard pass from Anthony Wiggins to Nyre Holden to give the Vikings a 13-0 lead. That was concerning.

Two plays later, Mountain Brook quarterback Hamp Sisson threw a pick-six returned by Huffman’s Antonio Robinson, putting the Spartans in a 19-0 hole in a matter of two minutes of clock time. That was shocking.

But the Spartans rallied Friday night in the Class 7A, Region 3 contest, scoring 25 unanswered points to seal a 25-19 victory.

“You hope you get a wakeup call but you come away with a W,” said Mountain Brook head coach Chris Yeager. “But I’m going to tell you what, if we didn’t get a wakeup call, we’re in a coma. That’s the game of football. If you think you’re going to come in giving anything other than your maximum effort and have success you’re fooling yourself. Maybe we learned that lesson as we move forward.”

Late in the second quarter, Spartans running back A.J. Gates dove for a 1-yard touchdown to make it a 19-7 game. Four plays later, Walter Morris deflected a Huffman punt, giving Mountain Brook (7-2, 5-2) great field position. On second-and-goal from the 5-yard line, running back Harold Joiner took a direct snap, which he handed off to Wilson Higgins, who tossed the touchdown pass to Sisson. That made it 19-14 at halftime.

“We knew we had to turn it around,” Sisson said of the halftime mindset. “We could not keep playing like we were in the first half. We were flat. We came out and responded well.”

Mountain Brook chewed nearly nine minutes of clock on its opening drive of the third quarter, a 20-play drive that included three flags on Mountain Brook for holding, and was punctuated with a 27-yard field goal off the foot of Atkins Roberts.

With 9:08 left in the game, Joiner bolted 7 yards for the game-winning touchdown. Sisson hit him for an 8-yard two-point conversion to give the Spartans a 25-19 advantage.

Huffman (3-6, 1-6) had two more drives, but the Mountain Brook defense stood tall. On fourth-and-goal from the 4-yard line, Huffman quarterback King Williams was sacked by Clark Griffin for an 8-yard loss. Huffman got another chance with 2:11 to play, but the drive started from the Vikings’ own 3-yard line after a booming 54-yard punt by Aidan Hood.

Yeager said that punt was a key to winning the game. Starting in the shadow of their own goal post, the Vikings were facing an uphill battle.

“It’s a totally different game,” Yeager said.

Huffman managed to get all the way to the Mountain Brook 40-yard line before Williams was intercepted by Walker McCraney to seal the victory.

“We could have gone belly up and they could have just wiped the field with us if our kids hadn’t bowed up,” Yeager said. “It could have gotten flat out ugly if our kids hadn’t fought back.”

Sisson was also proud of the way his team fought back.

“We didn’t get our minds right like we should have, but our team did a great job of turning that around,” he said. “Huffman played a great game tonight. Hats off to them. It’s good to have these tests where we have to come back on the road and get some good experience for that first round (of the playoffs).”

Sisson finished 13-of-23 for 196 yards and an interception. He caught a touchdown pass and rushed 11 times for 48 yards. Joiner and Gates both scored touchdowns, but combined for zero rushing yards in the win. Hamp Greene caught five passes for 71 yards.

For Huffman, Holden rushed 24 times for 99 yards and a touchdown, and caught a 75-yard touchdown pass.

Yeager said that Joiner had surgery on his left hand last Monday and was cleared to play a week ago but was held out. He played in a limited role, for the most part, Friday against Huffman.

Mountain Brook finishes up the regular season Thursday at Ramsay, while Huffman plays host to Bessemer City on Friday.

“It’s a great test,” Yeager said of Ramsay. “They’ve got good football players. It’s a Thursday night game so we’ll have to do an about face and get ready. That’s a really good non-region game to end the season.”