Spartans nip Tuscaloosa County on late field goal
NORTHPORT – Chris Yeager dashed from the sideline, beating most of his team, to the dogpile around the 20-yard line. Mountain Brook players swarmed junior kicker Mason Dillard following a game-winning 30-yard field goal with no time on the clock. The kick snapped a four-game skid and gave the Spartans a 17-16 win over the Tuscaloosa County Wildcats.
However, moments earlier Tuscaloosa County’s fans were celebrating what they thought was their first victory of the season on Homecoming after Dillard’s 45-yard field goal try fell 2 yards short. A penalty flag – roughing the kicker – changed everything.
“I thought the game was over. I turned around and told everybody to go out and shake everybody’s hand,” Yeager said. “And then everybody is jumping up and down. It was like a parallel universe, I was thinking, ‘We just lost and you’re jumping up and down.’ I didn’t know it until I saw the expression on the kids’ faces.”
Dillard also thought the game was over as he saw his first kick fall short.
“I didn’t care about the hit. I didn’t think anything about it,” Dillard said. “I saw the penalty flag and thought it was on us at first, but next thing you know ...”
Dillard had new life, 15 yards closer, and drilled it – his first career game-winning kick.
“I just saw where it was with the uprights, and it probably wasn’t halfway up yet, and I knew it was in,” he said. “It’s crazy to think I’ve come so far. I went from not starting the season and being down and not knowing what to do. It’s all come together. God has done so much stuff for me, and I couldn’t be thankful for all of the men that are in that locker room … I love Mountain Brook.”
A thrilling last-minute of play set the stage for Dillard’s heroics. First it was Tuscaloosa County, marching 60 yards and eating up nearly three minutes of clock to take its first lead of the game, 16-14, on a 27-yard field goal by Andrew Boswell.
Then, with 25 seconds to play, sophomore quarterback Hamp Sisson began his first career game-winning drive, moving the offense 63 yards on two plays and two personal foul penalties. Sisson first hit Sims Herron on a 19-yard pass, which had a roughing the passer penalty tacked on to push the Spartans across midfield. Sisson then added a 19-yard first-down run to set up the first field goal attempt with 5.3 to play. Sisson finished the game with 123 yards of total offense, including 6-of-10 passing for 63 yards.
The Spartans led the Wildcats most of the night after a slow start by both teams. Sisson put Mountain Brook on the board 7-0 with 10 seconds left to play in the opening quarter on a fourth-and-3 24-yard touchdown run. Tuscaloosa County, despite not having a first down yet, answered midway through the second quarter on a 37-yard pass TD pass from Sam Cooper to Trey Miller to even the score 7-7. Cooper finished the game with 135 yards passing and 90 yards rushing.
With 2:58 to play in the first half, Henry Barze recovered a muffed punt at the TCHS 18. Despite Sisson having a TD run called back from holding, he hit Herron on a 15-yard touchdown two plays later to regain the lead 14-7 with 13 seconds to play.
Tuscaloosa County didn’t let momentum shift though. Wildcats running back Fred Evans, who led all players with 101 yards rushing, bounced off a tackle up the middle and hit the outside edge down the TCHS sideline to the Mountain Brook 6-yard line. Boswell hit a 19-yard field goal with two-tenths of a second remaining to cut the halftime margin to 14-10.
Before both teams traded field goals in the final 25 seconds of the game, they were scoreless in the third quarter, helped largely by the punting of Mountain Brook’s Kimper Sanders, who helped flip the field with a 56-yard punt midway through the quarter and averaged 43 yards on five punts.
Harold Joiner led Mountain Brook’s ground game with 64 yards on 19 carries, while Joe Donald and Will Wetzler led the defense with 13 and seven tackles, respectively.
The win was No. 100 in Yeager’s career and 75th as Mountain Brook’s head coach, an afterthought among the excitement of the Spartan’s first Class 7A, Region 3 win.
““I didn’t even think about it. There’s no doubt I’ll remember this one because of everything those kids gave, on both sides. This was a great high school football game. It came down to a play here and a play there,” Yeager said. “It’s a classic high school football game. To me that’s what this is about, it’s about kids learning from the experience.”
Yeager compiled 25 wins from 1991 to 1994 during two seasons as head coach at West Blocton and two years at Walker High School. His first win was 13-7 at Maplesville High School on Sept. 6, 1991.
“I’m like the flea that rides the greyhound that wins the greyhound race,” Yeager said. “I’ve rode a bunch of great teams and have been fortunate enough to be associated with a bunch of great teams and great coaches. It’s just a reflection of being blessed. I’ve got a lot to be thankful regardless of the win-loss record.”
Mountain Brook (2-4, 1-3) returns home Friday, Oct. 9, to host Oak Mountain at 7 p.m. Tuscaloosa County falls to 0-6 for the first time since 1975.