Spartans happy to be back on field

It was just good to be playing football again.

That was the message from Chris Yeager the night he led his Mountain Brook High School football team to a 31-14 win over Calera at Ricky M. Cairns Memorial Stadium.

“There are a lot of things we’ve got to correct, but the bottom line is, we played football tonight,” the Spartans head coach said following the game Aug. 29. “That’s the most important thing.”

After a chaotic few weeks that saw Mountain Brook’s first two games be either canceled or postponed, the Spartans and Calera agreed to a contest at the 11th hour. Mountain Brook was slated to play Vestavia Hills on Aug. 20 to open the season, but the Rebels canceled their first two games due to COVID-19 concerns. The Spartans were due to host Huntsville on Aug. 28, but the Panthers backed out due to weather-related travel concerns.

That left Mountain Brook scrambling the second Friday of the season, having yet to play a game and desperate for some competition.

“It’s been a roller coaster,” Yeager said. “When the Huntsville game got canceled, I’ve never seen so much despair in their [the players’] faces. It made me realize how important this was.”

The game did not count toward Mountain Brook’s record, although the Spartans sat with a 1-0 mark after accepting a forfeit victory over Vestavia Hills. But the record didn’t matter on that Saturday.

“When I said we’ve got a game, there was elation and joy,” Yeager said.

On the field, Mountain Brook looked the part of the top-ranked team in Class 6A in the first half. The Spartans scored each of their first times with the football, building a 31-0 lead at halftime. Calera scored two quick touchdowns in the third quarter, prompting Mountain Brook to reinsert the starters for the remainder of the contest.

“I love to see the progress of how hard we played even though we were tired and as the game went on, our tackling in space got better,” Yeager said.

There were plenty of things to correct on both sides of the ball, but that was to be expected. Following the Calera game, which was counted as a jamboree contest, Mountain Brook opened Class 6A, Region 5 play with a 51-0 thrashing of Woodlawn.

For the Spartans, it’s been a season unlike any other, never knowing when a game might have to be canceled or postponed due to the coronavirus.

“You just never know week to week,” Yeager said. “It’s the most unbelievable thing.”

But following a spring in which the team was not allowed to meet, a summer in which strength and conditioning looked far different than usual with masks and social distancing guidelines, and a fall season in which the first two Friday nights did not go according to plan, that game against Calera marked the start of what could be a special season for the Mountain Brook program. And Yeager really hopes his players get the chance to see it through.

“We needed this,” he said. “I hope we have the kind of season that pulls the community together. This whole thing has been tough on everybody. I’m hoping, hoping, hoping those [COVID-19 case] numbers keep going down and we can continue to play.”