Spartans open season Friday in Gulf Shores

As head coach Chris Yeager tells it, the Mountain Brook High School football team hadn’t planned to begin its 2016 season nearly 280 miles away from home.

But when Yeager received an offseason invitation from Gulf Shores head coach Jamie Williams to play a game on the Alabama coast, he said it was an ideal offer.

“I was at my house one morning at 6 a.m., and he texted me saying, ‘How would you guys like to come to the beach to play?’” Yeager recalled. “I just texted back, I said, ‘You mean a football game?’”

Williams, who previously served as Homewood’s offensive coordinator, replied with a ‘yes.’

Yeager said he quickly accepted. “We’re there. Sign us up,” he recalls typing.

Yeager said he had been searching for an opponent to open up against, since the local team he had originally scheduled to play withdrew unexpectedly.

As a result, Mountain Brook will make the southbound trek down to Gulf Shores for its season-opening matchup on Friday, Aug. 19. The two schools have never met on the gridiron.

“I think it’s exciting to play and get outside of this Birmingham area, which we’ve always played in,” Spartan linebacker Will Wetzler said. “It’ll be fun. It’ll be something different, but it’ll also be a challenge to see how we can stay – like with our pregame rituals – see how we can do that and how we’ll prepare for the game.”

After a long offseason, Yeager said the coastal trip is something that he, his team and the entire Mountain Brook community are looking forward to.

“To play in a game and to play a quality opponent, we’re excited about it,” Yeager said.  

Kickoff at Gulf Shores' Mickey Miller Blackwell Stadium is scheduled for 7 p.m.

For an in-depth look at the Spartans' upcoming slate, check out the team's 2016 season preview, as featured in the Starnes Publishing prep football preview magazine.