1 of 61
Photo courtesy of Ben Breland
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook's Hamp Sisson (10) hands off to Harold Joiner (5) in a game between Mountain Brook and Gulf Shores on Friday, August 19, 2016, in Gulf Shores, Alabama.
2 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
A Mountain Brook player carries the ball in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
3 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook's Hamp Sisson (10) hands off to Harold Joiner (5) in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
4 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook's Harold Joiner (5) is tackled in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
5 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook's Hamp Sisson (10) runs with the ball in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
6 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook's Hamp Sisson (10) runs with the ball in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
7 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook's Hamp Sisson (10) encounters a defender in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
8 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook's Hamp Sisson (10) hands off to Harold Joiner (5) in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
9 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook's Harold Joiner (5) runs with the ball in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
10 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook's Harold Joiner (5) runs with the ball in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
11 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook's Harold Joiner (5) and Price Delk (60) celebrate in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
12 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook's Mason Dillard (16) kicks the ball in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
13 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook players celebrate in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
14 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook's Harold Joiner (5) takes the handoff in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
15 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook's Harold Joiner (5) runs away from a defender in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
16 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook's Hamp Greene (1) and Harold Joiner (5) celebrate in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
17 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook's Harold Joiner (5) celebrates with a teammate in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
18 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook defenders push the Helena player out of bounds in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
19 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook defenders make the tackle in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
20 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
A Mountain Brook player in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
21 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook's Sam Everette (19) runs through a defender in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
22 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook's Hamp Sisson (10) makes a pass in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
23 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook's Wilson Higgins (9) in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
24 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook's Wilson Higgins (9) tiptoes the sideline in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
25 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook's Wilson Higgins (9) lays a block for Harold Joiner (5) in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
26 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook's Harold Joiner (5) encounters defenders in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
27 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook's Clay Stearns (48) with the ball in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
28 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook's Connor Bussman (32) attempts to make a tackle in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
29 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook's Price Delk (60) and offensive line coach Tony Johnson talk in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
30 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
The Mountain Brook offensive line in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
31 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook's Sean Elmore (3) encounters defenders in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
32 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook's Harold Joiner (5) falls in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
33 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook's Harold Joiner (5) breaks a tackle in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
34 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook's Harold Joiner (5) runs away from defenders in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
35 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook's Harold Joiner (5) and Wilson Higgins (9) following a play in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
36 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook's Hamp Sisson (10) and William Powell (11) celebrate in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
37 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook players celebrate in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
38 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook's Joey Keating (1) trips up a ballcarrier in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
39 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook's Collin Bussman (12) attempts to tackle the ballcarrier in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
40 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook coaches signal a play in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
41 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook's Hamp Sisson (10) runs the ball in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
42 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook's Reid Hogue (10) makes a tackle in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
43 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
The Mountain Brook band performs at halftime in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
44 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
The Mountain Brook band performs at halftime in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
45 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
The Mountain Brook band performs at halftime in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
46 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
The Mountain Brook band performs at halftime in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
47 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
The Mountain Brook band performs at halftime in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
48 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
The Mountain Brook band performs at halftime in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
49 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
The Mountain Brook band performs at halftime in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
50 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
The Mountain Brook band performs at halftime in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
51 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
The Mountain Brook band performs at halftime in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
52 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook cheerleaders in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
53 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook cheerleaders in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
54 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook cheerleaders in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
55 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook cheerleaders in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
56 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook fans in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
57 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook's Tanner Dean (40) tries to make a tackle in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
58 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook fans in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
59 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook fans in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
60 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
A Mountain Brook cheerleader in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
61 of 61
Sarah Finnegan
Mountain Brook Football
Mountain Brook teacher Dave Good, center, watches the action with his daughter Addie Mae and friend Owen Butts in a game between Helena and Mountain Brook on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
Mountain Brook coach Chris Yeager knew that visiting Helena, despite being only a three-year-old program moving up to Class 6A, would not be an easy opponent. Yeager knew the Huskies had size and ability.
His suspicions proved correct, as it took a defensive stop early in the fourth period and a Reid Hogue interception late for the Spartans to hold on for a 21-14 home victory Friday night.
Hogue’s pick-off of a Riley Davis came just after a possible game-clinching drive by Mountain Brook, which came up empty when quarterback Hamp Sisson couldn't convert on fourth down at the Huskies 27 with 2:04 left in the game. But on the next play, Hogue swiped Davis’ long toss and came down at the Spartan 35.
From there, Mountain Brook was able to run out the clock when Helena jumped offside to give the hosts a first down, letting Sisson kneel twice for the win.
“I knew the ball was coming was probably coming to him [his coverage man], and the ball came up and I had to make a play,” Hogue said. “It was a real rush of adrenaline. I knew how much time was left in the game and what was on the line, and I just wanted to finish it.”
Helena (0-1) got the Spartans’ attention right off the bat. Taking a touchback on the opening kickoff, the Huskies reached into the bag of tricks and ran a pass off a double reverse. Kade Jones was on the receiving end of the 80-yard touchdown play.
But the Spartans responded quickly with two scores by running back Harold Joiner. The first came on an 11-yard charge up the middle with 10:11 left in the first quarter to cap a four-play drive. Joiner did the same at the end of another short drive three minutes later, taking advantage of a Conner Bussman interception that put the hosts in business in the red zone.
Mountain Brook dug into their own bag of tricks in the second quarter when they ran a double reverse of their own, as Sisson handed off to Joiner, who then gave it to Sean Elmore for a 29-yard touchdown just past the midway point of the period.
“After that first play, we were a little bit on edge all night, knowing that’s not the only trick play they’ve got,” Yeager said. “And they kept loading up the box to stop our rush. We’ve got to get better at our passing game. Last week [a 50-point win at Gulf Shores] was not the kind of game that reveals your weaknesses. This kind of game exposes the areas you need to work on.”
In the second half, the Huskies cut their deficit to a touchdown when Davis found Dionte Tolbert for a 31-yard touchdown strike with 7:10 left in the period. That score was set up by an interception by Pugh near midfield.
Joiner finished the night with 131 yards on 20 carries. Sam Everette ran for 33 yards on 10 rushes. Sisson was 9-for-15 in passing with 63 yards and one interception.
Mason Dillard was 3-for-3 on conversion kicks, but missed a 35-yard field goal attempt.
Mountain Brook gets its first 2-0 start since 2012, as they move on to face what’s likely their toughest foe of the season at Hoover next week.
*William Galloway contributed to this report.
