Rebels begin region play in September
The Vestavia Hills High School football team is looking to replicate its success from last fall when the Rebels advanced to the playoffs and registered a 9-3 mark.
In order to do so, they must get off to a solid start in September, and their first regular season game against Homewood High School. They opened with a win in a jamboree game against Briarwood Christian.
The Rebels begin the month with back-to-back Class 7A, Region 3 road games. On Sept. 2, Vestavia kicks off region play against Spain Park, a team that shut them out a year ago.
Spain Park has won three of the last four games in the series and advanced to the State Final last fall, losing to McGill-Toolen.
Vestavia visits Heardmont Park the following week to play Oak Mountain. The Rebels have won 10 of 12 games all-time against the Eagles, including a 35-26 victory last fall. Vestavia jumped out to a 14-0 lead in that contest and hung on the rest of the way.
The only new face in Region 3 visits Thompson Reynolds Stadium Sept. 16, as Huffman comes to Vestavia. The teams have played 17 times previously, with the Rebels holding an 11-6 edge. The programs last faced off in 2013, as the Rebels won by a 30-8 margin, and Vestavia has won the last three meetings.
The Rebels take a week off of region play the following Friday, and play host to Class 6A Helena. With Helena entering its third year of competition, the two teams have never met on the gridiron.
Vestavia rounds out the month Sept. 30 with a tough game at Thompson. The Rebels also visited Thompson last fall, forcing seven turnovers and coming up with a critical 23-13 victory.
The Rebels jumped out to a 16-0 lead in the contest and sealed the deal late in the fourth quarter with a fumble recovery for a touchdown to make the score 23-6.
In the series, Thompson took six of the first seven, but Vestavia has won each of the last 13 contests, dating back to 1993.
Coach Buddy Anderson knows his team will have its hands full in a tough month full of quality region opponents.
“Our region is as tough as any,” he said. “Some people refer to it as the SEC West of high school football. Region [3] is a very tough region. Every week you go out, you better be ready to bring your A-game.”
Another quirk of the Rebels’ schedule is that, due to the fact they open the slate with a jamboree game, they play 10 straight regular season games with no off week at any point.
“That’s kind of a ‘Catch-22’ situation. Two years ago, it would’ve been great to have a break there, because we had a lot of injuries that hurt us pretty good,” Anderson said. “Years ago, we used to have it where we had an open date in there. I kind of like some aspects, some I don’t.”