Oak Mountain upsets Vestavia, delays Anderson’s record win

Harold Shader’s 1–yard touchdown run gave Oak Mountain the lead in overtime and the Eagles defense stopped Vestavia Hills on fourth down to seal a hard-fought, hard-hitting 14-7 victory at Heardmont Park, thwarting Rebels coach Buddy Anderson of his 310th win.

Anderson was seeking to break the record for most career wins by an Alabama high school coach. The next chance comes at Hewitt-Trussville on Friday. “It boils down to a lot of little things,” Anderson said. “We had our chances, we just didn’t take advantage of the opportunities we had. “They’ve got a good defense, a good secondary, and they played well.”

Anderson dismissed any thoughts that his players were tight. “I don’t think so. Both teams played hard and it just came down to who made the fewest mistakes and they made the fewest mistakes.” He also downplayed the importance of the record. “We go at it one at a time,” Anderson said. “The most important game is the next game because it’s the next one, not because of some kind of record. It’s a region game.”

Vestavia led 7-0 after Rebels quarterback Landon Crowder scored on a 2-yard run with 1:16 left in the third quarter. But Oak Mountain took the ensuing kickoff and moved it down the field, largely on a 32-yard run by Shader. Quarterback Warren Shader then connected on a rare pass to Daniel Salchert for a 23-yard touchdown and D.J. Garver’s extra point tied the game at 7. It stayed that way through regulation. In overtime, Oak Mountain’s Josh Gaines picked up 6 yards on first down, then quarterback Shader picked up 3 to the 1. After a half-the-distance penalty against Vestavia inched the ball closer to the goal line, Harold Shader scored what would prove to be the winning points.

On Vestavia’s series, the Rebels moved the ball to the 7, but on fourth down a completed pass was stopped at the 1 to end the game. Oak Mountain coach Cris Bell said his team knew it was a big game with Anderson shooting for the record. “We were tight, I was probably tight. It’s the first time I’ve had to compete against my friend and it wasn’t easy, seeing his wife come up after the ballgame … I hate it for them because like I’ve said there’s nobody in the state, really in the country, I think, that’s got more class and does it the right way than he does. “He’s a tremendous football coach and a great Christian man. He’s the guy I want to be like someday.”