Rebels get Evans 1st win as head coach
VESTAVIA HILLS – That was more like it from the Rebels’ perspective.
The first half of Friday night’s high school football game between rivals Vestavia Hills and Homewood went almost completely according to script for Vestavia Hills.
The Rebels got off to a hot start and never looked back, blowing past Homewood 35-0 at Thompson Reynolds Stadium.
“That first half is a microcosm of where we’re going as a program,” said Robert Evans, who secured his first win as the Rebels’ head coach.
Vestavia Hills (1-1) won the coin toss, elected to take the football and ran it all the way to the end zone. The Rebels’ opening drive lasted a little over three minutes, gashing Homewood for 69 yards on 12 plays. Eleven of those plays were running plays, with the last one being a John Paul Head 5-yard run to give the Rebels an early 7-0 lead.
“There’s a reason we’re taking the ball first. We’re trying to send a message and set the tempo, and we’ll do that every game. If we win the toss next week, we’re taking the ball,” Evans said.
Homewood (1-1) could get nothing going offensively early on, punting and turning the ball over on downs on its pair of first-quarter possessions.
Head and the Rebels offense went to work again, with Keown Richardson catching a 27-yard bomb and Jay Daniels toe-tapping in the corner of the end zone for a 13-yard reception to make it 21-0 after a quarter of play.
“Very humbling experience right there,” Homewood head coach Ben Berguson said. “We were super confident coming into the game. I felt like they set the tone of the entire football game on that first drive…They punched us and we didn’t punch back in that whole first half.”
On Vestavia’s first drive of the second quarter, the Rebels committed penalties on four consecutive plays, one of which was a 70-yard reception by Richardson. But a couple plays later, Daniels left a few Homewood defenders grasping at air as he scored a 75-yard touchdown.
Head scored on a 1-yard run later in the period to give him five total touchdowns in the first half, as the Rebels took a 35-0 lead into halftime. They nearly scored again in the final minute, but a fumble in the end zone gave the ball back to Homewood.
“We did it exactly how we planned,” said Head, who finished with 174 passing yards and 49 rushing yards on the evening. “Except for that last drive, we scored on every drive and did it exactly how we wanted to. We just played football right.”
Evans gave credit to offensive coordinator Josh Franklin for the game plan and the Rebels’ improvement in the week following their season-opening loss to Mountain Brook last week.
“I thought we played stylistically how we want to play in the first half,” Evans said. “It was up and down the field, shots, big plays, we got off the field on third down [defensively], which was a big emphasis for us this week.”
Jack Lockhard led Vestavia Hills with 73 rushing yards, as William Tonsmeire added 66 yards on the ground.
For Homewood, quarterback Woods Ray was 13-of-25 passing for 78 yards. Calyb Colbert notched 56 yards and Mondrell Odell added 50 yards on the ground. Jackson Parris caught five passes for 49 yards.
Each team used the second half to get some playing time for depth players.
Both teams are set to begin region play next week. Homewood heads to Helena for the start of Class 6A, Region 5 play, while Vestavia Hills host three-time defending state champion Thompson at the outset of Class 7A, Region 3 action.
“I have total respect for Thompson. They’re the kings of Alabama until somebody beats them,” Evans said. “We’ll have a plan and prepare to play a four-quarter game against those guys.”