Rebels fall to Hoover in season opener
VESTAVIA HILLS – There’s often more to the story than what the scoreboard reads.
On Friday night, the Hoover High School football team defeated longtime rival Vestavia Hills 24-21 on Buddy Anderson Field at Thompson Reynolds Stadium.
Hoover outgained the Rebels 402 total yards to 237 when the dust settled in the Class 7A, Region 3 opener for both sides. But despite trailing 24-7 heading into the final quarter, Vestavia Hills made Hoover earn every bit of the win.
“When you come over here, it’s always going to be a tough game, it always has been when Hoover and Vestavia play,” Hoover head coach Josh Niblett said following the game. “We’re happy we won, but also we know there’s some things we’ve got to do a lot better if we’re going to be where we want to be in the end.”
Vestavia Hills (0-3) finished off a long drive with a 1-yard quarterback sneak by Braden Glenn to cut the deficit to 24-14 with over eight minutes to play. The Rebels turned the ball over on downs their next possession, but got the ball back and scored on Glenn’s 6-yard run with five seconds to play.
Hoover recovered Vestavia’s last-ditch effort on the onside kick to preserve the win.
“Our guys fought the whole way, we just came up short,” Vestavia Hills head coach Buddy Anderson said. “They’re a real good football team and we came up short.”
Despite an official record of 0-3, Friday night marked Vestavia’s first game action of the season. Due to COVID-19 concerns within the program, the Rebels were forced to cancel and forfeit their first two games of the season. They played against a Hoover team with two full games under its belt already.
“It was our first game and we made a lot of first game mistakes that we need to correct. We just go back to work on Monday,” Anderson said.
The game marked the beginning of the 43rd and final season of Anderson’s legendary tenure as the Vestavia Hills head coach. When reflecting on what he saw from his team on Friday, he became emotional.
“What I see is the heart,” he said. “I see my kids’ heart. That’s what I see. We’re going to go to work. We’ve got a short, long season ahead [with just seven regular season games remaining]. The heart’s there and we’ll go to work and get better.”
Vestavia Hills had yet to put anything on tape, making it a little tougher on the Bucs from a preparation perspective. But that didn’t excuse some of Hoover’s missed opportunities in Niblett’s eyes.
“We didn’t have any film on them, and we didn’t even know personnel, so you just have to adjust as you go,” Niblett said. “We had some opportunities to finish some drives and create some space between us and them that we didn’t do.”
It looked early on as if Hoover may run away with the game. Corey Warren sacked Glenn on the third play of the game, forcing a fumble and giving the Bucs prime field position. Constantine Hontzas’ 26-yard field goal opened the game’s scoring.
Hoover broke into the end zone on its next possession, as Josh Lundy found a wide open Sky Niblett for an 11-yard scoring pass. Niblett is a freshman and the son of the head coach.
“It’s pretty neat, it just makes you know you’re getting old. I’m proud of him. He got an opportunity and made a play,” Josh Niblett said of Sky’s score.
Both teams exchanged interceptions in the second quarter, with Hoover’s Jay Avery picking off Glenn and Joseph Sullivan stepping in front of a Lundy throw. Vestavia took advantage of Sullivan’s turnover, scoring on a Bryant Agee 31-yard dash to make it 10-7. Agee had a big night, totaling 116 yards on the ground on just 12 carries.
Ahamari Williams responded with a touchdown of his own, scoring from 3 yards out to give Hoover a 17-7 edge at the halftime break. Williams finished with 57 yards on 10 carries. Dylan Pauley led the Hoover rushing attack, as he rolled up 78 yards on 11 carries.
Hoover wasted no time adding to its advantage on the opening drive of the third quarter, as Lundy found Malik Thomas in the back corner of the end zone for a 23-yard score to make it 24-7. Thomas secured eight grabs for 104 yards on the night, accounting for over half of Lundy’s production. Lundy completed 17-of-31 passes for 203 yards.
After that, the Vestavia defense stiffened, forcing three punts and a turnover on downs on Hoover’s final four drives.
Vestavia got nearly all of its production from the ground attack, piling up 211 rushing yards. Landon Neese supplemented Agee’s big night with 44 yards on five carries, while Taiyo Crawford had 11 carries for 36 yards. Glenn was just 4-of-18 passing for 26 yards.
Both teams remain in region next week. Hoover hosts Gadsden City, while Vestavia Hills travels to Oak Mountain.
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