Hoover comes back, stuns Rebels
HOOVER -- Just 5-foot-9 and 14 years old, Hoover High School freshman R.J. Hamilton was a giant in a Hoover-Vestavia Hills rivalry game for the ages.
So was his soft-spoken, but confident quarterback, junior Josh Lundy, and senior running back Anthony Hayes. All three took on larger roles for a Buccaneers team decimated by injuries in a 34-28, come-from-behind win over the Rebels at the Hoover Met.
Hoover, helped by two critical unforced Vestavia Hills turnovers, took a 20-7 lead at the half. But the Rebels came out and benefited from two Bucs turnovers, but really dominated most of the second half, taking a 28-20 lead.
The Bucs cut it to 28-26 when Hayes took a screen pass from Lundy and went 31 yards for a score, but Vestavia Hills’ Will Brooks intercepted the 2-point try. With 1:53 left, Lundy and the Bucs took over at their own 26-yard line down 28-26. He took a 16-yard loss on a sack, but then hit Hamilton for a 29-yard gain. On third-and-8, Hamilton dropped a pass, but Rebels safety Jermaine Harris ran into Hamilton and was flagged for a personal foul.
It was questionable. The Vestavia Hills sideline was livid, but head coach Buddy Anderson couldn’t comment because he didn’t see it. Hamilton said he was surprised, but took advantage when he pulled in a 33-yard bomb from Lundy to the 11. Hayes scored on the next play with 40 seconds left, then scored on the 2-point conversion.
Hoover held on to secure the win. The Bucs are now 7-1, 5-1 in Class 7A, Region 3 play and will play Mountain Brook for a chance to host a first-round Class 7A playoff game next week. The Rebels dropped to 5-3, 3-3, but clinched the No. 4 spot in the region after Oak Mountain lost to Spain Park. Vestavia Hills hosts Oak Mountain next week.
“As long as there’s another snap and another opportunity, you’ve got to go make a play,” Hoover coach Josh Niblett said. “It’s what high school football is all about. It’s a blessing. Two games that we’ve gotten this year where we’ve had to win it on our last drive and I can’t say enough about our kids and our coaches. We’re blessed.”
Down 20-7, Eli Sawyer scrambled and hit Charlie Hughes for a 20-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter following a Hoover fumbled punt. Hamilton fumbled on the next drive and Jake Levant scored on a 2-yard run, set up by Sawyer’s 31-yard pass to Wells Watts. Levant had a 31-yard run to put Sawyer in position to score on a 4-yard run early in the fourth quarter for the Rebels’ 28-20 lead.
Hoover did benefit from Vestavia calling three pass plays that went incomplete in the final minutes, stopping the clock, but the Bucs did what they do best.
“The one thing about us is that we never lose our composure,” Hayes said.
Hayes finished with 113 rushing yards on 24 carries and two scores, shouldering the load as starter Dylan Pauley is out with an injury. He was crucial in the screen pass reception game and finished with 85 yards on three catches and a touchdown.
Lundy went 21-of-36 for 243 yards. He’s starting in place of injured Ole Miss commit Robby Ashford. Hoover took a hit last week when linebacker Jeppa Kilgore suffered a knee injury.
“It’s next man up here,” Lundy said. “We have so much depth, so we have a next man up mentality and that’s how we work.”
It was crushing for the Rebels, but the Rebels had some stars. Levant scored twice and had a key fourth-down stop in the fourth quarter playing defensive end. Sawyer finished 8-of-21 for 121 yards and was a key figure in the game after the Rebels offense, save one touchdown drive, struggled in the first half.
“This is a big rivalry,” Anderson said. “They did a good job coming back. Our kids fought. Just a good, old-fashioned Hoover-Vestavia game.”
But the youngest star of the rivalry got an early birthday present. Hamilton will turn 15 next Wednesday, but he’s already made a big name for himself.
“To be a freshman playing in this atmosphere, making plays like that, he’s going to be something special,” Niblett said. “He’s got a good head on his shoulders. He understands the game. He’s a great athlete and he made some huge plays for us on that last drive.”
Click here to purchase photos from the game.