Shades Valley dominates fourth quarter, beats Rebels
VESTAVIA HILLS -- Vestavia Hills High School football coaching legend Buddy Anderson was sticking with his normal old-school game plan — three yards and a cloud of artificial-turf rubber pellets — and it worked pretty well Friday night against visiting Shades Valley.
Until the fourth quarter, that is.
That’s when the Mounties took control of the game, scoring on three straight late-game drives for a 41-27 win over the Rebels.
Anderson’s squad stood up well against Shades Valley’s up-tempo offense for most of the game, with quarterback Sean Smyth (filling in for regular starter Coleman Petway, who was out with an injury) directing a run-heavy attack behind running back William Schaffeld and fullback Joshua Silverman, the latter often lining up at tight end and receiving screen passes to keep things honest.
But the Mounties countered with quarterback Desmond Trotter, a 6-foot-4, 205-pound senior who gave Homewood fits in the Patriots’ 37-27 comeback win two weeks prior. Trotter was equally adept at running the ball as he was passing, and benefitted from a super-sized offensive line that gave him time to work while wearing out the Rebels defense.
Trotter ran for a 3-yard touchdown, scrambling when he couldn’t find an open receiver, and then threw passes for two more scores on back-to-back drives in the final period. Overall, he completed 14 passes on 17 attempts for 138 yards, and ran 17 times for 121 yards.
Anderson — completing his 40th season as the Rebels head coach — was impressed with the Mounties offense, but less so with how his defense responded.
“Their offense did a good job, and ours did until the fourth quarter,” Anderson said. “Then we struggled a lot, and they had a lot to do with that. Their linemen just wear on you, and the quarterback is the real deal.”
After trading long drives that came up empty in the first period, Shades Valley got on the board first with a 36-yard touchdown run by Trenton Thomas. Vestavia Hills answered with a 40-yard dash to pay dirt by fullback Matthew Paugh early in the second period, but Shades Valley went back in front with a 4-yard charge through the middle of the line by Braelon Shields, who was another mainstay of the Mounties attack all night.
The Rebels tied the game just before halftime with a drive that consisted almost entirely of Schaffeld runs. He finished it off with a 17-yard scoring dash just 32 seconds before the break.
The hosts opened the second half with a lengthy drive that stalled out at the Mounties 9-yard line, and Caleb Huber put the Rebels ahead for the first time with a 26-yard field goal. Trotter countered three minutes later with a 3-yard touchdown run, but Vestavia went back in the lead on the first play of the fourth quarter. Schaffeld did the honors again, with a 2-yard touchdown.
That was the last time the Rebels scored, while Shades Valley finished strong with touchdown passes by Trotter to Kelandre Sanders and Devonta Parnell. Running back Delvyn Johnson applied the kill shot for the guests with a 9-yard touchdown run with 2:20 left to play.
Schaffeld finished his Vestavia Hills career with a stellar night, running 20 times for 181 yards and two touchdowns, and Paugh ran 83 yards on eight carries with the other score. Smyth completed five passes in 14 attempts with one interception.
Shields added 103 yards on 15 carries with one touchdown for Shades Valley.
Vestavia Hills finishes the 2017 season with a 4-6 record and misses the playoffs for the second straight year. But the coach was philosophical about this season’s struggles, and how it has affected his players.
“If this is the worst thing to happen to them, they’ll have a great life,” Anderson said.