Photo by Erin Nelson.
Vestavia Hills quarterback John Paul Head (13) carries the ball in a Class 7A quarterfinal game against Thompson at Warrior Stadium at Thompson High School on Nov. 11. The Rebels fell to Thompson 21-12.
The Vestavia Hills High School football team hoped to advance deeper into the postseason, but the Rebels may have put the rest of Class 7A on notice.
The Rebels outgained Thompson by nearly 100 yards in the second round of the Class 7A playoffs, but Thompson made the plays down the stretch to win 21-12 on Nov. 11. Thompson would go on to win its fourth-straight state championship.
Vestavia Hills ended the season with a 7-5 record, notching its first playoff win in seven years.
“I told the guys there’s nothing like winning or losing in the playoffs,” Vestavia Hills head coach Robert Evans said following the game. “This is the last time this team will ever play. But those seniors set the model and the example moving forward.
“We’re going to be a force to deal with in the future.”
The first half was all Vestavia. Over the first two quarters, Thompson ran only nine plays and gained no first downs. But the Warriors came out in the third quarter and immediately put those putrid numbers away. They marched 69 yards in 11 plays, gaining five first downs and scoring on AJ Green’s 1-yard run to take a 7-3 lead.
Vestavia responded with an impressive drive of its own and cut the deficit to 7-6 with Carter Shirley’s 27-yard field goal, his second of the game.
Thompson put the game away on a few key plays in the fourth quarter. Early in the period, with the Rebels trailing just 7-6, Evans elected for a fake punt on his team’s own 37-yard line. That play failed, and Thompson went up 14-6 two plays later on Michael Dujon’s 33-yard run.
Vestavia continued to press forward, though, putting together an impressive seven-play, 80-yard drive that featured five John Paul Head completions followed by a 17-yard touchdown run from Head. However, the two-point attempt failed, leaving Thompson with a 14-12 lead with 5:12 left. The Warriors added a late touchdown to salt the game away.
The Rebels capped off Evans’ first season with some key wins and tight losses. Three of their five losses came to the 7A champions (Thompson, twice) and 6A runner-up (Mountain Brook). They also fell late to semifinalist Hoover and Hewitt-Trussville. Vestavia’s blowout win over Austin in the first round of the playoffs was the program’s first postseason victory in seven years.
When the dust settled, Evans had nothing but high praise for his first team at Vestavia Hills.
“I’m the luckiest coach in the world to have 43 seniors that bought in, did everything right and modeled the way we practice and play to our younger guys, our middle school and youth,” he said. “There were a lot of good football players in that group, too. There’s no good words.”
Many thought the Rebels had a chance going into the game against the three-time defending state champions, a point of pride for Evans and his staff.
They nearly made those people look pretty smart.
“We’ll have to reload and rebuild for next year. Down the road in two, three, four years when our weight program is on par with everybody else’s, we’re going to win these games and go further,” Evans said.
