Photo by James Nicholas.
Vestavia Hills Football
Vestavia Hills senior Jake Levant (44) leaps for thetackle during a Class 7A first-round playoff gamebetween Vestavia Hills and James Clemens on Nov. 8 at Madison City Stadium.
After a three-year absence from the playoffs, Vestavia Hills returned to playoff football after battling through Class 7A, Region 3.
The Rebels relied on a menacing defense that allowed only 13.8 points per game during the regular season, including two shutout wins, but some close losses forced them into the fourth and final seed in the region. This earned the Rebels a playoff spot with a game at James Clemens on Nov. 8.
The Rebels went up 20-7 in the fourth quarter, but James Clemens fought back. The Jets scored two touchdowns with 6:06 left in the contest, including the go-ahead two-point conversion with under a minute to play, to triumph over Vestavia 21-20.
Vestavia head coach Buddy Anderson said it was difficult to watch this team come up short.
“They practice hard, they play hard, they love each other, they’ve got each other’s back; it’s just tough,” he said.
Senior Jake Levant said the return to the playoffs came from a great coaching staff, but also senior leadership.
“I think it’s just the leadership,” Levant said. “After the last game last year, we just sat down and said that we have to change things here. The next juniors, they know what it’s like to be in the playoffs and we set the standard.”
Vestavia started the season with three straight wins, downing non-region opponent Homewood in convincing fashion before beginning region play. Vestavia crushed Spain Park and Tuscaloosa County by a combined score of 90-23 to start 2-0 in region play.
Anderson said his defense stepped up in the early part of the season.
“Our defense has played well for three ball games,” he said after the game against Tuscaloosa County. “I’m real proud of them.”
The Rebels’ first loss came to Mountain Brook on Sept. 21. Mountain Brook accounted for 284 rushing yards in the contest, while Vestavia could not keep pace with the Spartans in the loss.
The team bounced back with a non-region win over Shades Valley, but the Rebels biggest win came at Hewitt-Trussville. The Rebels led 19-7 with seven minutes remaining in the game, but Hewitt-Trussville began making a comeback. The Huskies scored to cut the lead to 19-14, but senior Sam Willoughby stepped up to preserve a win for Vestavia, securing an interception with less than a minute left to finish off the giant region win and putting Vestavia on the road back to the playoffs.
“Our defense played great,” Anderson said at the time. “We had a few mistakes, but basically they played great. We shot ourselves in the foot on offense, but came back in the second half and made some plays.”
The win ended up being the deciding factor in the Region 3 playoff race, with Vestavia edging out Hewitt-Trussville for the fourth playoff spot.
The top two teams in Region 3 pushed the Rebels’ region ranking back with two consecutive losses for Vestavia. Top-ranked Thompson handed the Rebels their second loss of the season before Vestavia battled with Hoover.
After trailing 20-7 early in the contest, the Rebels dominated most of the second half to gain the 28-20 lead. After cutting the lead to 28-26, Hoover took over with under two minutes left in the game. A long drive resulted in a touchdown and two-point conversion to seal the win for the Bucs.
Vestavia Hills dropped to 5-3 overall and 3-3 in the region with one region game remaining. The Rebels clinched the last region spot after Oak Mountain lost to Spain Park the same night.
A strong finish with wins against Oak Mountain and non-region team Huffman ended the regular season for the Rebels at 7-3 overall and 5-3 in the region.
