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Photo by Erin Nelson
Vestavia Hills quarterback/punter Mitchell Towns (16) runs the ball in a game against Oak Mountain at Buddy Anderson Field on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021 at Vestavia Hills High School. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Oak Mountain linebacker Mattox Vines (57) tackles Vestavia Hills running back Pierce Hanna (48) in a game against Oak Mountain at Buddy Anderson Field on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021 at Vestavia Hills High School. The Eagles defeated the Rebels 24-14. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Vestavia Hills defensive back John Ross Ashley (4) tackles Oak Mountain wide receiver Ethan Hammett (11) as Ashley forces a fumble in a game at Buddy Anderson Field on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021 at Vestavia Hills High School. The Eagles defeated the Rebels 24-14. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Vestavia Hills defensive back John Ross Ashley (4) tackles Oak Mountain wide receiver Ethan Hammett (11) as Ashley forces a fumble and recovers the ball for the Rebels in a game at Buddy Anderson Field on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021 at Vestavia Hills High School. The Eagles defeated the Rebels 24-14. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Oak Mountain defensive back Corbit Grundhoefer (3) tackles Vestavia Hills quarterback/punter Mitchell Towns (16) in a game at Buddy Anderson Field on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021 at Vestavia Hills High School. The Eagles defeated the Rebels 24-14. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Oak Mountain quarterback Evan Smith (9) runs the ball as Vestavia Hills defensive back Grant Downey (39) moves in to make the stop in a game at Buddy Anderson Field on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021 at Vestavia Hills High School. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Vestavia Hills kicker/punter Jack Brewer (27) kicks the extra point for the Rebels in a game against Oak Mountain at Buddy Anderson Field on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021 at Vestavia Hills High School. The Eagles defeated the Rebels 24-14. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Vestavia Hills running back Tucker Smitha (46) is knocked out of play by Oak Mountain defensive back Bobby Laurey (24) in a game at Buddy Anderson Field on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021 at Vestavia Hills High School. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Oak Mountain running back CJ Branson (1) carries the ball as the Eagles face Vestavia Hills in a game at Buddy Anderson Field on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021 at Vestavia Hills High School. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Vestavia Hills offensive lineman Hoke Smith (74) lifts up Vestavia Hills wide receiver Max Stewart (82) after Stewart caught a pass in the end zone to score a touchdown for the Rebels in a game against Oak Mountain at Buddy Anderson Field on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021 at Vestavia Hills High School. The Eagles defeated the Rebels 24-14. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Buddy Anderson Field on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021 at Vestavia Hills High School. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Oak Mountain quarterback Evan Smith (9) is brought down by the Vestavia Hills defense as he struggles to keep his helmet from coming off before the end of the play in a game at Buddy Anderson Field on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021 at Vestavia Hills High School. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Oak Mountain quarterback Evan Smith (9) is brought down by the Vestavia Hills defense as he struggles to keep his helmet from coming off before the end of the play in a game at Buddy Anderson Field on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021 at Vestavia Hills High School. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Oak Mountain kicker Garrett Murphy (16) kicks the extra point in a game against Vestavia Hills held at Buddy Anderson Field on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021 at Vestavia Hills High School. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Oak Mountain athlete Evan Smith (9) runs the ball as Vestavia Hills defensive back Jackson Ayers (7) moves in on coverage in a game at Buddy Anderson Field on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021 at Vestavia Hills High School. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Oak Mountain wide receiver Ethan Hammett (11) scores a touchdown in the fourth quarter as the Eagles face Vestavia Hills at Buddy Anderson Field on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021 at Vestavia Hills High School. The Eagles defeated the Rebels 24-14. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Oak Mountain athlete Garrett Murphy (16) kicks the extra point for the Eagles in a game against Vestavia Hills at Buddy Anderson Field on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021 at Vestavia Hills High School. The Eagles defeated the Rebels 24-14. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Oak Mountain quarterback Evan Smith (9) looks to throw a pass to the end zone in a game against Vestavia Hills at Buddy Anderson Field on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021 at Vestavia Hills High School. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Vestavia Hills running back Bryant Agee (5) runs the ball as the Rebels face Oak Mountain in a game at Buddy Anderson Field on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021 at Vestavia Hills High School. The Eagles defeated the Rebels 24-14. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Vestavia Hills wide receiver Cole Turner (22) moves to catch a pass, guarded by Oak Mountain defensive back Bobby Laurey (24) in a game at Buddy Anderson Field on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021 at Vestavia Hills High School. The Eagles defeated the Rebels 24-14. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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A pass to Vestavia Hills wide receiver Cole Turner (22) falls incomplete as the clock winds down in the fourth quarter of a game against Oak Mountain at Buddy Anderson Field on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021 at Vestavia Hills High School. The Eagles defeated the Rebels 24-14. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Vestavia Hills wide receiver Max Stewart (82) scores for the Rebels after catching the ball in the end zone in a game against Oak Mountain at Buddy Anderson Field on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021 at Vestavia Hills High School. The Eagles defeated the Rebels 24-14. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Oak Mountain head coach Tyler Crane reacts following a play as the Eagles face Vestavia Hills in a game at Buddy Anderson Field on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021 at Vestavia Hills High School. The Eagles defeated the Rebels 24-14. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Oak Mountain quarterback Evan Smith (9) takes the ball to the end zone, guarded by Vestavia Hills defensive back John Ross Ashley (4), in a game at Buddy Anderson Field on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021 at Vestavia Hills High School. The Eagles defeated the Rebels 24-14. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Oak Mountain quarterback Evan Smith (9) takes the ball to the end zone, guarded by Vestavia Hills defensive back John Ross Ashley (4), in a game at Buddy Anderson Field on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021 at Vestavia Hills High School. The Eagles defeated the Rebels 24-14. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Buddy Anderson Field on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021 at Vestavia Hills High School. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Oak Mountain defensive lineman Gavin Nelson (91) tackles Vestavia Hills running back Pierce Hanna (48) in a game at Buddy Anderson Field on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021 at Vestavia Hills High School. Photo by Erin Nelson.
VESTAVIA HILLS – Oak Mountain High School is living on the edge in the early portion of this season.
The Eagles have yet to do things the easy way, but on Friday night they knocked off Vestavia Hills 24-14 with a fourth-quarter comeback in a Class 7A, Region 3 contest at Thompson Reynolds Stadium.
Oak Mountain (4-0, 2-0 in region) scored twice in the final frame to take the lead for good.
“We’ve got to keep fighting,” Oak Mountain head coach Tyler Crane said following the game. “I told them before we came over here, and they didn’t believe me, that they were about to be in a dogfight and they were the whole time.”
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Evan Smith hit Ethan Hammett for a 10-yard score to give the Eagles a 17-14 lead. A long punt return set Oak Mountain up with great field position on its next possession, but it took a long fourth-down conversion for the Eagles to score.
Smith took the snap, rolled out to his left and threw a pass toward the end zone off his back foot. There, a crossing Joseph Regan juggled it but hung on for a 22-yard touchdown to make it 24-14.
“We talked about it all week, we’re going to be in position, and you either make a play or you don’t. And we didn’t make enough,” Vestavia Hills head coach Sean Calhoun said.
It was the second crazy fourth-down conversion for a touchdown for Oak Mountain. Smith opened the scoring by dashing 28 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter with his team facing 4th and 17. Smith finished the night with 99 rushing yards and a passing line of 11-of-19 for 132 yards.
“I don’t want to live like that,” Crane said. “We have got to get better on offense, we’ve got to execute better. Vestavia has a really good defense, but we’ve got to execute a lot better than what we did tonight.”
After a couple three and outs to start the game, Vestavia Hills (0-4, 0-2) found an offensive spark late in the first quarter. Quarterback Mitchell Towns found Cole Turner for a 41-yard gain on a double reverse pass. The Rebels were stuffed inside the 1-yard line on fourth and goal, but the offense continued to play well into the second quarter.
It was Vestavia's first home game in the Calhoun era and the Rebels unveiled new Jumpman brand uniforms earlier Friday.
John Ross Ashley came up with a big play to set up the Rebels early in the second. He stripped an Oak Mountain receiver and recovered the fumble, giving his team great field position. Vestavia capitalized and later scored, as Towns found Keown Richardson for a 5-yard score to tie the game at 7-7.
Oak Mountain’s Garrett Murphy booted a 29-yard field goal to give the Eagles a 10-7 lead with 4:27 remaining before the half.
Vestavia used up nearly every bit of the remaining clock. The Rebels began a 14-play march, one that culminated in Max Stewart’s impressive grab over two Eagles defenders for a 17-yard touchdown to put the home team ahead 14-10 with one tick remaining on the second-quarter clock.
Towns certainly had his moments on Friday, going 19-of-36 for 241 yards and the two scores. He also rushed for 87 hard-fought yards. Bryant Agee gained 30 rushing yards as well.
Turner led the Rebels through the air with 95 yards on six catches. Richardson finished with 49 yards, Stewart had 44 yards and Tucker Smitha ended up with 65 all-purpose yards.
After a scoreless third frame, the Eagles put the game away in the final quarter. The Rebels crossed midfield twice in the fourth, but failed on fourth down tries in both situations.
Vestavia Hills outgained Oak Mountain 417-303 in the game and displayed much more offensive capability than in the season’s first three games. Calhoun believes the first victory is coming soon.
“It’s so close it’s beyond frustrating. It’s just been a couple plays in a handful of games this year. We’ve just got to overcome that and execute a little bit better,” he said.
C.J. Branson added 75 yards on the ground for the Eagles. Regan finished with 46 receiving yards on four grabs and Hammett had 32 yards on three catches.
Oak Mountain is now 4-0 for the second time in school history, with last year being the first time the program had accomplished the feat.
“It’s good to be 4-0,” Crane said. “One at a time, though.”
Next week, Oak Mountain has another tall task, as the Eagles host Hoover in region action. Vestavia Hills takes to the road to face Tuscaloosa County.
