Photo by John Perry.
VH Football
Walker Minor (34) takes off for a run against Hewitt-Trussville.
Game 1, 8/28
VESTAVIA HILLS 41
HOMEWOOD 7
It hit like a lightning bolt, and the streak rolled on like thunder.
Vestavia Hills hit on a long pass less than a minute into the game, and then the familiar rumble of the Rebels running game did the rest.
When it was over -– after Mother Nature delivered her own fireworks – the Rebels had delivered their ninth straight win in the series over their rival Homewood Patriots at Waldrop Stadium.
“I feel good about where we are right now,” said Vestavia Hills coach Buddy Anderson. “But there’s a long way to go.”
It was 21-0 after a quarter and 28-0 at the half.
The Rebels (1-0) scored on their first three possessions. On the second snap from scrimmage, Brett Jones found Nolan Turner open deep for a 63-yard score. Curry Howard’s extra point was good and the Rebels led 7-0 with just 55 seconds elapsed.
After Patriots three-and-out, Vestavia did it the old-school Vestavia way, driving 63 yards in 10 plays, throwing just one pass. Walker Minor did the heavy lifting, hauling the ball seven of those times, including the final one for 3 yards. Howard’s PAT made it 14-0 with 4:23 left in the first quarter.
After the kickoff, Patriots quarterback Carson Griffis was picked off by Tucker Queen, who returned the ball to the 4. William Schaffeld took it in from there and it was 21-0 after a quarter.
The teams swapped interceptions in the second quarter. But after a shanked Patriots punt, the Rebels took over at their 46 and drove 54 yards for another TD. Six running plays later, Minor banged in from the 2. The Howard kick made it 28-0 with 46 seconds left, and it went that way to intermission.
The Patriots faithful who waited out the lightning delay saw a brief glimmer of light when Antarius Mitchell picked up a Rebel fumble and rambled in for a score with 10:20 left in the third quarter.
But the Rebels went back to the ground for another drive that culminated in a 2-yard Minor TD.
Vestavia iced it after a bad snap on a Pat punt set the Rebels up for another 7-yard TD run by Schaffeld with 5:16 left.
Minor finished with 101 yards rushing on 21 carries and the three touchdowns.
Game 2, 9/4
VESTAVIA HILLS 35
OAK MOUNTAIN 26
The Rebels can give a punch. They can also take one, then give one right back and end up the last one standing.
Led by Walker Minor’s three touchdowns and Toliver Chatwood’s two scores, Vestavia Hills defeated Oak Mountain in the Class 7A, Region 3 opener for both teams.
With the Eagles at the Rebels’ 5-yard line on the first drive of the second half to start a second potential comeback of the game, Vestavia’s Reid Adams forced a fumble that teammate Nate Lewis recovered.
After a personal foul on the play, Minor capped a 12-play drive – all runs – that covered 79 yards with a 3-yard score that gave the Rebels (2-0, 1-0) a 35-13 lead.
“That was big by our defense getting the ball back and it was good to punch it in,” said Minor, who finished with 119 yards and two scores on the ground to go with 67 receiving yards and a touchdown catch. “It was really important. If we didn’t score right there we would have given them a chance, and we don’t want to give them any chances.”
The Eagles (0-2, 0-1) had clawed back into the game early in the second quarter after falling behind 14-0, and looked poised to start a second rally after being down 28-13 at the half. Oak Mountain opened the second half with a drive that covered 71 yards on nine plays, eight of them runs.
Oak Mountain added a final touchdown in the fourth quarter when quarterback Warren Shader found a wide-open Noah Egan for a 44-yard scoring pass with 10:35 left in the game. It wasn’t enough, however, to overcome the Rebels lead.
Game 3, 9/11
HEWITT-TRUSSVILLE 28
VESTAVIA HILLS 12
Hewitt-Trussville knocked off the Rebels for the first time in school history.
“This is big,” Hewitt-Trussville head coach Josh Floyd said. “Everybody knows what they do over at Vestavia Hills, they’re a historical program.
“For us to come out here and get the first victory in Hewitt history is a big time honor for our kids.”
Vestavia Hills coach Buddy Anderson saw his team outmuscled for the first time this season.
“They’ve got a good football team,” Anderson said. “We’ve got work to do up front. We hurt ourselves.”
Husky quarterback Zac Thomas threw two picks, but otherwise was on top of his game. The Rebels threatened early after Hewitt-Trussville scored on a methodical 87-yard drive in the first quarter. Vestavia Hills drove 82 yards to the Hewitt 5-yard line, and looked as though it would punch it in with first-and-goal, but the Husky defense thought otherwise. The Huskies led 14-0 at the half.
“We should’ve scored on the drive early, but we blew three assignments and had three bad plays. You can’t do that against a good football team,” Anderson said. “We just have to learn from that.”
Vestavia scored twice in the second half, something Anderson said he was proud to see.
Quarterback Brett Jones found Nolan Turner for a touchdown on the Rebels’ first drive of the second half, but the drive took more than half the third quarter to complete, leaving the Rebels with little time to mount any comeback. William Schaffeld scored as well, but with only 5:55 to go in the game, Hewitt-Trussville was able to recover the onside kick and run out the clock.
The game was marred by an incident that saw one Hewitt-Trussville player ejected for roughing Jones after an interception. Three Rebels were ejected for leaving the bench.
Vestavia Hills slipped to 2-1, 1-1 in Class 7A, Region 3.
