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Sarah Finnegan
VHHS vs Shades valley Football 2019
Taiyo Crawford (11) carries the ball during a game between Shades Valley and Vestavia Hills on Friday, Sept. 27, 2019, at Buddy Anderson Field at Thompson Reynolds Stadium in Vestavia Hills.
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Sarah Finnegan
VHHS vs Shades valley Football 2019
Jermaine Harris (32) reaches for a tackle during a game between Shades Valley and Vestavia Hills on Friday, Sept. 27, 2019, at Buddy Anderson Field at Thompson Reynolds Stadium in Vestavia Hills.
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Sarah Finnegan
VHHS vs Shades valley Football 2019
Jake Levant (44) and Will White (75) take down Shades Valley during a game between Shades Valley and Vestavia Hills on Friday, Sept. 27, 2019, at Buddy Anderson Field at Thompson Reynolds Stadium in Vestavia Hills.
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Sarah Finnegan
VHHS vs Shades valley Football 2019
Emma Faulkner celebrates with her teammates after being named Homecoming Queen during a game between Shades Valley and Vestavia Hills on Friday, Sept. 27, 2019, at Buddy Anderson Field at Thompson Reynolds Stadium in Vestavia Hills.
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Sarah Finnegan
VHHS vs Shades valley Football 2019
Pierce Hanna (48) carries the ball during a game between Shades Valley and Vestavia Hills on Friday, Sept. 27, 2019, at Buddy Anderson Field at Thompson Reynolds Stadium in Vestavia Hills.
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Sarah Finnegan
VHHS vs Shades valley Football 2019
Bennett Whisenhunt (87) reaches for a tackle during a game between Shades Valley and Vestavia Hills on Friday, Sept. 27, 2019, at Buddy Anderson Field at Thompson Reynolds Stadium in Vestavia Hills.
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Sarah Finnegan
VHHS vs Shades valley Football 2019
Taiyo Crawford (11) gets tackled by Shades Valley during a game between Shades Valley and Vestavia Hills on Friday, Sept. 27, 2019, at Buddy Anderson Field at Thompson Reynolds Stadium in Vestavia Hills.
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Sarah Finnegan
VHHS vs Shades valley Football 2019
Bennett Whisenhunt (87) attempts to block a pass during a game between Shades Valley and Vestavia Hills on Friday, Sept. 27, 2019, at Buddy Anderson Field at Thompson Reynolds Stadium in Vestavia Hills.
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Sarah Finnegan
VHHS vs Shades valley Football 2019
Taiyo Crawford (11) runs the ball during a game between Shades Valley and Vestavia Hills on Friday, Sept. 27, 2019, at Buddy Anderson Field at Thompson Reynolds Stadium in Vestavia Hills.
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Sarah Finnegan
VHHS vs Shades valley Football 2019
Bryant Agee (20) runs the ball during a game between Shades Valley and Vestavia Hills on Friday, Sept. 27, 2019, at Buddy Anderson Field at Thompson Reynolds Stadium in Vestavia Hills.
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Sarah Finnegan
VHHS vs Shades valley Football 2019
Vestavia defenders take down Shades Valley during a game between Shades Valley and Vestavia Hills on Friday, Sept. 27, 2019, at Buddy Anderson Field at Thompson Reynolds Stadium in Vestavia Hills.
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Sarah Finnegan
VHHS vs Shades valley Football 2019
Will White (75) and Cole Johnston (16) take down Shades Valley during a game between Shades Valley and Vestavia Hills on Friday, Sept. 27, 2019, at Buddy Anderson Field at Thompson Reynolds Stadium in Vestavia Hills.
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Sarah Finnegan
VHHS vs Shades valley Football 2019
Cole Johnston (16) reaches for a tackle during a game between Shades Valley and Vestavia Hills on Friday, Sept. 27, 2019, at Buddy Anderson Field at Thompson Reynolds Stadium in Vestavia Hills.
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Sarah Finnegan
VHHS vs Shades valley Football 2019
Jake Levant (44) carries the ball during a game between Shades Valley and Vestavia Hills on Friday, Sept. 27, 2019, at Buddy Anderson Field at Thompson Reynolds Stadium in Vestavia Hills.
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Sarah Finnegan
VHHS vs Shades valley Football 2019
Taiyo Crawford (11) carries the ball during a game between Shades Valley and Vestavia Hills on Friday, Sept. 27, 2019, at Buddy Anderson Field at Thompson Reynolds Stadium in Vestavia Hills.
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Sarah Finnegan
VHHS vs Shades valley Football 2019
Chandler Merrill (37) runs the ball during a game between Shades Valley and Vestavia Hills on Friday, Sept. 27, 2019, at Buddy Anderson Field at Thompson Reynolds Stadium in Vestavia Hills.
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Sarah Finnegan
VHHS vs Shades valley Football 2019
Drew Ulch (56) goes after a Shades Valley player during a game between Shades Valley and Vestavia Hills on Friday, Sept. 27, 2019, at Buddy Anderson Field at Thompson Reynolds Stadium in Vestavia Hills.
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Sarah Finnegan
VHHS vs Shades valley Football 2019
Peyton Walraven (8) runs the ball while AJ Powell (1) holds of a Shades Valley player during a game between Shades Valley and Vestavia Hills on Friday, Sept. 27, 2019, at Buddy Anderson Field at Thompson Reynolds Stadium in Vestavia Hills.
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Sarah Finnegan
VHHS vs Shades valley Football 2019
Emma Faulkner reacts after being named Homecoming Queenduring a game between Shades Valley and Vestavia Hills on Friday, Sept. 27, 2019, at Buddy Anderson Field at Thompson Reynolds Stadium in Vestavia Hills.
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Sarah Finnegan
VHHS vs Shades valley Football 2019
Colton Horne (26) and Brock Payne (14) tackle a Shades Valley player during a game between Shades Valley and Vestavia Hills on Friday, Sept. 27, 2019, at Buddy Anderson Field at Thompson Reynolds Stadium in Vestavia Hills.
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Sarah Finnegan
VHHS vs Shades valley Football 2019
Eli Sawyer (17) runs the ball during a game between Shades Valley and Vestavia Hills on Friday, Sept. 27, 2019, at Buddy Anderson Field at Thompson Reynolds Stadium in Vestavia Hills.
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Sarah Finnegan
VHHS vs Shades valley Football 2019
Eli Sawyer (17) throws the ball during a game between Shades Valley and Vestavia Hills on Friday, Sept. 27, 2019, at Buddy Anderson Field at Thompson Reynolds Stadium in Vestavia Hills.
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Sarah Finnegan
VHHS vs Shades valley Football 2019
Landon Neese (23) carries the ball during a game between Shades Valley and Vestavia Hills on Friday, Sept. 27, 2019, at Buddy Anderson Field at Thompson Reynolds Stadium in Vestavia Hills.
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Sarah Finnegan
VHHS vs Shades valley Football 2019
Bennett Whisenhunt (87) reaches for a tackle during a game between Shades Valley and Vestavia Hills on Friday, Sept. 27, 2019, at Buddy Anderson Field at Thompson Reynolds Stadium in Vestavia Hills.
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Sarah Finnegan
VHHS vs Shades valley Football 2019
Emma Faulkner reacts after being named Homecoming Queenduring a game between Shades Valley and Vestavia Hills on Friday, Sept. 27, 2019, at Buddy Anderson Field at Thompson Reynolds Stadium in Vestavia Hills.
26 of 28

Sarah Finnegan
VHHS vs Shades valley Football 2019
Landon Neese (23) gets tackled during a game between Shades Valley and Vestavia Hills on Friday, Sept. 27, 2019, at Buddy Anderson Field at Thompson Reynolds Stadium in Vestavia Hills.
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Sarah Finnegan
VHHS vs Shades valley Football 2019
Brock Payne (14) and Cole Johnston (16) take down Shades Valley during a game between Shades Valley and Vestavia Hills on Friday, Sept. 27, 2019, at Buddy Anderson Field at Thompson Reynolds Stadium in Vestavia Hills.
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Sarah Finnegan
VHHS vs Shades valley Football 2019
Will Brooks (27) makes a tackle during a game between Shades Valley and Vestavia Hills on Friday, Sept. 27, 2019, at Buddy Anderson Field at Thompson Reynolds Stadium in Vestavia Hills.
VESTAVIA - If you were looking for an exciting football game filled with big, crowd-pleasing plays, Shades Valley High School’s visit to Vestavia Hills was not the place to be.
Instead, it was as methodical as a game could be, and a 17-0 win for the Rebels on Homecoming Night. Or as quarterback Eli Sawyer put it, “That’s [coach] Buddy Anderson football right there.”
The first half was a slog. Both teams had just two possessions each in the first 19 minutes of the game, with Vestavia finally breaking through late in the half. Taking the ball on their own 14-yard line and then backing up to the 4 on consecutive penalties, Sawyer led his Rebels on a 14-play march to the end zone that included a 25-yard pass to Will Brooks — the longest play from scrimmage for either team in the entire contest.
Running back Taiyo Crawford finally capped off the 7 minute, 23 second drive with a 7-yard run toward the right pylon.
The Rebels then held the Mounties to one of only two three-and-outs of the game and drove down to the Shades Valley 19-yard line. That was close enough for Matthew McMeans to kick a 36-yard field goal with 40 seconds before intermission.
Vestavia got help on their second drive of the second half, starting with a short field on the Mounties 49. They caught two breaks, one when Sawyer recovered a fumble on a bad snap, and the next on the following play when Shades Valley was flagged for running into the kicker on a punt attempt. That infraction allowed Grainger West to convert a short fourth down to keep the drive alive, and the Rebels capitalized with an 8-yard touchdown pass from Sawyer to Wells Watts with 7:34 left in the game.
Sawyer was 13-of-23 passing for 134 yards, spread out fairly evenly throughout his receiving corps. Skylar McKee led with 30 yards on three receptions. Running back A.J. Powell led the rushing game with 55 yards on 10 carries; Vestavia totaled just 88 yards on the ground and 222 yards total offense.
In other words, the Rebels played pure “Buddyball,” and the namesake was pretty happy.
“Well, I’ll take a win,” Anderson said. “We played hard and made some mistakes. We didn’t get anyone hurt, thank goodness.”
The Mounties have suffered their share of injuries to key players in the first half of the season, and coach David Partridge was down to his third-string quarterback to face off against a top Class 7A team. But freshman Earl Woods more than held his own against Vestavia, proving to be adept at both passing and running. Though his team came up scoreless, Woods was 10-of-14 passing with one interception for 54 yards plus seven carries for another 54 yards. Fullback A.J. Williams ran for 60 yards on 18 carries.
Vestavia Hills (4-1) now runs into the toughest part of its Region 3 schedule, facing Hewitt-Trussville on the road, Thompson at home and Hoover at The Met, followed by Oak Mountain in the closer. With a 2-1 region record, the Rebels likely need to win one of the next three to have a solid chance at a playoff berth.
“We’ve got work to do, but we’re going to take them one at a time,” Anderson said.
But what about Thompson?
“One at a time,” Anderson reiterated.
Shades Valley (3-3) faces a three-game gauntlet of its own with upcoming matchups against Clay-Chalkville, Oxford and Gardendale.
Click here to purchase photos from the game.