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Things were not looking good early for Vestavia Hills in Friday night’s regular-season finale at Thompson Reynolds Stadium.
After the Rebels allowed visiting Shades Valley to methodically march 77 yards down the field for a touchdown on the game’s opening drive, Vestavia struggled to respond offensively, failing to convert a fourth down and coughing up a fumble on its first two possessions.
Enter Reid Adams.
On the very next play after Vestavia’s fumble, Adams, a senior linebacker, intercepted Shades Valley quarterback Claude Newell, returning the pick 26 yards for a touchdown and evening the score at 7-7 just over four minutes into the second quarter.
“We’ve just been going through practice this week, and we know what they’re running,” Adams said. “I mean the coaches set it up for us, so it’s really easy.”
After the interception, the Rebels (8-2, 5-2) didn't look back, cruising to a 33-14 victory over Shades Valley (2-8, 2-4) and building momentum heading into the first round of the state playoffs.
“I’m proud of our guys,” Vestavia coach Buddy Anderson said. “We made some mistakes we’ve got to correct, but we came out with a ‘W’ and we’re excited to do that.”
Following Adams’ pick six, the Rebels found the end zone on their next two possessions, capturing a 21-7 lead at halftime.
Running back Toliver Chatwood scored the team's first offensive touchdown, strolling across the plane from 1-yard out on a toss play to the left. Chatwood accounted for 61 of the team’s 67 yards on the drive, carrying the ball five times.
Quarterback Brett Jones then connected with fleet-footed wide receiver Remington Patterson for a 30-yard touchdown pass on the following possession. Jones delivered a strike to his trusted target on an intermediate post route, allowing Patterson to out run the defense before reaching the end zone. The duo would later connect on the same play in the fourth quarter for a 27-yard TD.
“They had a good night,” Anderson said. “We’ve got to be able to do a little bit of everything. We’ve got to be able to run it. We’ve got to be able to throw it.”
Although they showed they could do both against Shades Valley, the Rebels will have to do a better job of holding on to the ball next week when they travel to Madison to take on Bob Jones, the top-ranked team in Class 7A.
Vestavia was fortunate to only lose two fumbles facing the Mounties' defense, putting the ball on the ground with alarming frequency.
The Rebels also had uncharacteristic trouble with their typically sound kicking game, missing two extra points.
Nevertheless, Anderson will take the victory, using it as a momentum builder moving into the postseason.
“We’ve got a big challenge next week in Bob Jones, and we’ve just got to be ready to play.,” Anderson said. "They’re a good football team. We played a tough schedule, they played a tough schedule. It should be a good ball game.
