Hoover pulls away from Hornets
CHELSEA – The Hoover High School strengthened its playoff hopes with a convincing 41-7 win over Chelsea on Friday night.
The Bucs led 14-7 at halftime, but scored three touchdowns in the third quarter to pull away.
Hoover improves to 4-5 overall and 4-2 in Class 7A, Region 3. The win is the Bucs’ third straight after a 1-5 start.
The loss is Chelsea’s fifth consecutive, as the Hornets are now 2-7 overall and 1-5 in region.
The game was tight for the first two quarters. The opening possession for both squads resulted in a special teams stop and the first quarter ended with no score.
Early in the second quarter, Hoover’s Jonah Winston began what would be an explosive night. He took a direct snap and kept the ball on a zone read play, darting 67 yards for the score to make it 7-0.
Chelsea responded, driving down the field and scoring on a nice throwback from Carter Dotson to Nick Sulenski. Dotson rolled to his right and threw back to the left, to a waiting and open Sulenski to tie the game.
Winston took another direct snap and scored his second touchdown of the night, running 48 yards to give the Bucs a 14-7 edge.
Shortly before the half, Hoover quarterback Noah Schuback hit Jordan Woolen on a deep pass to get the Bucs close, but a missed field goal at the horn kept the score at 14-7.
Hoover dominated the third quarter, though. Winston ran it for 35 yards to make it 21-7, before Fred Dunson got in on the action. Dunson took a direct snap and scored from 10 yards out, pushing the score to 28-7. Dunson scored again later in the quarter, as the Bucs ran a double reverse. Schuback took the second toss and slung it to a wide open Dunson for a 28-yard score and a 34-7 lead.
Bradley Shaw capped off the scoring with a 38-yard interception return for touchdown in the final quarter.
Both teams wrap up the regular season at home next week, with Hoover hosting Thompson and Chelsea playing host to Hewitt-Trussville.