Ground game lifts Eagles over Hornets
CHELSEA -- Oak Mountain High School quarterback Evan Smith was not as dominant as he was in last year’s season-opening win over Chelsea. But the sophomore still made the key plays to give the Eagles a season-opening 17-0 road win.
Smith scored on touchdown runs of 3 yards and 1 yard, and his 59-yard third-quarter run set up a 23-yard field goal from Hogan Morton. Smith rushed for 100 yards on 18 carries as the Eagles (1-0) rolled the Hornets (0-1) on the ground with 282 yards.
Smith’s 35-yard run in the third quarter set up his final touchdown, as the Eagles capped off a 10-point third quarter to put the game out of reach. His 1-yard touchdown run came late in the first quarter, and that was set up by his 12-yard run on fourth and 7 down to the 2-yard line.
“We struggled at first, but we had to stick to it,” Smith said. “We came out slow. Once we got to it, everything opened up.”
Smith had 91 rushing yards and 94 passing yards in last year’s 42-9 win over the Hornets. He struggled through the air on Friday, hitting only 2-of-14 passes for 11 yards. The wet surface led to some issues holding on to the ball, as Smith took some big losses in the first half and the Eagles lost four of nine fumbles. Smith did have a 33-yard touchdown pass called back in the first quarter because of a holding penalty.
“Second half, I thought we came off the ball better, but they were giving us things and we couldn’t take advantage of it,” Oak Mountain coach Cris Bell said. “We had guys wide open and couldn’t hit them and we dropped balls.
“You can’t turn it over. It ain’t Christmas. It’s better to give than receive, but I don’t think that was the point of it.”
Chelsea lost all three of its fumbles. The Hornets had some highlights, including David Meyers’ blocked field goal in the first half, but also turned it over on an interception when the Eagles’ K.J. Jackson picked off Caleb Moore.
“Obviously, we didn’t move the ball offensively and shot ourselves in the foot and didn’t get in the end zone, but I thought our defense played outstanding,” Chelsea coach Dustin Goodwin said. “I thought our kids played extremely hard.
“Under the conditions, we had some cramping issues. We had some guys who hadn’t gotten all the reps having to step into major roles. When all’s said and done, I’m really proud of the guys.”
Moore completed 13-of-24 passes for 112 yards with the one interception. Collier Blair led the Hornets with 42 yards rushing on 13 carries.
The Eagles got big rushing performances from Jonathan Bennett (17 carries for 77 yards) and Devin Holden (nine carries for 72 yards).
“I think it was a great win,” Bennett said. “We got better as the game progressed, and I’m proud of that.”
Oak Mountain did fumble the ball twice to Chelsea in the fourth quarter, once at the 12 and again at the 3-yard line.
“We’re young,” Bell said. “We’ve got a bunch of babies out there playing for the first time, and it sure looked like it. We didn’t do a good job on the sideline. That was as disorganized of a bench as we’ve had in a long time. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Oak Mountain is off next week before playing at Hewitt-Trussville on Sept. 6. Chelsea travels to Briarwood next week.
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