Oak Mountain Football Preview: Eagles leaning on experienced defense, new-look offense

Entering his second year leading the Oak Mountain High School football program, Tyler Crane is still doing the small things to improve the quality of the team he leads.

The first thing to do last year was renovate the weight room, which has been done. Crane dipped his toe in the water with uniform tweaks last season, but ultimately didn’t change much besides the helmet logo.

This year, though, the Eagles will sport new uniforms and a new-look white helmet.

“I get a lot of input from the kids and this is something they really like,” Crane said. “It’s a big deal to the kids. If they like it and they’re having fun with it, the more people want to be a part of it.”

Those things are great, but Crane knows results on the field have to follow. The 7-5 record the Eagles posted last fall can be misleading, but make no mistake, 2021 was one of the top seasons in Oak Mountain football history.

The Eagles aim to keep building upon that this fall.

OFFENSE

The most pressing question of perhaps any team in the area is how the Eagles plan to replace four-year starting quarterback Evan Smith, who consistently torched defenses with his arm and his legs.

“You can’t replace Evan. Evan was a dude,” Crane said.

Smith isn’t the only piece of the offense that graduated last year, but he still feels good about the guys on the 2022 roster and their capabilities of putting points on the board.

“Obviously, we’ll look a lot different and that’s okay,” Crane said. “Lean on our strengths and see what we can do from there.”

Will O’Dell played in a few games last year toward the end of the regular season when Smith was injured. As a freshman, he was asked to face the likes of Thompson, Hewitt-Trussville and Clay-Chalkville, a tall task for anyone.

“That showed me a lot about him and his character. The future is very bright for him,” Crane said.

With O’Dell in the backfield, Trey Vassell will step into the lead back role after being a solid contributor last fall. Davion Foster is moving over from defense to help out the running back room, with his speed and athleticism adding to the Eagles’ attack.

The Eagles lost a good bit at receiver, so players like DJ Stone, Tristyn Vardaman and Sawyer Smith will get an opportunity to step into a big role for the offense. Crane really likes what he has seen from the younger classes as well, not ruling out the potential for some of them to be factors this fall.

Luke Oswalt, Sawyer Hutto and Hudson Youngblood all return along the offensive line, with Oswalt and Hutto among two of the best in the state, according to Crane. There is a handful of guys battling for the other two starting positions.

Tight end Jackson Blackwell and fullback Ian Laughlin will be players able to help out blocking and as skill players.

DEFENSE

One thing Crane is eager to see yield fruit is the experience the Eagles have on the defensive side of the ball.

In the secondary, Garrett Murphy and Devan Moss are back, while linebacker Carter Lehman has also played a lot of football at Oak Mountain.

Up front, Jack Ronilo, Bobby Laury and Emmanuel Waller will anchor the defensive line. Waller moves over to Oak Mountain after being rezoned from Chelsea and has been one of the state’s top defensive linemen for over a year now.

Jacob Porco, Robert Yoder, Caleb Jaworski and Hunter Cox are all names that should contribute as well.

“It’s one of the best-looking defenses I’ve had the pleasure of being around,” Crane said.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Ronilo and Murphy are key contributors on the defensive side of the ball, but they may be most valuable in special teams. Ronilo is rated as one of the top long snappers in the state, while Murphy proved last fall that he can kick at a high level as well. Murphy kicked the game-winning field goal in the first round of the playoffs last year at James Clemens.

SCHEDULE

In non-region action, Oak Mountain will take on Northridge, Pelham and Briarwood. Oak Mountain and Briarwood are mere minutes down the road from each other but have not played since 2015.

Class 7A, Region 3 has several new coaches in it, making Crane, a second-year coach, already one of the longest tenured in the region. Hoover, Vestavia Hills, Spain Park and Chelsea all have new coaches, but the challenge of facing those schools, along with Thompson, Tuscaloosa County and Hewitt-Trussville, is the same.

“It’s still hard,” Crane said. “There’s so many good coaches in this region.”