Eagles' comeback attempt falls short

HAZEL GREEN – Oak Mountain High School was unable to complete its second-half rally on Friday, dropping its third straight and regular season finale, 30-28, at Hazel Green.

Hazel Green scored on its first possession on a 37-yard touchdown pass from Jordan Seymour to Daniel Thrower, taking a 7-0 lead, but the Eagles answered on the ensuing possession with a 20-yard touchdown pass from Jackson Kimbrell to Garrett DeAraujo to tie it.

Connor Wilson gave Oak Mountain a 14-7 lead on the first play of the second quarter, but a 20-point second quarter broke the game open for Hazel Green to take a 27-14 lead into halftime. Seymour added three touchdown passes in the second quarter and finished the game with 220 yards passing, completing 7-of-14 attempts. The Eagles blocked the extra point on the third touchdown.

The Eagles scored on the final play of the third quarter as Wyatt Legas connected on a 24-yard touchdown to Daniel Salchert, cutting into the lead, 27-21. Hazel Green scored its only points of the second half with a 27-yard field goal with 8:45 to play.

Legas punched in a 1-yard touchdown with 1:21 to play to pull within two points, 30-28. Nick Somers gave Oak Mountain one last chance, executing an onside kick recovered by Jackson Murphy at the Hazel Green 44. Oak Mountain pushed the ball down to the 12, facing a fourth-and-seven with nine seconds to play, but Nick Carney’s 29-yard field goal was no good.

Legas finished the game with 93 yards on 9-of-20 passing and 29 yards rushing. Salchert had 64 yards rushing on 12 carries and Kimbrell had 59 on five carries.

Mingyu Le led the Eagles’ defense with nine solo tackles and five assisted stops

Oak Mountain (3-7) will travel to undefeated Hewitt-Trussville (10-0) on Nov. 4 for the first round of the Class 7A playoffs.