Eagles take to road for final regular season contest

It may not have happened the way the Eagles had hoped, but the Oak Mountain High School football team is in the Class 7A state playoffs, no matter how you slice it.

The Eagles (3-6, 3-4 Region 3) lost to Spain Park last week, 23-20, on a last-second field goal, putting them in a three-way tie for fourth place in the region with Thompson and Vestavia Hills. Thankfully for the Eagles, they won the head-to-head tiebreaker by way of knocking off both of those teams during the season.

“I am encouraged by the way we played. I thought it was the best we played probably since the Vestavia ball game,” Oak Mountain head coach Cris Bell said in regard to his team’s 34-7 triumph on Sept. 9. “We need to build on that, and our kids got to remember we’ve still got football left to play. We’ve still got a lot to play for.”

After the Jags extended the lead to 20-7 with 8:21 remaining, the game looked good as over. Down but not out, Oak Mountain responded with a flash of resilience.    

Eagles sophomore quarterback Jackson Kimbrell engineered a 10-play, 65-yard scoring drive that culminated in a 1-yard touchdown plunge from running back Daniel Salchert. Although the extra point missed wide, the TD trimmed Spain Park’s lead to 20-13 with 3:41 on the clock.

The Eagles then forced a three-and-out on Spain Park’s next series before taking over at their own 47.

Kimbrell hit wide receiver Garrett DeAraujo for a 35-yard gain on the third play of the drive, which set Oak Mountain up with first and goal from the 5. Kimbrell then found 6-foot-1 Carson Bobo for a 6-yard score on third and goal to make it 20-19. A successful extra point attempt from place-kicker Nick Carney tied the game at 20-20 with 38 seconds remaining.

For Oak Mountain, Kimbrell went 7-of-11 passing for 112 yards and two touchdowns.

This Friday at 7 p.m., Oak Mountain will contest its final regular season game with a long road trip, as the Eagles head north to play Hazel Green.

“They’ve got a good football team up there,” Bell said. “It’ll be a good test for us.”

By way of its playoff berth, Oak Mountain's game on Nov. 4 will be at Hewitt-Trussville. The Huskies wrapped up an impressive 10-0 slate last week with a narrow win over James Clemens.

- Sam Chandler contributed to this story.