Eagles fly high in season finale
BIRMINGHAM -- A come-from-behind victory was the salve for what ailed the Oak Mountain High School football team.
After yielding a 72-yard score, the home team scored the game’s next 38 points to beat visiting Center Point 38-8 on Senior Night at Heardmont Park.
“When you’re 2-8 and 0-for-the-region, it’s tough,” coach Cris Bell said. “But you’re just happy for the kids. They worked their tails off and we’ve got great kids.
“My biggest disappointment is for them,” he continued. “We were in an awful lot of ballgames. We just couldn’t find ways to pull it out at the end. For them to be able to let their hair down at the end and enjoy that … I’m just happy for them, particularly for our seniors. They could go out with a really good taste in their mouths.”
The Class 7A Eagles could have figured the sky was falling again when Kendall Calloway hit LeBoise Deru with a quick slant from the Center Point 28 for the game’s first score. But unlike games in which Oak Mountain couldn’t finish, Bell’s squad found an answer.
Luke Percer pulled the host Eagles to within one on a 4-yard run, and Christian Hood provided a huge boost as he booted a 41-yard field goal with 1:23 left before halftime.
“That was my first and only field goal,” the senior said later. “I knew I had it in me. I told everybody I was going to make it, and they were all excited. It’s been a plan for a long time.”
Bell said Hood’s range is closer to 35 yards, “but he kicked the snot out of that one.”
The momentum of that kick carried over after intermission. Percer returned the second half kickoff 35 yards to the 50. On the next play, he wouldn’t be denied on a 50-yard touchdown run.
“The score was too close,” said the senior, who finished with 143 yards on 24 carries. “We needed to impose our will on them, and I wanted to start that with the second half.”
Bell said he was confident his defense could corral the visiting Class 5A Eagles (5-5) if they could keep them in front of them and tackle them.
“The odds were in our favor,” he said. “Offensively, we finally found a little rhythm in the second half. I’m real proud of Luke Percer and the way he’s just persevered all year. (Judah Tait), who had the last score, is just a sophomore. He’s going to be a heck of a player.”
Quarterback Evan Smith completed 6-of-14 passes for 88 yards and two touchdowns.
“Evan, I thought, grew a ton as a quarterback all year,” the coach said. “We’re excited about what he’s going to continue to bring and the leadership that he brings. I think we’re going to be OK.”
Bell and Center Point coach George Bates shared an embrace at midfield as the clock ran out. The winning coach was complimentary of his opponent; Bates said his team got what it deserved.
“I told our guys, ‘The football gods don’t lie,’” he said. “We had the worst week of practice we’ve had all season long, and this is the outcome that you get. I hate for it to happen the last regular season game before the playoffs, but we’re trying to build a program. That’s why I took a couple of timeouts tonight when the game was out of hand. I wanted them to be on this field as long as they could be on the field tonight and let them understand that you play like you practice.”