Eagles get back on track with win over Pelham
BIRMINGHAM — Aside from one first-quarter touchdown, Oak Mountain High School kept Pelham stalled more than Interstate 65 at 5 p.m. on a Friday.
The Eagles held Pelham to 61 total yards on its final six possessions and won on homecoming, 21-7, at Heardmont Park.
“It’s great to get a win,” said Oak Mountain head coach Cris Bell. “I thought (Pelham’s head coach) Tom (Causey) did a great job of getting his boys ready to play. I thought both defenses played exceptionally well.”
Oak Mountain (2-3) forced five negative plays in the second half, limiting Pelham to just 20 yards rushing on its last six drives. Braxton O’Brien was responsible for two of those negative plays. Pelham finished with 197 yards on the ground, 68 of which came on a first-quarter scoring run by Walker Lyles.
“As much as we’ve struggled defensively this year, it would have been easy at that point to just fold up and say, ‘Oh heck,’” Bell said. “But they hung in there and they battled. In the second half the defense played lights out.”
Oak Mountain led 7-0 late in the first quarter on a 19-yard run up the middle by Jonathan Bennett. Lyles’ game-tying run came just two snaps later.
Five snaps later, Oak Mountain quarterback Evan Smith found Devin Holden on a swing pass that he took 50 yards to the end zone. The Eagles added their final score on the first snap of the fourth quarter when freshman running back Mark Johnson scampered to the outside for a 2-yard run.
“He’s a smart kid, heck of an athlete, and we think he’s going to be special,” Bell said.
For Oak Mountain, Smith finished 6-of-18 for 153 yards, a touchdown and an interception, while adding 41 yards on 15 carries on the ground. Judah Tait was the bell cow, toting the rock 17 times for 75 yards. Bennett added 54 yards and the touchdown on nine attempts. Holden caught five passes for a game-high 102 yards and the score. Noah Young caught one pass for 51 yards.
For Pelham, Xavier Lankford was 8-of-21 for 54 yards. He added 41 yards on the ground on 15 attempts. Gabriel Gamble added 55 yards on 15 carries, and Lyles had 78 yards on just two rushes.
“After halftime we just really, really, really got guys on the ground,” Bell said. “I thought we hit much better. I thought we ran to the ball better. The effort was there for four quarters.”
While Bell was proud of the defense, he said the offense sputtered at times.
“We weren’t clean consistently at all,” he said. “We showed flashes. We started to freelance a little bit. We can’t afford to do that.”
The win was Oak Mountain’s first over Pelham since 2005, snapping a seven-game losing streak to the Panthers (0-6).
“I was 0-3 against them prior to tonight so you better believe I consider it a rivalry,” Bell said. “That’s freaking awesome to get that win. I don’t care if it was 3-2. We just needed a win tonight. You’ve got to gut them out. When you’re struggling you’ve got to take them any way you can get them. We did tonight. Look, I’d rather have beaten them 49-7, but 21-7 is fine. We’re going to be happy with it and get ready for Mountain Brook and see if we can’t salvage some things in the second half of the season.”
Pelham is back in Class 6A, Region 5 play next week against Carver-Birmingham. Oak Mountain jumps back into 7A, Region 3 action with a road contest at 5-0 Mountain Brook.
“Mountain Brook, gosh, they play unbelievably at home,” Bell said. “They’re so well-coached. Quarterback is tough. But hey, we’ve got to play them and we’re going to come out there and take a snap at a time.”
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