Eagles drop region finale at Vestavia Hills
VESTAVIA HILLS -- The Vestavia Hills High School football team suffered two tough losses on the road at Class 7A, Region 3 leaders Thompson and Hoover earlier this season.
But the Rebels weren’t about to let Oak Mountain spoil their home and region finale.
Jake Levant scored two touchdowns and Eli Sawyer threw for 172 yards in the Rebels’ 31-10 win over the Eagles.
Levant scored on a 3-yard run midway through the first quarter and, after teammate Josh Cheatham blocked a punt, scored on a 6-yard run to put the Rebels up 24-7 with 4:54 left before halftime.
“It’s the last time I’ll probably ever play here, so it was great,” said Levant, a senior. “I would not want to lose my last game here. I’ve spent so much time on the field here practicing the last few years, I wanted to end it on a good note.”
Vestavia Hills (6-3, 4-3 in region) dominated Hoover last week for much of the second half but let a 28-20 lead slip away in the final three minutes for a 34-28 loss. They found out on the bus ride home that Oak Mountain (3-6, 1-6) lost to Spain Park, clinching the Rebels’ playoff berth as the fourth seed in Region 3.
“But it wasn’t like a big celebration,” Levant said.
There was more joy this week.
“It’s been hard,” Vestavia Hills coach Buddy Anderson said. “We’ve had two tough losses the past two weeks, but they’ve bounced back. It’s like life. When things go against you, you’ve got to bounce back.”
The Rebels still had to slow down talented Oak Mountain sophomore quarterback Evan Smith, who finished the game rushing for 79 yards on 12 carries and completing 10-of-17 passes for 91 yards.
Smith’s 17-yard run early in the second quarter cut the lead to 10-7, but Sawyer, as he was drilled, hit Charlie Hughes for a 22-yard score. Oak Mountain then went three and out, setting up Cheatham’s blocked punt and Levant’s subsequent 6-yard rushing score.
“The guy blocking me, I gave him a move inside and he came back outside,” Cheatham said. “It just ended up working out and I made a play. My teammates capitalized on it and all the credit to the coaches.”
Hogan Morton hit a 33-yard field goal for Oak Mountain in the fourth quarter, and Pierce Hanna’s 11-yard score with 1:29 left ended the scoring.
Landon Neese rushed for 77 yards on just four carries for the Eagles. Hughes caught four passes for 64 yards. Devin Holden had five catches for 34 yards for Oak Mountain.
The Rebels are at Huffman to finish the regular season next week. Then, they'll return to the playoffs for the first time since 2015.
“I think it’s just the leadership,” Levant said. “After the last game last year, we just sat down and said that we have to change things here. The next juniors, they know what it’s like to be in the playoffs and we set the standard.”
Oak Mountain, which has not made the playoffs since 2016, finishes the season on Friday at home against Pace, Fla.
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