Running back Daniel Salchert will be a key part of the Oak Mountain offense, as the Eagles look for a successful month of September. Photo courtesy of Barry Clemmons.
The Oak Mountain High School football team entered the 2016 season just two years removed from a 10-win season, and with a bevy of starters to replace, it’s hoping to get back to that level this fall.
“We lost an awful lot of good players from a year ago,” head coach Cris Bell said.
The Eagles began the season with a pair of non-region matchups against Chelsea and at Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa to begin the season, but the always-tough Class 7A, Region 3 schedule begins Sept. 2 with a game against Huffman.
The Vikings are new to 7A, and are the only new face in Region 3, replacing Hewitt-Trussville, which moved to Region 4. The Eagles and Vikings have never met on the football field, but under head coach Alex Wilson, Huffman reached the state playoffs last fall for the first time since 2005.
On Sept. 9, the Eagles will welcome Vestavia Hills and legendary coach Buddy Anderson — now in his 39th year atop the Rebel program — to Heardmont Park. Last year, the Rebels jumped out to a 14-0 lead and Oak Mountain never recovered, eventually falling 35-26.
Oak Mountain has only won two of 12 meetings against Vestavia Hills, with its most recent triumph coming in 2014.
Thompson and Oak Mountain have been in the same region for each of the past nine years, and face off Sept. 16 at Thompson.
Last season’s contest between the two teams was a thriller, as the Eagles overcame a 17-point halftime deficit to win, 41-37. Now-graduated quarterback Warren Shader totaled five touchdowns on the night, while returning running back Daniel Salchert rushed for 119 yards.
Oak Mountain is 8-4 all-time against Thompson, and has won six consecutive matchups between the two teams.
Following an off week, the Eagles will conclude the month of September with a home bout against Hoover Sept. 30.
They came close to pulling the upset over the vaunted Bucs last year, but the offense was unable to reclaim the lead in the final quarter, and Hoover won, 17-14. The loss dropped Oak Mountain to 0-3 on the season at the time.
“I think our kids learned a lot about themselves,” Bell said. “I think they came out of that with a renewed sense of purpose. They could have very easily, at that point going into Hoover, thrown their hands up and said, ‘We’re 0-2, good gracious, we’re going to get our brains kicked out this week.’ But they didn’t.”
Oak Mountain has never defeated Hoover in 13 tries, and the three-point margin is the closest the Eagles have been since 2007.
Despite being so close, the Eagles came away confident and have used that fact as motivation during the offseason and in preparation for the 2016 season.
“That’s the thing about Hoover,” Salchert said. “We didn’t finish. Now, everything we do, it’s about finishing. That’s how we’re going to win those games this year.”
That team mindset carries over into what Salchert said he hopes is a strong senior year for him as well.
“Sophomore year, I had a great year,” he said. “And I just thought it was going to happen again, and it didn’t. That is driving me to make better plays and do a lot more things in the offseason.”
