Newspapers.com
A headline in The Birmingham News before the start of the 2000 season reflects the optimism before Oak Mountain High School's football season.
On the morning of Sept. 16, 2000, members of the Oak Mountain High School football team woke up to something they’d never experienced before: victory.
The night before, the Eagles defeated Shelby County 24-6 on the road — their first varsity football win in school history. The milestone snapped a 10-game losing streak that dated back to the program’s launch in 1999.
The win came in head coach Toney Pugh’s second season. Oak Mountain had gone 0-8 in its debut year and dropped its first two games of the 2000 season before breaking through in Columbiana.
Quarterback Matt Evans completed 10 of 24 passes for 175 yards and two touchdowns, connecting with Ryan Wiseman and Jason Landgraf for scores. Evans also added a rushing touchdown of his own. Ben Classco kicked a 26-yard field goal, and Eric Walker sealed the game with a fourth-quarter touchdown run.
The Eagles went on to finish 3-7 that season — all three wins coming in Class 5A Region 4 play. Though they weren’t playoff-bound, the 2000 squad gave the young program its first glimpse of progress and momentum.
Two-plus decades later, Oak Mountain has grown into a 7A program with postseason appearances and a deep community following. But for that early group of Eagles, nothing compared to the feeling of seeing a “1” in the win column.
