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Photo courtesy of Gary Cosby Jr., Tuscaloosa News.
TUS_Northridge Oak Mountain GC
Oak Mountain running back Le'kamren Meadows (6) cuts back and tries to avoid a tackle by Northridge High wide receiver Brylon Tubbs (20) at Northridge High Friday, Aug. 25, 2023.
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Photo courtesy of Gary Cosby Jr., Tuscaloosa News.
TUS_Northridge Oak Mountain GC
Oak Mountain running back Marty Myricks (1) breaks away from a mass of Northridge tacklers to run for a long touchdown at Northridge High Friday, Aug. 25, 2023.
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Photo courtesy of Gary Cosby Jr., Tuscaloosa News.
TUS_Northridge Oak Mountain GC
Oak Mountain running back Marty Myricks (1) runs away from Northridge High defensive back CJ Stinson (21) to score a touchdown at Northridge High Friday, Aug. 25, 2023.
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Photo courtesy of Gary Cosby Jr., Tuscaloosa News.
TUS_Northridge Oak Mountain GC
Oak Mountain running back Le'kamren Meadows (6) powers through Northridge defenders at Northridge High Friday, Aug. 25, 2023.
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Photo by Todd Lester.
Oak Mountain quarterback Drowdy Hackbarth (17) during a game between Bob Jones and Oak Mountain on Friday, August 18, 2023, at Heardmont Park in Birmingham. Photo by Todd Lester
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Photo by Todd Lester.
Oak Mountain running backicker Marty Myricks (1) during a game between Bob Jones and Oak Mountain on Friday, August 18, 2023, at Heardmont Park in Birmingham. Photo by Todd Lester
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Photo by Todd Lester.
Oak Mountain's Colby King (29) during a game between Bob Jones and Oak Mountain on Friday, August 18, 2023, at Heardmont Park in Birmingham. Photo by Todd Lester
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Photo by Todd Lester.
Oak Mountain kicker James Whatley (16) during a game between Bob Jones and Oak Mountain on Friday, August 18, 2023, at Heardmont Park in Birmingham. Photo by Todd Lester
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Photo by Todd Lester.
Oak Mountain running backicker Le'Kamren Meadows (6) during a game between Bob Jones and Oak Mountain on Friday, August 18, 2023, at Heardmont Park in Birmingham. Photo by Todd Lester
TUSCALOOSA — It got a little too close for comfort, but first-year head coach Shane McComb and the Oak Mountain High School football team escaped Northridge with a 38-30 win Friday in both teams’ season opener.
Oak Mountain entered the fourth quarter with a 31-10 lead and pulled ahead 38-10 on quarterback Will O’Dell’s 9-yard run with 10:30 to go in regulation, but Northridge scored three unanswered touchdowns to cut the lead to 38-30 with 1:32 remaining. The Jaguars didn’t recover any of their three onside kick attempts, however, and the Eagles were able to run out the clock after Northridge’s final touchdown to seal the win.
“We were up four touchdowns with nine minutes left and put pretty much all the backups in on both sides of the ball,” McComb said. “I told those guys right now, you get on [the field], I don’t care if we’re up one score or five scores, that’s your opportunity, so those guys have to get in there and execute better and make sure we don’t let them back in the game.”
O’Dell led the Eagles in rushing with 130 yards and two touchdowns and was 6-for-9 passing for 72 yards and a touchdown. Running back Le’Kamren Meadows had 113 yards on 17 carries, while fellow running back Marty Myricks finished with 98 yards on 17 rushes.
Northridge had a pair of touchdowns called back on the opening drive due to penalties and was unable to punch it in from the 1-yard line as Oak Mountain had a goal-line stand on fourth down to keep the Jaguars out of end zone.
After the Eagles’ opening drive stalled, Northridge took over around midfield, but a fumble by Jaguars quarterback Rowdy Christensen was scooped up by Oak Mountain’s Robert Yoder. Yoder then carried the ball to the Northridge 10 before the ball was knocked out of his hands, but the Eagles’ Colton Moore was there to scoop it up. He then ran it in for Oak Mountain’s first score with 1:27 left in the first.
With 11:03 to go in the second, Christensen found Tyleik Lee for a 17-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 7-7, but O’Dell had a 32-yard scoring run on the Eagles’ ensuing possession to go back up 14-7.
Oak Mountain’s James Whatley hit a 30-yard field goal with 4:52 remaining in the second quarter, and O’Dell found Sean Ray on a 21-yard touchdown pass with 1:02 remaining in the first half to go ahead 24-7. Northridge’s Tucker Cornelius boomed a 56-yard field goal as time expired in the second quarter to make it 24-10 at halftime.
Myricks scored on a 46-yard carry in the third quarter to give his team a 31-10 advantage going into the final frame.
Oak Mountain had 349 rushing yards as a team while holding Northridge to just 65 yards on the ground. Christensen went 20-of-36 passing for 388 yards and three touchdowns to lead Northridge.
“For a football team that has seven freshmen out there and a bunch of sophomores, I thought we came out and executed very well,” McComb said. “I told the guys we have to be the most improved team in the state from last week to this week, and I think we executed and proved that.”
Oak Mountain (1-0) travels to Pelham next week, while Northridge (0-1) has a bye.
