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Photo by Todd Lester
Oak Mountain QB Will O'Dell (18) powers his way into the endzone during a game between Prattville and Oak Mountain on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Heardmont Park in Birmingham, Ala.
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Photo by Todd Lester
Oak Mountain head coach Shane McComb during a game between Prattville and Oak Mountain on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Heardmont Park in Birmingham, Ala.
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Photo by Todd Lester
Oak Mountain OL Colton Cason (50) leads the Oak Mountain Eaagles onto the field during a game between Prattville and Oak Mountain on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Heardmont Park in Birmingham, Ala.
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Photo by Todd Lester
Oak Mountain DB Cole Kelly (33) celebrates an onside kick recovery during a game between Prattville and Oak Mountain on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Heardmont Park in Birmingham, Ala.
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Photo by Todd Lester
Oak Mountain WR Sean Ray (4) looks to elude Prattville DB Christopher Clary (12) during a game between Prattville and Oak Mountain on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Heardmont Park in Birmingham, Ala.
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Photo by Todd Lester
Oak Mountain QB Will O'Dell (18) attempts a pass during a game between Prattville and Oak Mountain on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Heardmont Park in Birmingham, Ala. Photo by Todd Lester
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Photo by Todd Lester
Prattville DB Christopher Clary tackles Oak Mountain RB Marty Myricks (1) after a catch, during a game between Prattville and Oak Mountain on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Heardmont Park in Birmingham, Ala.
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Photo by Todd Lester
Oak Mountain WR Sean Ray (4) catches a long pass during a game between Prattville and Oak Mountain on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Heardmont Park in Birmingham, Ala.
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Photo by Todd Lester
Prattville DB Desmond Walton (3) and Prattville DB Alphonso Moncrief (7) look to tackle Oak Mountain WR Sean Ray (4) during a game between Prattville and Oak Mountain on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Heardmont Park in Birmingham, Ala.
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Photo by Todd Lester
Oak Mountain LB William Yoder (20) celebrates a 4th down stop during a game between Prattville and Oak Mountain on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Heardmont Park in Birmingham, Ala.
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Photo by Todd Lester
Oak Mountain DB Cole Kelly (33) tackles Prattville RB Tristin Blackmon (3) during a game between Prattville and Oak Mountain on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Heardmont Park in Birmingham, Ala.
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Photo by Todd Lester
Oak Mountain LB Colton Moore (8) tackles Prattville WR Kelvin Blue (4) during a game between Prattville and Oak Mountain on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Heardmont Park in Birmingham, Ala.
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Photo by Todd Lester
Oak Mountain DB Cole Kelly (33) looks to defend a pass to Prattville WR Brodie Bowman (5) during a game between Prattville and Oak Mountain on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Heardmont Park in Birmingham, Ala.
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Photo by Todd Lester
Oak Mountain QB Will O'Dell (18) runs the football during a game between Prattville and Oak Mountain on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Heardmont Park in Birmingham, Ala.
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Photo by Todd Lester
Prattville WR John Burns (12) watches as Oak Mountain RB Marty Myricks (1) is tackled out of bounds during a game between Prattville and Oak Mountain on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Heardmont Park in Birmingham, Ala.
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Photo by Todd Lester
Oak Mountain TE Jacob Moore (11) makes a catch during a game between Prattville and Oak Mountain on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Heardmont Park in Birmingham, Ala.
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Photo by Todd Lester
Oak Mountain OL Luke Kelly (69) and Oak Mountain OL John Bay Whatley (64) combine to block Prattville DL Elijah Brown (99) during a game between Prattville and Oak Mountain on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Heardmont Park in Birmingham, Ala.
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Photo by Todd Lester
Prattville OL Warren Moore (71) blocks Oak Mountain LB Peyton Gamble (47) during a game between Prattville and Oak Mountain on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Heardmont Park in Birmingham, Ala.
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Photo by Todd Lester
Prattville RB Landon Smith (6) tackles Oak Mountain RB Marty Myricks (1) during a game between Prattville and Oak Mountain on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Heardmont Park in Birmingham, Ala.
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Photo by Todd Lester
Oak Mountain DL Ethan Walton (35) and Oak Mountain DB Averick Wallace (21) look to tackle Prattville Wr Juel Bodiford (25) during a game between Prattville and Oak Mountain on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Heardmont Park in Birmingham, Ala.
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Photo by Todd Lester
Prattville RB Landon Smith (6) tackles Oak Mountain QB Will O'Dell (18) during a game between Prattville and Oak Mountain on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Heardmont Park in Birmingham, Ala.
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Photo by Todd Lester
Oak Mountain DB Robert Yoder (10) tackles Prattville K Paxton Genola (11) after a failed extra point attempt during a game between Prattville and Oak Mountain on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Heardmont Park in Birmingham, Ala.
BIRMINGHAM – The Oak Mountain High School football team felt a lot of black and blue Friday night against Prattville.
Blackmon and Blue, to be exact.
Prattville running back Tristin Blackmon rushed 25 times for 159 yards and a touchdown, and wide receiver Kelvin Blue totaled 134 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns to lead the Lions to a narrow 35-28 win over the Eagles in a Class 7A, Region 3 contest at Heardmont Park.
“We made a lot of mistakes on offense in the first half,” said second-year Oak Mountain head coach Shane McComb. “Wrong routes, wrong alignments, stuff like that, and they just got after us up front. The second half I thought we came out and did a lot better with offense.”
Down 20-7 at halftime, Oak Mountain (2-1, 0-1 in region) started the second half in style. Quarterback Will O’Dell completed a 28-yard pass to Sean Ray and then ran for a 41-yard touchdown on the ensuing play. Oak Mountain then recovered the kickoff and marched 32 yards in seven plays, capped by Marty Myricks’s 2-yard run to take a 21-20 lead.
“The kids came back out in the second half and we fought,” McComb said. “I told them that the second half is going to determine how the rest of the season is going to go. I wasn’t talking about winning and losing, I was talking about coming out and fighting and responding.”
Prattville (3-0, 1-0) responded quickly, going 74 yards in six plays, a drive finished by Blackmon’s 18-yard touchdown run. The Lions took a 35-21 lead when quarterback Gavin Rigdon found the end zone on a 1-yard run early in the fourth quarter.
Oak Mountain then engineered a drive that lasted more than three minutes and nine plays, highlighted by O’Dell’s 3-yard touchdown pass to Walker Shook on fourth-and-goal. The ensuing kickoff rolled out of bounds, but the Eagles’ defense forced a three-and-out with under four minutes to play.
O’Dell found Shook for a 30-yard gain on the drive’s first play, but sacks resulting in the loss of 12 yards and seven yards forced Oak Mountain into long passes, two of which fell incomplete.
Prattville started strong out of the gate. Rigdon connected with Blue on the Lions’s second play for a 77-yard touchdown. O’Dell ran in a 6-yard touchdown to tie the game 7-7 midway through the first quarter. Blue scored on a 9-yard run to give the Lions a 14-7 lead and Rigdon threw a 78-yard touchdown just before halftime to Brodie Bowman.
“We’ve actually played pretty well,” McComb said. “Just gave up big plays. That was the same story tonight. Just big plays. Besides the fourth quarter, we struggled to stop their run. We’d get them behind the sticks and they’d hit a deep pass. We’ve got to stop giving up the big plays. It’s going to keep us in games.”
O’Dell finished 12-of-26 for 243 yards and a touchdown. He rushed 19 times for 115 yards and two scores. Myricks rushed 10 times for 27 yards and a touchdown. Ray led the receivers with four catches for 86 yards. Zach Fitzgerald caught one pass for 44 yards, Myricks grabbed two for 42 yards, and Shook caught two passes for 34 yards and a score.
For Prattville, Rigdon finished 11-of-21 for 253 yards and two touchdowns. Blue finished with 92 receiving yards and 42 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
Oak Mountain travels to Class 7A, Region 3 foe Thompson next week.
“I look at it as an opportunity,” McComb said. “Everybody knows what Thompson is. They’re big, they’re fast, they’re a good football team, but we need to look at it as an opportunity to go and compete against the best in the state, and make it make us better for the following week. We’re going to go out, fight, and play to win, but at the end of the day, we’re going to play a really good football team and when you play up to competition, if we play up to their level and play hard and play fast and have some positive stuff next week, it’s going to make us a better football team, so that’s what we need to do.”
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