Photo by Nathan Pearman.
Son of a Rebel
Oak Mountain’s Daniel Salchert (26) runs into the end zone for the game-tying touchdown against Vestavia Hills.
The game was over, and the victorious Oak Mountain Eagles and the defeated Vestavia Rebels were meeting at midfield to shake hands.
Amid the “good game” and the “good luck” wishes between players, Rebels coach Buddy Anderson, who had been denied his record 310th win this night, came upon the Oak Mountain sophomore who had caught the touchdown pass that sent the game into overtime.
“I’m Coach Anderson,” he said. “You played a really good game. I coached your dad. Tell him I said, ‘Hi.’”
Anderson, noted for his understatement, certainly did coach Daniel Salchert’s dad. Danny Salchert was the quarterback of the 1980 state champion Rebels, winning all-state honors in the process. That’s the first of two state titles Anderson has won, the second coming in 1998.
So on this night, with Anderson poised to break the state record for wins by a high school coach in Alabama, it was the son of a former Rebel – and not just any former Rebel – who made probably the biggest offensive play of the 14-7 Eagles win to deny him that glory, at least for a week.
“It was wild,” Danny Salchert said, “knowing Coach Anderson was going for the record and playing Oak Mountain and my son plays for Oak Mountain and he catches the touchdown pass and then we win. It was bittersweet, in a way. I’ll always be a Rebel, but of course I’m an Oak Mountain fan.”
Salchert was a sophomore when Anderson took over as head coach 37 years ago. The Rebels went to the finals in 1978 and 1979 only to lose in the title game. In 1980, the Salchert-led Rebs broke through, beating Parker in the final at Legion Field.
His son is just a sophomore, but he’s already got two TD catches. The 23-yarder against the Rebels, coming with the Eagles trailing 7-0 in the fourth quarter, will go down in Oak Mountain lore.
“It was a seam route,” he said, “I was the first read.”
Was he nervous when the play was called?
“I felt good. I was ready.”
He hauled in the pass from Warren Shader and sprinted into the end zone. “I was hyped. I don’t think I was thinking anything except being excited we’d tied it up.”
The last 11 minutes of regulation were dominated by defense, and in overtime Oak Mountain’s Harold Shader scored from a yard out. The Eagles defense held Vestavia on four downs to win the game.
“It’s a big win for Oak Mountain,” Danny Salchert said. “A lot of folks didn’t think we had a chance.”
We? There’s no disputing that Danny Salchert will always be a Rebel. But he’s a dad first. And a proud one, at that. So if his beloved old coach has to take a setback for a night, so be it. It seems like that’s how his old coach would want it, anyway.
