Photo by Layton Dudley
The Homewood Patriots run onto the field before their game against Hueytown on Oct. 27 at Waldrop Stadium in Homewood.
Homewood High School head football coach Ben Berguson doesn’t mind expectations. In fact, he embraces them.
In three of Berguson’s four seasons, the Patriots have won at least nine games. Twice, they have won the region championship. So while many programs are simply attempting to make the playoffs every year, Berguson has a loftier goal for his team.
“I feel like as a program we’re beyond that now, because we’ve won four out of the last six region championships,” he said. “We always hope to be playing for the region championship and I think we’ve got that kind of team again this year.”
In 2017, Homewood ran the table in the region, going 6-0 and winning the first nine games of the year. But a string of injuries hampered the Patriots over the final few games, as they finished 10-2 overall.
“We had a great run last year,” Berguson said. “We hit the injury bug after the Hueytown game [in Week 9] and that was disappointing.”
If there’s something the Patriots haven’t been able to do in recent years, it’s get past the second round of the state playoffs. Homewood has qualified for the playoffs in six consecutive seasons, but each time has fallen short in the first or second round. “The goal now is to make it to the third round,” Berguson said.
Berguson said the Patriots return “a lot of experience in the right places,” giving him hope that his team will be competing deep into November this fall.
OFFENSE
Berguson has a luxury not many teams experience at the quarterback position, as Homewood welcomes back Larkin Williams for his third year under center.
“He’s got a high football IQ and he processes things really fast, to the point he almost sees them before they happen,” he said. “He’s real accurate and can throw the ball in a small window where only the receiver can catch it.”
Berguson also gave Williams high praise by comparing him to Austin Hubbard, who quarterbacked the 2005 Homewood team to a state championship.
At the running back spot, the Patriots will have to replace nearly all of their backfield production from a season ago. They will attempt to do so primarily with KeOnte Davis and Khardi Dalton.
Berguson said, “KeOnte is more of an explosive running back. He’s got a lot of potential. [Dalton]’s got great vision. He’s a great zone runner and sees it really well.”
The biggest preseason surprise for Homewood came at the wide receiver spot, where backup quarterback Tre Roberson has emerged as one of the Patriots’ main targets. He is the son of Jay Roberson, the quarterback who helped lead Homewood to the state championship game in 1990.
“We experimented with Tre Roberson at receiver some and we came out of spring with him as our best receiver,” said Berguson, who also said Roberson might be the best athlete at the school.
Marcus McGhee, Wesley Williams, Trae Ausmer and Len Irvine are some other receivers who Larkin Williams will target in the fall. Wilson McCraw and Pate Owen will see time at the fullback position.
Homewood will have an offensive line averaging roughly 270 pounds this fall. Grayson Kelley anchors that line at left tackle and is a returning starter, along with left guard Will Strong and right tackle Jekobie Harris. Elliot Dodson is likely to play right guard, with sophomore Lucas Padgett at center.
DEFENSE
Homewood is looking to rebuild its secondary after only returning one starter, cornerback Jaden Alexander. Ky Burdeshaw and Michael Kash have put forth bids to start at safety.
Berguson said the Patriots’ front seven is “as good as we’ve ever had.” That starts with middle linebacker Crawford Doyle, who led the team with over 100 tackles last season. Flanking Doyle at the outside linebacker positions will be Traveon Allen, who missed all of last season with an injury, and John Firnberg, who moved from defensive end.
Antoine McGhee returns to the defensive line, where he was a force last season. The Patriots defense suffered in the final three games last season after he went down with an injury. Tobias Thomas and McCraw are other established players on the line.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Homewood has the benefit of returning junior Lane Gilchrist to be the team’s kicker and punter. Gilchrist was recently named the No. 15 punter in the nation in his class by Kohl’s Kicking. “He had a great offseason,” Berguson said. “He’s had a great spring punting the ball.”
SCHEDULE
Homewood will play its annual season-opening game at Samford against Hueytown on Thursday, Aug. 23. The Patriots then travel to take on Vestavia Hills, which they defeated for the first time in 10 tries last fall.
The Patriots’ first region game will be against Pelham and will feature two teams that are expected to be near the top of the standings when the dust is settled. Helena, Minor, Chelsea, Carver-Birmingham and Jackson-Olin are also in Region 5. Homewood’s other non-region game is against Center Point.
* Update 8/21: Since this article was published, Tre Roberson has transferred out of Homewood High School and Jaden Alexander suffered a potentially season-ending injury.
