Patriots open with win over Decatur

His given name is CarDamien, CarDamien Daniels. But most of his Homewood Patriot teammates just call him CD. 

He may have earned a new nickname -- one that that rhymes with "CD."

The 6-foot-2 sophomore defensive back, in his first varsity start, made a key play, picking off a Decatur pass and returning it for a touchdown, as the Class 6A ninth-ranked Patriots marched to a 28-15 win to open the 2015 football season on Bob Newton Field at Waldrop Stadium on Friday.

The non-region game wasn't as close as the score sounded. The Patriots led 14-0 after Daniels' pick-six, and 21-6 at half. They were putting the final nail in the coffin, leading 28-9, when the reserves fumbled it inside the Red Raider 10 and watched Dalvin Crayton return it 93 yards for a score with just over two minutes left in the game.

Two fumbles and two interceptions give Ben Berguson's Patriots something to work on before Vestavia HIlls visits next Friday.

"I thought we made way too many mistakes tonight," Berguson said. "Way too many mental  mistakes. Four turnovers. But here's the deal: You always make your biggest strides between Week 1 and Week 2 of the season, and we're going to do that.

"It's great to have this momentum out of the gate. We haven't beaten Vestavia in 10 years and it's been five years since we were 1-0," Berguson said.

As for Daniels' TD, the sophomore said he read the quarterback's feet.

"I saw the way his foot was set and knew he was going to throw the slant, so I baited him and I just took it to the house," Daniels said. "First start, feels pretty good, pretty exciting."

That was one of three big plays on the night, one each on defense, offense and special teams, that helped key the Patriots' win.

The first play came when Patriots quarterback Carson Griffis hooked up with Ronald Claiborne for a 47-yard touchdown pass. at 6:01 of the first quarter. It was the first touch by Claiborne of the season -- and in a couple of seasons. The 6-2 senior has been concentrating on basketball. This time, he concentrated on his quarterback's pass over a defender on the sideline and broke away for the score. Roger Castro's extra point made it 7-0. 

After a Griffis punt pinned the Red Raiders at their 10, Decatur quarterback Griffin McCollum tried to pass over the middle and found Daniels instead. The sophomore weaved through a crowd 20 yards for the second TD of the quarter. Castro's kick -- he was 4-for-4 in the PAT department -- made it 14-0.

The next big Patriot play came after McCollum had taken the visitors 64 yards to a score after a Griffis interception. McCollum finished it off himself with a gritty 5-yard run, but the PAT failed. 

On the ensuing kickoff, Derrick Underwood hauled it in at his 7 and broke it all the way to the Decatur 3. "I just saw some holes and cut it back. I thought I had a chance to cut it back near the sideline," Underwood said, but the Red Raiders managed to hem him in. 

After a 5-yard penalty moved the ball back to the 8, Griffis hooked up with senior receiver Alec Marsch for a TD and the 21-6 lead with 4:35 left before half. The Pats took that score to the locker room.

"I thought we got the momentum back with Derrick Underwood's kickoff return," Berguson said. "I thought Derrick played a great game tonight. I thought he broke their will to win."

Besides the long kick return, Underwood racked up 130 yards rushing on 28 carries and added 35 yards receiving on three catches. In all, he had 282 all-purpose yards.

He especially was dominant on the ground in the second half when the Patriots sped up the tempo on their first two possessions of the third quarter. The first drive resulted in another turnover but Underwood cashed the second drive in with a 2-yard run and a 28-6 lead with 4:10 left in the third quarter.

"I just saw some holes starting to open up and saw they got tired," Underwood said.

The defense gave some ground yardage at times to McCollum and running backs Ladarius Woods and Scott Littrell, but never gave up a back-breaking play. Defensive end Griffin Gentry had at least one sack and a couple of other tackles for losses as he spent the night in the Red Raiders' backfield. 

Berguson wasn't too concerned with Griffis' two interceptions.

"Hey, first game, you know you've got to take some chances to win. I thought both Carson and Derrick did a great job tonight."

Griffis finished 14-for-23 passing for 124 yards, the two picks and the two TD passes. He added 38 yards on the ground and had a good night punting, averaging 34 yards on four kicks, pinning Decatur deep a couple of times.

The Patriots wound up with 322 yards of total offense.

"I thought we played hard. We'll clean up those mistakes this week,"Berguson said.

Next week is Vestavia HIlls on Friday at Waldrop Stadium. Kickoff is 7. The weekend festivities will also include the 20th anniversary and reunion of the 1995 state championship team. That was Bob Newton's first state championship team at Homewood.