Patriots remain perfect

HOMEWOOD -- Friday night’s 37-7 victory by the Homewood High School football team was a perfect example of one part of the team stepping up when the other part slumped.

The Patriots started out against Helena (1-3, 1-1 Region 6A-3) with guns blazing, scoring three touchdowns over visiting Helena in the first quarter. But after that, the offense sputtered a bit.

And that’s when the defense took control.

Homewood (5-0, 2-0 Region 5) intercepted Huskies quarterback Luke Stamba four times, including a 30-yard pick-six by Kris Wilkins late in the first half. Fellow defensive back C.D. Daniels came up with two interceptions for the night, and after the game was proudly showing off the team’s big-play award — a reasonable facsimile of a belt worn by a boxing or mixed martial arts champion.

The belt doesn’t have a name, but Daniels has won it three times in five games. If he keeps it up, the belt may be named for him.

“We gotta make a name for it,” Daniels joked. “It feels pretty good.”

Coach Ben Berguson said he was a bit unhappy in how his offense mired down after their hot first period, but glad to see the guys on the other side of the line pick up the slack.

“We came out red-hot to start, but I was a little bit disappointed in the offense after that. We got a little bit sloppy,” Berguson said. “But I thought we played hard, and our defense played another great game tonight. They’ve done that for us all year.”

Homewood struck first with 8:23 left in the opening frame as running back Nick McCoy scored on a 27-yard run. It was actually the second time the Pats found the end zone on the possession, as quarterback Larkin Williams found receiver William Hall for a 76-yard bomb on their first offensive play, but the touchdown was called back on a block-in-the-back penalty. McCoy scored three plays later.

Homewood took the ball again after Chance Hall intercepted Stamba’s pass near midfield, and David Robertson scored the first of his two touchdowns of the game, this one on a 1-yard dive.

After Helena gambled and lost on a fake punt later in the period, the hosts took over on the Huskies 38. A 33-yard pass from Williams to TyShawn Buckner set up a 1-yard sneak by Williams, as Homewood took a 20-0 lead with 1:46 left in the first.

That’s when the Patriots offense started to falter a bit, but the defense took over. They held Helena to three stalled drives, the last one ending on a Daniels interception. The hosts drove to the Huskies 15 but came up short on a missed field goal attempt. Four plays into the ensuing Helena drive, however, Wilkins stepped in front of a receiver for the interception, and dashed 30 yards for the defensive score.

After halftime, both sides had a tough time gaining momentum. Williams fumbled deep in Helena territory to end one promising drive, but Daniels halted the Huskies momentum late in the third quarter with his second interception.

Homewood finally put the game away late on a 26-yard field goal by Lane Gilchrist, and Robertson got his second touchdown of the night on an 8-yard run with 2:27 left. The Pats had taken over on the guests’ 14 after Helena had gone for a desperation fourth-and-1 and came up empty.

Williams was 15-of-24 with no interceptions for 167 passing yards for the Patriots. Buckner led all Homewood receivers with nine catches for 108 yards.

McCoy ran 15 times for 92 yards and one score, while Robertson ran 42 yards in nine carries with two touchdowns.

For the Huskies, Stamba was 13-of-26 through the air with four interceptions. He connected with Justin Stuckey late in the first half, who made a leaping catch in tight coverage and ran for a 41-yard touchdown. Stuckey caught seven passes for a game-high 133 yards.

The Patriots are 5-0 for the first time since 2005, when they ran the table with a perfect 15-0 record and won a state championship. They have next week off, for which Berguson couldn’t be happier.

“It feels good to go into this bye week at 5-0,” Berguson said. “We’re a little beaten up, and it will be nice to get some guys healed up.”

Homewood returns to action in a region road game on October 6, but they don’t travel very far — in fact, they can see their opponents’ stadium from their own field, as the Patriots take on John Carroll Catholic.

Helena hosts Vestavia Hills next week.