Early offense not enough in Patriots' loss

HUEYTOWN – An early burst of offense produced all of Homewood’s points on Friday night, as the Patriots saw their hopes of hosting a playoff game slip away in a 15-10 loss at Hueytown High School.

Homewood finishes Class 6A, Region 5 play as the No. 4 seed and will travel to Region 6 champion Minor in week one of the playoffs.

“I’m disappointed about tonight. I’m pleased that we’re going to go to the playoffs for the fourth year in a row, but that was a tough loss tonight,” Patriots’ head coach Ben Berguson said.

Hueytown’s offense produced when it mattered most, as quarterback Jalen Steele capped a 7-play drive with a 1-yard QB sneak to give the Golden Gophers a 15-10 lead with 6:56 to play. Homewood was unable to pick up to move the ball on its next two possessions, turning the ball over on downs with 1:27 to play, allowing Hueytown to get into the victory formation.

The score came after Homewood failed to sustain drives after two Hueytown muffed punts late in the third quarter, a series of three drives, which only took 2:33 off the clock.

Homewood was held to 53 yards of offense in the second half after racking up 147 in the first half, including 127 yards by air.

“They gave us every opportunity in the world to win this football game tonight. We didn’t take advantage of the two muffed punts in the fourth quarter. There’s different times I thought we could put them away,” Berguson said. “We never could get anything going offensively. They’ve got a good defensive front. We just couldn’t block them tonight.”

The first opportunity Hueytown gave Homewood was on the second play of the game. Jamal Reese broke free from the sideline and dodged tackles for an 85-yard touchdown run, but the Golden Gophers were flagged for a block in the back to take the points off the board. Moments later, Antarius Mitchell intercepted a ball at the Homewood 18 to kill the first drive of the game.

Homewood was held to four yards of offense on its first five plays, until Ty Hatcher found TyShawn Buckner for a 7-yard pass and the first Patriots’ first down. Hatcher later connected with Bailey Lapinsky twice on the drive for 27 yards and a 52-yard touchdown to put Homewood on the board, 7-0, after Lane Gilchrist’s PAT. Lapinsky’s 69 yards on two catches led the Patriots’ offense for the night.

The Patriots secondary stepped up again on the ensuing drive, as C.D. Daniels picked off a pass in Hueytown territory, but Golden Gopher senior Justin Percy scooped and scored a Larkin Williams fumble for a 75-yard touchdown with 38 seconds left in the opening quarter. Bailey Hagood’s extra point was no good, keeping Homewood in front, 7-6.

Gilchrist later gave the Patriots a small cushion, 10-6, with a 27-yard field goal after a drive stalled at the Hueytown 10 with 9:02 to play in the first half.

Hueytown struck pay dirt on a 68-yard punt return by Lamar Slaughter, looking to take the lead midway through the second quarter, but a holding call negated the score. After the two teams traded punts a few more times, Hueytown’s Kristion Lewis picked off Williams at the 46 and returned it to the Patriots’ 37 with less than two minutes to play in the half. Jake Biles appeared to bust up a second-and-goal pass in the end zone as time expired in the second quarter, but one second was put back on the clock, setting up a 28-yard field goal by Hagood to pull Hueytown within a point, 10-9, entering halftime.

Neither team moved the ball well in the third quarter and early fourth quarter.

Jamal Reese led Hueytown’s offense with 96 yards rushing on 20 carries.

Homewood (4-5, 3-3 Region 5) will close its regular season at home Oct. 28 against Paul Bryant.