Patriots knocked off at Paul Bryant
COTTONDALE -- The Homewood High School football team's bid to finish 10-0 in the regular season was derailed on Friday night, as Paul Bryant knocked off the Patriots, 13-7, for its third straight win and sixth in seven games entering the playoffs.
“[Bryant] did a great job tonight. We’ve had two or three emotional games. Not to take anything away from them, but we definitely had a letdown tonight. Hopefully we can put this one behind us and get ready to play the second season,” Homewood head coach Ben Berguson said.
After trailing for most of the game, Homewood thought its 10th win was in sight when Larkin Williams punched in a 1-yard go-ahead touchdown, giving the Patriots a 7-6 lead, with 1:03 to play. However, Bryant senior Gary Quarles Jr. took the following kickoff around the 25-yard line and cut through the crowd and down the home sideline for the eventual winning touchdown.
With 45.8 seconds to play, Williams moved the Patriots down field on passes of 12 and 26 yards to Marcus McGhee. He then picked up 8 yards on a run to the 24 before stopping the clock at 12 seconds with a timeout. It appeared Homewood completed the comeback when TyShawn Buckner was bumped in the end zone among double coverage but still came down with the catch.
However, Buckner was ruled out of bounds. With four ticks on the clock remaining, Buckner was the target again, but this time Seth Williams slipped in to pick off Larkin Williams in triple coverage to seal the upset.
“They had two over Buckner all night,” Berguson said. “We never could run the ball tonight. We just waited too long to get started. They took it to us in the first half.”
Homewood forced a turnover on downs and then sustained a drive before settling for a 37-yard field goal try by Lane Gilchrist. Bryant defenders broke through the line and nearly blocked the kick, which Gilchrist rushed and hit short. Chase Davis fielded the short attempt and returned it 59 yards to the Homewood 36. The return helped set up a 32-yard field goal for Jack Leach to put the Stampede on top, 3-0, with 11:04 to play in the second quarter.
The Patriots turned the ball over on downs on its next drive. Quarterback Justin Cannon and running back Daquone Johnson moved the Stampede down to the 10 before settling for a second Leach field goal from 27 yards out to go up, 6-0, on the final play of the first half.
Neither team could get going to start the second half, but Homewood put together a 16-play drive to eat up more than six minutes of the clock to end the third quarter. After a pass to McGhee moved Homewood into the red zone, David Robertson Jr. pushed down to the 5. However, Larkin Williams was 0-for-3 on pass attempts from the 5, including a fourth-down pass knocked down by Seth Williams.
Homewood recovered a Bryant fumble with 9:37 to play but once again turned the ball over on downs. The Patriots caught a break with 3:57 to play by blocking a punt at the Stampede’s 29 to set up their first scoring drive.
Larkin Williams finished the night with 148 yards on 16-of-31 passing and one interception. Robertson Jr. finished the game with 87 yards on 18 rushing attempts and had a 9-yard reception. McGhee had 73 yards receiving on five catches, while Buckner had six catches for 49 yards.
Homewood (9-1) will host Fort Payne next Friday for the first round of the Class 6A playoffs. Paul Bryant (6-4) will travel to Sidney Lanier for round one of the 6A playoffs.