Ramsay runs away from Homewood in 40-14 Ram win
Homewood High head coach Ben Berguson didn’t bother to get technical when explaining what happened during his team’s 40-14 loss to Class 6A, Region 5 leader Ramsay at Legion Field.
“They just out-athleted us,” Berguson said after Ramsay (6-1 overall, 5-0 Region 5) clinched the region title and remained unbeaten against Alabama competition. “I thought we played hard all four quarters. They’ve got a great football team.”
The Rams certainly have a roster full of talented athletes. None shined brighter on Friday night than quarterback Baniko Harley. The 6-foot-2, 170-pound senior accounted for 322 yards and five touchdowns before sitting down early in the fourth quarter. He was 14-of-21 for 218 yards passing with three touchdown passes and carried the ball eight times for 104 yards with two touchdowns, including a 61-yard scoring burst down the sidelines in the third quarter.
“He’s just really elusive and if he breaks contain he’s gone,” Berguson said. “He’s good, he’s really good.”
It was evident pretty quickly that Harley and the Rams were headed for a special night. Homewood (3-4 overall, 2-2 Region 5) got a pair of first downs on pass plays during the opening drive of the game but the promising drive stalled. On the ensuing possession, Ramsay used a 23-yard screen pass from Harley to Jamarcus Ellison to convert on 3rd-and-12 and then got an explosive 56-yard touchdown pass from Harley to Thomas Hrabowski. The conversion attempt failed so Ramsay led 6-0.
The lead grew to 21-0 midway through the second quarter after a 6-yard scoring run by Harley and a 1-yard touchdown pass from Harley to Joshua Horn. The Rams then punctuated an outstanding first half with a 21-yard touchdown pass from Harley to Horn with 55 seconds left before halftime.
Homewood had just 50 yards in offense at the break. It didn’t get much better in the third quarter, even though the Patriot defense made a big play on the opening possession of the second half when Kris Wilkins intercepted a Harley pass in the end zone. However, Harley came back to give the Rams a 34-0 lead on his 61-yard touchdown run.
One thing the Patriots didn’t do at that point – or any other time in the game – was quit. The Patriots kept playing hard throughout and were able to score twice in the final 13 minutes. Sophomore quarterback Larkin Williams directed both scoring drives with the first one covering 75 yards on 10 plays. Williams was 3-of-4 for 64 yards on the drive, including a 34-yard connection with Bailey Lapinsky. Williams scored the touchdown on a 7-yard run with 42 seconds left in the third quarter.
Ramsay’s final touchdown came on 62-yard fumble return by Daunte DeLoach. Homewood’s final score came when Williams and Austin Spiers combined on a 13-yard touchdown pass with 29 seconds remaining.
For the Rams, it was just another step in a storybook season.
“It’s been special,” said head coach Rueben Nelson Jr. “The only thing we can do right now is put our feet in the ground and try to get better. We have the rest of the season left. We’ve got Mountain Brook coming up and we’ve got the playoffs coming up. We can’t slip right now.”
Homewood also has a lot to play for and plenty of work remaining.
“We’ve got to go back and work,” said Berguson, whose team plays host to Shades Valley next week. “We’ve made the playoffs four straight years. We’ve got to win next week, for sure, to have a chance to get in. We’re scrambling a little bit.”