Special teams key Patriots victory

Blocked punts, a blocked field goal, a muffed punt and three Patriot interceptions – Homewood and Shades Valley first meeting in nine years had it all. The Patriots rallied late to pull out a Class 6A, Region 5 victory on Oct. 14 over the Mounties, 27-21, to lock up their fifth-straight trip to the playoffs and 25th overall appearance.

The game, which saw three special teams touchdowns, came down to a pair of interceptions by Homewood’s CD Daniels in the final two minutes to seal the win. The last one came with 6.5 seconds to play at the Patriots’ 33.

“It was a tough one. They had a big running back. We had to fit onto what he was doing,” Daniels said. “We just played hard tonight. I had to make a big play after missing some tackles early on in the game. Our defense had to step up tonight. It was a fun win.”

Shades Valley controlled the clock in the first half for more than 19 minutes of possession, beginning with an 80-yard opening drive that took 8:46 off the clock. Reynard Ellis capped the drive with a 3-yard touchdown and 7-0 Mounties lead. Homewood managed to take a 14-7 halftime lead after returning two blocked punts for touchdowns. Jesus Figueroa broke through the line and blocked the first punt, which Antarius Mitchell scooped and scored from 18 yards out 11:49 to play in the half.

Two possessions later, after Shades Valley QB/punter Desmond Trotter was nearly blocked by John Dill on the second punt of the night, Antoine McGhee blocked the Mounties’ third punt from the 23. Charlie Williams fell on the ball in the end zone for the go-ahead score, 14-7. A flag for roughing the kicker was waved off on the play.

Shades Valley drove to the Patriots’ 11 late in the second quarter, but Brandon Claiborne picked off Trotter’s pass in the end zone with 6.7 seconds left to secure Homewood’s 14-7 halftime lead.

Despite the score, Shades Valley had out-gained Homewood 188 to 43 in the first half. Homewood only ran 11 plays in 4:45 of possession.

"[The two punt blocks for touchdowns] were huge, because they had the ball so much in the first half, and we just weren’t getting any touches. That was an easy way for us to get points,” Homewood head coach Ben Berguson said. “I told our guys at halftime we needed to take full advantage of every possession we got in the second half, because I didn’t know how many more times we’d get the ball.”

Homewood floundered on its first drive of the second half and gave Shades Valley a short field at the Mountie 46 after a 9-yard punt. Trotter and Ellis controlled the Mounties’ ground game, including 51 yards on three carries by Ellis, who capped the drive with a 7-yard touchdown to tie it, 14-14, with 8:03 left in the third quarter. Ellis led all players with 219 yards rushing on 38 carries.  

The Patriots responded with their best offensive drive of the game so far, driving 67 yards to the Shades Valley 3. However, a bad snap on third down set up fourth-and-goal at the 10. Lane Gilchist’s 27-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Jacob Woods and returned 75 yards for a touchdown by Hakim Alston to give Shades Valley a 21-14 lead.

Shades Valley held the Patriots on the next possession, but muffed a punt at the 30, setting up Homewood’s game-tying touchdown, a 3-yard run by Chestin Jones to close the third quarter even at 21-21.

After Parker Allen and Jaden Alexander came up with a big fourth-down stop, dropping Ellis for a 4-yard loss at the Patriots’ 37, Homewood took the lead, 27-21, on a 25-yard touchdown pass from Ty Hatcher to Buckner. Davis sealed the next two drives with his interceptions.

“I’m really proud of our kids and the effort to come back. They had a huge momentum swing and we just fought back and won the ball game,” Berguson said.

Jones and Nick McCoy each had 58 yards rushing to lead Homewood, while Hatcher finished with 58 yards on 6-of-11 passing. Buckner had three catches for 49 yards and Fred Williams finished with five catches for 29 yards. Figueroa, Dill and McGhee each had a sack on defense.

Homewood (4-4, 3-2 Region 5) will travel to Hueytown High School on Oct. 21 to close out region play. The winner will finish No. 2 in the region and host a first-round playoff game.