Center Point surprises Patriots on late score
HOMEWOOD – The Eagles spoiled homecoming.
On a night when Homewood High School welcomed back alumni and capped off a week of upbeat student festivities, the Center Point High School football team had other plans. The Eagles scored a late touchdown and converted the ensuing two-point conversion to knock off Homewood 22-21 on Friday at Waldrop Stadium.
“Tough loss,” Homewood head coach Ben Berguson said following the game. “They’ve got a great football team. There’s a reason they’re ranked in the top 10 in (Class) 5A. Coach (George) Bates does a great job over there.”
Homewood went ahead late in the third quarter and led until the game’s final minute. Center Point capped off a penalty-aided 80-yard drive on Jay Taylor’s 5-yard run up the middle with 53 seconds to go. The touchdown pulled the Eagles within a point, 21-20. There was no hesitation from Bates, Center Point’s second-year coach. For the third time on the night, he called for a two-point play to go for the win.
Jayson Jones, who transferred to Center Point from Fultondale in the summer, took the direct snap from the 3-yard line, lowered his head and refused to go down until he crossed the goal line.
The conversion gave the Eagles the 22-21 lead, and a last-gasp effort from Homewood ended on a deflected pass near the end zone on fourth down.
“We just can’t catch a break,” Berguson said. “We’re really close, we just can’t catch a break.”
In the early portions of the season, the Patriots offense has skewed one-dimensional many times. The Patriots are prolific through the air but have struggled to run the football. That was no different Friday night.
"When you get right down to it, we can’t run the football, we’re having trouble running the football," Berguson said. "We’re good throwing the ball, we’ve just got to be able to run the ball and sustain some drives."
Homewood quarterback Pate Owen was stellar, completing 19-of-33 passes for 315 yards and three scores. His favorite target was Trae Ausmer, who snagged 11 balls for 177 yards. Len Irvine caught six passes for 79 yards. As a team, Homewood rushed for just 52 yards, led by Ausmer's 33 on three sweep carries.
The Patriots had what may have proven to be the game-sealing score called back early in the fourth quarter. With the Patriots holding a 21-14 lead, Owen hit Cameron Green, who made several defenders miss and ran nearly 70 yards for a touchdown. But the play was negated by a penalty.
Homewood (1-4) started the game’s scoring midway through the first quarter. The Patriots marched 51 yards in nine plays and scored on an 11-yard slant pass from Owen to Ausmer to make it 7-0.
Center Point (5-1) got on the board early in the second quarter on Taylor’s first of two scoring runs, a 2-yard plunge into the end zone to make it 7-6. The Eagles took a 14-7 lead midway through the quarter on Jones’ 69-yard touchdown reception. He took a quick pass from JD Davis and did the rest, leaving several defenders in his wake.
Bates said he wished Davis would have run more on quarterback scrambles, but he stuck almost exclusively to throwing short and intermediate passes. He finished the night 19-of-29 passing for 251 yards. Jones caught 13 of those passes and totaled 152 yards.
“We’re still trying to jell together. We’ve got a great idea of it, but it’s just going to continue to improve,” Bates said of his team.
Homewood tied the game at 14-14 on Irvine’s 29-yard grab in the second quarter, and the Patriots regained the edge late in the third quarter. Owen lofted a pass down the middle of the field, and Justin Towner managed to haul in a pass that was deflected twice and took it 51 yards for the score, putting his team up 21-14.
Homewood has lost back-to-back games in similar fashion, allowing the game-winning score late in the fourth quarter. But the Patriots get back into Class 6A, Region 5 play next week and will need to rebound quickly.
“We just need to get a win,” Berguson said. “That’s big right now, we’ve just got to get a win. We’ve got a big region game next week at Minor, so we’ve got to go back to work.”
Center Point hosts Springville next week, as the Eagles also return to region action.
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