Patriots win wild one
HOMEWOOD – The scoreboard was not necessarily indicative of how competitive it was during Homewood High School’s 34-13 win over Chilton County on Friday night in a Class 6A, Region 3 game at Waldrop Stadium.
But when the regular season is over, it’s not about how, it’s about how many.
“Give them a lot of credit,” said Homewood head coach Ben Berguson. “I just told their head coach, that score is not how this game was. They came to play and they did a good job.”
In a game that included some wacky moments, Chilton County led 13-6 at halftime and the teams were tied at 13 entering the fourth quarter.
Chilton County (3-5 overall, 1-4 in region) looked on the way to breaking the tie early in the fourth quarter, moments after Homewood punter RC Gartman pinned the Tigers at the 2-yard line. On the next play, Chilton County running back DJ Jackson burst 67 yards before being dragged down at the Homewood 31-yard line. Three plays later, on a third-and-3, Chilton County’s Demarcus Riddick lost the ball while fighting for a first down. Homewood defensive lineman Randall Jaquez scooped up the football and returned it 30 yards to the Chilton County 40-yard line.
“The play of the game was probably Randall Jaquez picking up the fumble and putting us in position to score a touchdown,” Berguson said.
Homewood used a 32-yard pass play from quarterback Will Myers to Evan Ausmer to set up Myers’ 2-yard touchdown run. The extra point failed but Homewood grabbed a 19-13 lead with 8:23 left.
From there, it was Homewood making most of the big plays. Myers added a 53-yard touchdown run, giving him four scoring runs on the night, and Ausmer capped off the scoring with a 11-yard touchdown run. The defense came up with a huge play on an interception by John Griffin.
Myers had an outstanding night, rushing for 108 and going 23-of-29 passing for 215 yards with an interception.
“He’s really good at extending plays and he’s had some huge runs this year in clutch situations,” Berguson said of Myers.
Wide receiver King Walker had 7 catches for 70 yards. Ausmer had 94 yards on 17 carries.
Add it all together and the Patriots (4-3, 3-1) won their fourth consecutive game after losing the first three, including the region opener to Helena.
“It’s unbelievable what this team has done,” said Berguson, whose team outgained the Tigers, 451-299. “We’ve reeled off four wins, good quality wins. How special is that?”
What Berguson didn’t know afterward, though, is how much more work is needed to clinch a playoff spot.
“I don’t know what that does with the playoff picture,” Berguson said. “Our region is so competitive, it may take four wins to get in. Last year, Helena got left out with three. This probably didn’t seal the deal, we probably need four.”
Homewood hosts Pelham in another key region matchup next week.
Cavs fall to Ramsay
John Carroll suffered a 28-0 loss to Ramsay on Friday night in a Class 5A, Region 5 game. It wraps up a brutal two-game stretch in which the Cavs took on Pleasant Grove and Ramsay, two of the top teams in not only the region, but the state.
The Cavs are now 5-2 overall and 3-2 in region play. They are still in solid position to earn a playoff berth.
John Carroll will pay a visit to Jasper next Friday night.