Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa thumps Patriots in opener
HOMEWOOD — Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa put together a complete game in the season opener and walloped Homewood High School 49-19 at Waldrop Stadium on Friday night.
“I’m glad I got to see where we’re at, especially not having spring training,” said Homewood head coach Ben Berguson. “They had some difference makers tonight. Their quarterback is really good at extending plays. It’s hard to stay in coverage that long.”
That quarterback, Ethan Crawford, put on quite a show. The sophomore completed 13-of-17 passes for 225 yards and three touchdowns. He rushed for two more.
The game looked to be a solid matchup early. Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa scored on the third play of the game when Crawford found J’Quon Sturdivant for a 56-yard score. Homewood answered with an 11-play, 68-yard drive capped by a 1-yard touchdown run by Sam Carr. Homewood took the lead 10-7 early in the second quarter on a 19-yard field goal by J.C. Daniel, but that lead evaporated in two minutes when Crawford hit Andre Siler in stride for a 35-yard score.
It was all Hillcrest from there. Marcus Wilkins rushed for a 7-yard touchdown, followed by an 8-yard run by Crawford to put Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa up 28-10 at halftime.
Homewood showed positive signs out of the half when quarterback Brode Susce hit Len Irvine for a 41-yard touchdown on the fifth play of the third quarter. Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa, however, returned the ensuing kickoff back to the Homewood 6-yard line and scored two plays later on a Crawford keeper.
Crawford hit Anthony Myers on a swing pass for an 82-yard score with less than a minute left in the third quarter. Homewood got a safety on a bad Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa snap to make it a 42-19 game. Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa scored again with less than a minute to play in the game when Tyler Smith scampered 79 yards to the house.
Homewood played both Susce and Woods Ray at quarterback throughout the game. Susce finished 13-of-21 for 158 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Ray was 9-of-15 for 98 yards.
“I thought both of them really played well tonight,” Berguson said. “We did well throwing the ball, we just never could establish the run because their defensive front was whipping us.”
Homewood managed just 54 rushing yards for the game, 26 of which came from Carr on 15 carries. Irvine caught eight passes for 134 yards and a score. Jackson Parris totaled 45 yards on six receptions.
“We moved the ball well offensively, but they physically whipped us up front,” Berguson said. “Their d-line did all night.”
Homewood was set to travel to Vestavia Hills next week, but the Rebels canceled their first two games of the season due to COVID-19 concerns. The Patriots and Rebels had played every season since 1972. Berguson said the game will likely not be rescheduled.
“We’re trying to play in the region now,” he said. “It’s been such a big rivalry over the years, but we’ll just play it next year.”
Homewood will next play against McAdory at home Sept. 4.
“You always make your biggest gains between the first and second game,” Berguson said. “And we’ve got three extra days of practice to get ready for McAdory. We’ll be different in two weeks.”
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