Patriots steamroll Pelham, earn 1st win
PELHAM -- The Homewood High School football team scored 29 first-quarter points and never looked back, as the Patriots picked up a 42-21 win over Class 6A, Region 5 foe Pelham on Friday night.
The Patriots were led by quarterback Pate Owen, who tossed three touchdowns and ran for one more score to lead Homewood to the win. Homewood took a commanding 29-0 lead in the opening quarter.
Homewood head coach Ben Berguson said he was surprised by the success early, but he feels his team could have been better in the end.
“It was nice to get that first win, especially it being a region game,” he said. “I was really proud of our team’s effort. A lot of this goes back to our strength of schedule. We have a lot to still work on. I was kind of disappointed we didn’t sustain any drives tonight, but I was still proud of effort and it was nice to get the win.”
Owen went 11-of-13 throwing for 208 yards with three touchdowns. He added 37 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground. Trae Ausmer had six catches for 112 yards and two touchdowns before getting injured and not playing in the second half. Len Irvine added two catches and a long 71-yard touchdown grab.
Homewood kicker Katie Crim was perfect, knocking through field goals of 28 and 29 yards.
The Patriots quickly set the pace with a long touchdown throw from Owen to Irvine for a 71-yard score. Homewood’s defense forced a fumble on the next play and scored again two plays later, as Owen found Ausmer wide open for a 36-yard score. Ausmer ran in the two-point conversion to make it 15-0 Homewood.
With 8:11 left in the first quarter, Owen hit Ausmer again for a 37-yard touchdown to increase the lead to 22-0.
The Homewood defense proved stout as they forced a turnover on downs in the first quarter. The offense capitalized a minute later when Owen scored on a 20-yard touchdown run, upping the edge to 29-0.
Pelham got on the scoreboard in the second quarter when Xavier Lankford threw an 8-yard touchdown to JD Wilkins to cut the lead to 29-7.
With 4:40 remaining before halftime, Crim booted a 28-yard field goal to extend the lead to 32-7. Pelham scored on a passing touchdown from Lankford to Darius Copeland to end the quarter. Homewood led 32-13 at halftime.
Homewood came up big on special teams in the second half. Gabe Madden blocked a Pelham punt and returned it for a touchdown with 7:44 remaining in the third quarter. Charlie Goode also intercepted a pass deep inside Homewood territory.
In the fourth quarter, Homewood recovered a fumble to stop a Pelham drive. Four minutes later, Crim hit a 29-yard field goal to extend the lead to 42-13.
Pelham scored a late touchdown, but Homewood walked away with the region win and first win of the season.
Owen said he hopes the win will give them confidence moving forward.
“It’s going to help our momentum,” Owen said. “Hopefully we can ride this wave and focus in to keep this going.”
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