Vestavia Hills rolls past Patriots
HOMEWOOD – On the Rebels’ first play from scrimmage, Eli Sawyer got the look he wanted.
He spotted Landon Neese sprinting wide open down the right sideline on a wheel route. Sawyer delivered a pass in Neese’s direction, but the ball was a touch high and went through Neese’s outstretched arms.
But the next time the play was called, it was executed to perfection. Neese caught a perfectly spun football and took it the distance for a 73-yard touchdown. It gave the Vestavia Hills High School football team an early two-touchdown edge, and the Rebels cruised to a 49-7 win over Homewood on Friday night at Waldrop Stadium.
“We felt confident in it, since they didn’t cover it the first time,” said Sawyer, who had a first half for the ages. “We knew they were going to blitz that outside linebacker and we wanted to exploit it.”
Sawyer threw three touchdown passes over Vestavia Hills’ first three possessions. Jackson Trotman caught a short 7-yard pass to open the scoring, Neese scored late in the first quarter and Chandler Merrill scored from 13 yards out on a well-thrown fade route to make it 21-0 early in the second quarter.
“We had good protection, the receivers got open and I found them,” Sawyer said.
Nearly all of Sawyer's production came in the first half. For the game, he completed 7-of-11 passes for 169 yards and the three scores. He also scored on a 1-yard quarterback sneak in the third quarter to make it 35-7.
“Those big plays make a big difference,” Vestavia Hills head coach Buddy Anderson said.
Anderson liked plenty of what he saw from his Rebels in their first official game, following a jamboree victory over Homewood last week. But there were a few mishandled snaps, one of which led to Homewood’s only score.
On the first play of the third quarter, Homewood’s Jaiven Williams picked up a fumble at the Rebels 18-yard line. The Patriots capitalized, as Trae Ausmer took a slip screen 17 yards to the end zone to cut the deficit to 28-7.
Vestavia Hills (1-0) responded with a five-play, 73-yard drive, highlighted by a 45-yard run from A.J. Powell, who finished the night with 64 yards on seven carries.
“I’m very proud of them,” Anderson said. “We had some first-game mistakes but we had some big plays. …I saw a lot of things we’ve got to correct, but I saw the effort you need to see.”
Vestavia’s first scoring drive came after Homewood forced a three-and-out on the Rebels’ maiden drive. But the punt hit a Homewood player and the Rebels recovered the ball near midfield and drove to the end zone in six plays.
Homewood (0-2) has dropped a pair of non-region games to begin the season after beginning the year with a 32-19 loss to Hueytown last week.
“We’re just a very undisciplined football team right now,” Homewood head coach Ben Berguson said following the game. “Until we fix that, we’re going to have a bunch of long Friday nights. Every time we got something going tonight, we shot ourselves in the foot, and we’ve got to overcome that. That’s got to be fixed.”
For the game, Homewood quarterback Pate Owen was 10-of-15 for 103 yards and a score. KeOnte Davis led the Patriots with 51 yards on eight carries, while Sam Carr racked up 69 rushing yards in the second half.
Jake Levant scored on a 1-yard run to give the Rebels a 28-0 halftime edge. Will Brooks returned an interception roughly 55 yards for a touchdown to make it 42-7, and Pierce Hanna's 3-yard scoring rush capped the scoring late in the third quarter.
Next week, both teams begin region play. Homewood heads to Pelham to open Class 6A, Region 5 play and Vestavia Hills hosts Spain Park in 7A, Region 3 action.
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