The Reset: Football remains undefeated, Jackson triumphs at Hoover Invite
Over the course of the year, The Homewood Star will keep you up to date on the various Homewood High School athletic teams. Here is the seventh installment. If you missed last week's edition, click here.
FOOTBALL
The Homewood High School football team clinched the Class 6A, Region 5 title with an impressive comeback victory over Shades Valley on Friday night. Click here for the full recap of the game.
John Carroll battled Ramsay, but fell short, 53-35.
This Friday, Homewood hosts Hueytown, while John Carroll travels to Shades Valley.
VOLLEYBALL
The Homewood High School volleyball team closed out the regular season with a pair of matches last week. On Tuesday, the Patriots hosted and defeated Oak Grove, 3-0.
On Thursday, Homewood lost a tight, five-set match with Gardendale, 3-2 (22-25, 25-20, 25-23, 21-25, 10-15).
The Patriots hold the No. 2 seed in the Class 6A, Area 10 tournament, to be played at Ramsay High School on Monday night. Homewood needs a win over Shades Valley in the opening round of the tournament to ensure its spot at regionals later this week.
CROSS-COUNTRY
With a half-mile remaining at Thursday’s Hoover Invite, Homewood sophomore Celie Jackson made her decisive move. She crested the final hill at Veterans Park — and then took off.
Thompson’s McKenzie Hogue could only stay close for so long.
Jackson opened a gap down the homestretch and held on for a two-second victory. She completed the challenging 5K course in 19 minutes, 35 seconds.
“Our whole team has been working on our goals for this course, and so my goal for this course was to work on my finish to get ready for state and practice that,” Jackson said. “That’s what I did today, and I felt really proud of doing that.”
Jackson’s triumph spurred the Homewood girls to a third-place team showing. Audrey Nabors (17th, 21:07) was the only other Patriot to finish in the top 20.
The Homewood boys also secured a third-place team finish at the meet and were led by front-runner Will Stone, who finished second in 16:20. Vestavia Hills’ James Sweeney won the race in 16:03. Jackson Merrell (11th, 17:14), Alvin Finch (15th, 17:21) and Jack Gray (20th, 17:25) joined Stone in the top 20.
The Hoover Invite was Homewood’s final race until the Class 6A, Section 3 meet, which will be held at Veterans Park Nov. 2.
HMS Patriots win Metro
Grayton Murray led the Homewood Middle School boys cross-country team to a first-place finish at the Metro South Championships, held Saturday in Trussville.
Murray, a seventh-grader, won the individual title by four seconds over Hewitt-Trussville’s Mitchell Phillips. He ran 11:44 to Phillips’ 11:48.
Murray was one of five Patriots to finish in the top nine. Leny Mbogo (6th, 12:06), Sam Gray (seventh, 12:07), Jack Harchelroad (eighth, 12:09) and Benjamin Murray (ninth, 12:10) all contributed to the team’s low score. Homewood totaled 31 points to runner-up Hewitt-Trussville’s 68.
The Homewood girls posted a second-place team finish at the meet behind champion Mountain Brook, as the Patriots placed five runners among the top 20.
Maris Owen (fifth, 13:30), Eleanor Nickoli (12th, 13:44), Sarah Derriso (13th, 13:46), Lily Blish (15th, 13:53) and Ellen Reidinger (19th, 14:07) scored for Homewood.
-- What did we miss? What else would you like to see mentioned? For any suggestions, feel free to email sports editor Kyle Parmley at kparmley@starnespublishing.com.