Photo by Shawn Bowles
Homewood and John Carroll meet at midfield during a game between Homewood Patriots and John Carrol Cavaliers at F. Paige Seibert Stadium in Birmingham on Friday, Aug.19, 2022. The Patriots defeated the Cavaliers 38-20. Photo by Shawn Bowles
High school sports are officially underway, and here's a look at what's going with the fall teams at Homewood and John Carroll Catholic high schools.
FOOTBALL
The Homewood and John Carroll Catholic football teams have each played a couple games, with mixed results to show for them.
The Patriots and Cavaliers squared off in Week 0 to begin the season, with Homewood winning 38-20. Click here for the story of that game.
Last week, Homewood fell to Vestavia Hills, while John Carroll fell to Marbury in a tight game. Click here to read about those games.
This Friday, Homewood begins Class 6A, Region 3 play at Helena. John Carroll hosts Fairfield for the start of Class 5A, Region 5 action.
VOLLEYBALL
The Homewood and John Carroll volleyball seasons are underway as well.
Through the first week-plus, Homewood is 6-6 against a challenging schedule. Homewood began the season with a strong four-set win over John Carroll in a match played at Samford University. The Patriots then competed in the Juanita Boddie Tournament in Hoover, finishing third in their pool (wins over Jemison and Athens, losses to Columbus and Bayside Academy).
In silver bracket play, Homewood notched wins over Arab, John Carroll and Hoover to advance to the final. In that final, the Patriots fell to Baylor.
For the first week, Mira McCool led the Patriots with 80 kills, 21 digs, 10 aces and 8 blocks. Sydney Humes led the defense with 103 digs, 11 aces, 12 assists and 4 kills. Mary Przybysz tallied 139 assists, 53 digs, 4 aces and 4 kills.
Homewood lost three tough matches last week. The Patriots fell to defending Class 7A state champion Spain Park in straight sets (25-20, 25-20) and then lost a tight match to Sparkman (23-25, 25-17, 15-9). A match against Oak Mountain went the full five sets, with Homewood narrowly losing (25-21, 23-25, 19-25, 25-23, 15-12).
Last week, McCool led the Patriots with 35 kills and added 19 digs. Olivia Jackson added 27 kills and 10 digs. Humes led the defense with 46 digs and 2 aces.
This week, Homewood plays a tri-match at Tuscaloosa County on Tuesday against the Wildcats and Helena. On Thursday, the Patriots host Northridge before heading to the Tournament of Champions in Guntersville over the weekend.
John Carroll is 8-8 so far, playing a variety of challenging teams in the early part of the season as well. In that season-opening match against Homewood, the Cavs won a set but fell in four (25-23, 22-25, 25-16, 25-22).
The Cavs also played in the Boddie Tournament, notching wins over Hoover (25-22, 27-25) and James Clemens (25-16, 25-20) and falling to Brandon (25-23, 25-18), Hartselle (22-25, 29-27, 17-15), Bob Jones (25-19, 25-22) and Homewood (22-25, 25-18, 15-10).
For the first week, Poppy Moellering led the offense with 43 kills and 22 blocks, Maria Groover had 32 kills and 22 digs, and Stella Yester finished with 38 digs and 11 aces.
Last week was a much better one for the Cavs, winning a pair of regular season matches and putting forth a strong showing in the Mayors Cup Tournament over the weekend.
On Tuesday, John Carroll swept Clay-Chalkville (25-20, 25-22, 25-14). The Cavs then did the same to Springville on Thursday (25-13, 25-21, 25-12).
At the Mayors Cup, the Cavs began the tournament with losses to Spanish Fort (29-27, 26-24) and Trinity (25-18, 25-17). But they won four consecutive matches after that, edging Wetumpka (25-15, 23-25, 15-11), Brewbaker Tech (25-8, 25-4), St. James (25-17, 25-18) and Houston Academy (25-17, 25-17). The Cavs fell to Pike Road (25-20, 18-25, 15-13) to end their run.
In the tournament, Groover led the way with 53 kills and 37 digs, Hope Lacy added 37 kills and Helen Macher tallied 180 assists.
This week, John Carroll hosts Oak Mountain on Tuesday and heads to Pelham on Thursday.
Want to see something else mentioned? Feel free to email sports editor Kyle Parmley at kparmley@starnesmedia.com
