Photo by Scott Butler
Homewood running back Derrick Underwood fights for yardage against Walker.
The Homewood Patriots celebrate Senior Night on Bob Newton Field at Waldrop Stadium on Friday.
The guests will be the Hueytown Golden Gophers in a key Class 6A, Region 5 tilt.
The Patriots’ bitter 17-14 loss at Walker last Friday has made this a crucial game. Both Homewood and Walker are tied atop the region at 4-1, but the Vikings now hold the tiebreaker edge. The Patriots (5-2, 4-1) need to take care of business with Hueytown on Friday and then at Jackson-Olin next Thursday to have any chance of winning their fourth straight region title outright. They’ll also need Walker to stumble at J-O or Hueytown.
The race has tightened considerable for the four playoff spots, and the last thing Homewood needs is for last week’s loss to cause the Patriots to lose focus.
Hueytown (4-4, 3-2) is just one game behind Homewood in the race. The Gophers could move into a tie with the Patriots with a win and then hold the tiebreaker advantage if the two schools won out. That would cost Homewood a first-round home game in the playoffs.
Minor, Briarwood Christian and Jackson-Olin are all also at 3-2. The scenarios are too complex to figure out with two weeks of region play left, but suffice to say Homewood needs to win out to be safe from getting left out of the playoffs.
The Patriots outgained Walker last week 275 yards to 185, but turnovers hurt badly. Three came in the second half, after the teams had battled for a scoreless first 24 minutes.
Homewood also missed a field goal, had a punt partially blocked and fumbled a kickoff return as special teams play was suspect.
“I was real proud of the defense, but Walker came up with some big plays in the end. Hats off to them. They have a good football team,” Homewood coach Ben Berguson said after the game. “It’s hard to beat a good football team when you turn the ball over four times.
“The last few years we’ve been really good at stealing games in the end, but we couldn’t come through with it tonight,” Berguson said. “We’re going to go back to work, and we’ll be back.”
The Patriots also Derrick Underwood continued to be the offensive standout, racking up 221 all-purpose yards including 136 yards on three catches, 26 yards rushing and 59 on kick returns. He scored twice. Carson Griffis was 18-of-31 passing for 213 yards and a touchdown to Underwood, but threw three interceptions.
Griffin Gentry had a sack and C.D. Daniels killed a drive with an interception in the end zone.
Kickoff is 7 p.m. with Senior Night festivities beginning at 6:20 p.m.
