Sarah Finnegan
Homewood vs Paul Bryant 2016
Homewood's Antarius Mitchell (28) in a game between Homewood and Paul Bryant on October 28, 2016 at Waldrop Stadium in Homewood, Alabama.
The Homewood High School football saved possibly its best performance of the season for the last game of the regular season, a 41-14 thrashing of Paul Bryant last week.
The Patriots now need to build on that.
“It’s huge going into the playoffs with this win,” said Homewood head coach Ben Berguson following the game. “Hopefully, we’re peaking right now, at the right time.”
The offense got balanced production with the run and the pass, gaining 360 yards overall. The defense set up the first score, with an Antarius Mitchell interception, and dominated the Stampede after halftime. The Patriots’ special teams provided the game’s most dramatic moment with a blocked field goal on the final play of the first half that Mitchell returned 90 yards for a touchdown.
“It was huge,” Berguson said of the all-around contribution as his team improved to 5-5 overall. “We’ve struggled this year at different times offensively. We’ve kind of ridden on our defense. I was really proud of our offense tonight. We really exploded.”
The Patriots allowed just 43 second half yards to send the seniors out with a regular season home win.
“I’m really happy for our seniors, 5-5 sounds a lot better than 4-6,” Berguson said.
The focus now turns to Minor, the No. 1 seed from Class 6A, Region 6. The Tenacious Tigers began the season 9-0 in dominant fashion, with its closest win being an 18-point victory over Walker after the starters rested the majority of the first half as Walker accumulated a 30-point lead.
However, Minor did lose its first game of the year last week in a 52-42 shootout against Class 7A Spain Park. Time will determine what effect that loss has on one of the top 6A teams.
Minor and Homewood were region foes in 2014 and 2015, with Homewood winning both contests. The Patriots have won four of the five meetings between the two teams.
The game is set to be played at Minor High's Tony Lunceford Field at 7 p.m. Friday.
The winner will take on the winner between Albertville and Hartselle in the second round.
- Steve Irvine contributed to this story.
