The Oak Mountain Eagles made the short trip to Regions Park in Hoover on Friday night to play the Hoover Buccaneers. The Eagles were thinking upset, but Hoover would have none of it.

The Eagles’ defense forced Hoover to punt on their opening possession, giving the Eagle offense a chance to strike first. Quarterback Drew McNight led the Eagles down the field for a long drive, connecting on several long passes to his receivers. McKnight topped the drive off with a 4 yard touchdown run, giving Oak Mountain the early 7-0 lead.

After a touchback on the ensuing kickoff, Hoover quickly reminded the crowd that they were the favorites. Quarterback Simon Propst connected with Josh Magee on an 80-yard bomb for a touchdown, tying the game at 7-7 while using only 0:12 on the clock.

The Eagles’ next drive saw a tougher Hoover defense, forcing a punt.

The Bucs took over on their own 22 and wasted little time getting their offense into gear. Propst connected with one of his favorite targets of the night – a 27-yard pass to Magee.

On the next play, Bucs running back Phillip Pritchett ran around the corner, breaking several tackles on his way to a 51-yard touchdown run, giving the Bucs a 14-7 lead early in the second quarter.

Hoover would miss a 27-yard field goal on their next drive, but they took their 14-7 lead into the half.

Despite giving up an Eagle touchdown on their first drive, the Hoover defense had been stout most of the first half. They started the second half where they ended the first, forcing Oak Mountain to go 3-and-out on their first possession of the second half.

Hoover would trade punts again with Oak Mountain, but on their next drive the Bucs faked a punt, and Jack Winters took the direct snap all the way to the Eagle 4-yard line.

The Oak Mountain defense held strong, giving up only two yards on the next three plays and forced Hoover to settle for a 17 yard field goal.

Down 17-7 going into the fourth quarter, the Eagles had driven into Buc territory on the arm of McKnight and the able hands of tight end Davis Dudchock. But on third and inches, McKnight threw up a long pass down the sideline that was intercepted at the Hoover 11-yard line by Pat Miller.

Oak Mountain forced Hoover to go 3-and-out, but would turn the ball over on downs on the ensuing drive.

Hoover added a late touchdown, giving the Bucs a 24-7 lead that would eventually be the final score.