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The Oak Mountain Eagles made a late comeback bid but fell short in a shootout with Prattville to kick off region play. (For the Reporter/Barry Clemmons)

By NIC YOUNG | Special to the Reporter

NORTH SHELBY – Despite a valiant comeback effort, the Oak Mountain Eagles could not stop the dynamic play of the Prattville Lions, falling 35-28 on Sept. 6 at Heardmont Park.

Looking to get the upper hand early, the Eagles opened up the game with a surprise onside kick. This worked in Oak Mountain’s favor as they recovered the kick after a Prattville muff.

Unfortunately for the Eagles, they couldn’t capitalize on this opportunity with their first drive resulting in a quick three-and-out.

Having just avoided disaster, the Lions took no time getting on the scoreboard with quarterback Gavin Rigdon hitting Kelvin Blue for a 77-yard touchdown pass to give them a 7-0 lead.

The Eagles responded with a sense of urgency on the following drive. The offense overcame a third-and-long off quarterback Will O’Dell’s 45-yard pass to Sean Ray to place the Eagles at the Lions 15-yard line.

This spark was all Oak Mountain needed as O’Dell would score from six yards out to tie the game at 7-7.

Riding on the back of running back Tristin Blackmon, the Lions drove from their 30-yard line to Eagle territory.  Blackmon amassed 65 yards on this drive, but on fourth-and-goal from the 2-yard line, the Eagles dug deep and forced the Lions to turn the ball over on downs.

Tasked with beginning their offensive drive on the four-yard line, the Eagles could not generate offense, punting after a brief three-play drive.

The Eagle defense held strong the following series. Despite the Lions starting in plus territory at the Oak Mountain 35-yard line, the Eagles quickly took the ball back after Prattville missed a 50-yard field goal.

Following another brief offensive series from the Eagles, the Lions quickly made their way into the end zone, piecing together a seven-play drive that was capped off by a 9-yard touchdown pass from Rigdon to Blue once again to make the score 14-7 early in the second quarter.

Later, with just over a minute left in the half, Rigdon connected with receiver Brodie Bowman on for a 78-yard touchdown on the second play of the drive to up their lead. A botched PAT attempt kept the score at 20-7 to round out the first half of play.

In need of a score, Oak Mountain wasted no time entering the second half. Beginning at their own 20-yard line, the Eagles marched down the field in four plays, finishing things off with a 41-yard touchdown run by O’Dell to make the game’s score 20-14.

On the following kickoff, the Eagles resorted to a similar strategy as the game’s opening play, this time off a sky kick. Prattville muffed the ball again to give Oak Mountain the ball on the Lions 32-yard line.

The Eagles did not hesitate to take advantage of this opportunity, and running back Marty Myricks’ 2-yard touchdown run helped the Eagles gain their first lead of the night, 21-20.

On their first offensive drive of the second half, Prattville seemingly had little trouble moving the ball. The Lions moved into Oak Mountain territory thanks to a pass from Rigdon to receiver Christian Alexander to bring them all the way to the Eagle 25-yard line.

Blackmon would find the endzone off a 17-yard run a few plays later to help the Lions retake the lead 27-21.

Early in the fourth quarter, Prattville’s drive nearly stalled with an incompletion on fourth down, but Oak Mountain suffered the first of four penalties in the drive to keep it alive.

Prattville gained momentum off those fouls and put the ball in the endzone once again off a Blackmon run. A successful two-point attempt gave the Lions a 35-21 lead.

The Eagles would not go down with a fight as O’Dell and Myricks combined for 54 yards on the ensuing drive to bring the Eagles to Prattville’s 9-yard line.

A 4-yard touchdown pass from O’Dell to Walker Shook gave the Eagles a much-needed score to cut the Lions’ lead, 35-28 with 5:11 left in the game.

The Eagles then forced a three-and-out and took over on their own 25-yard line with the game on the line.

The Eagles kicked things off with a 30-yard pass from O’Dell to Shook, but unfortunately for them, this would be the peak of their drive. A sack put them behind the chains and they were never able to recover before turning the ball over on downs for Prattville to drain the clock.

O’Dell finished the night with 249 passing yards and 115 passing yards to go along with one passing and two rushing touchdowns.

Ray led all receivers in yardage with 86 yards off four receptions. Fitzgerald had one reception for 44 yards, Myricks caught two passes for 42 yards and 10 carries for 27 yards and a touchdown and Shook had two receptions for 34 yards and a touchdown.

Colton Moore led the defense with six total tackles, including five solo tackles. Cole Kelly and Clay Mills each had four solo tackles and Robert Yoder and Joey Lewis secured three solo tackles apiece.

The Eagles fall to 2-1 on the season and will travel to face the Thompson Warriors next week on Sept. 13.

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