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With his team trailing 14-13, Oak Mountain kicker Josh Renfro nailed a 43-yard field goal with 14 seconds left to lift the Eagles to a 16-14 rivalry win over Chelsea to end the 2024 season. (Photos by Alec Etheredge and Barry Clemmons)

By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Managing Editor

NORTH SHELBY – Stepping onto the field with 14 seconds remaining and his team down 14-13 to its biggest rival, Oak Mountain kicker Josh Renfro lined up a 43-yard field goal hoping to play hero with the weight of two missed kicks already on his shoulders.

“Obviously, missing those early kicks, it’s tough. You get in your head, but I just have to give the glory to God,” Renfro said of the moment. “Having the comfort to know that I’ve been there before and God can get me through this. My teammates were backing me up. All of them were on the sideline telling me, ‘You’ve got this bro, you’ve done this a million times.’ They said they had my back either way. Having that support helps a lot in that kind of situation.” 

The sophomore kicker for the Eagles shook off both misses like a veteran, took his strides toward the ball, reared back and booted the ball toward the uprights. Rotating end over end all 43 yards, the ball creeped over the crossbar in the dead center for a game-winning kick in a 16-14 win over the Chelsea Hornets to end the season. 

“There’s tons of thoughts going through your head,” Renfro said of the nerves before attempting the kick. “What bad can happen, what good can happen. Obviously, you have to focus on the good and focus on what you’ve learned and a little bit of luck too. You have to hope.”

After the kick sailed through the uprights, teammates swarmed him, and as soon as he got space, he let out a giant Tiger Woods-esque fist pump in celebration before teammates swarmed him again on the sideline.

“As a kicker, you always think about what you’re going to do if you make a game-winning field goal… I realized quickly, that goes out the window quickly because you just have so much emotion and you’re so pumped up,” Renfro said. “Once you see it go over the bar, you’re just going nuts and it’s awesome.”

The win capped off a wild back-and-forth game that saw Renfro miss a kick on Oak Mountain’s opening drive of the night from more than 30 yards and then again on a long PAT attempt after a go-ahead touchdown pass in the second half ended with an unsportsmanlike penalty.

Renfro, however, didn’t let the two misses nor two timeouts before the kick get in his head as the coaching staff and players all kept faith in him, while the school’s athletic director, Chris Blight, came up to him following the PAT miss and told him the game would come down to him making a game-winning kick.

“He missed the field goal earlier, pushed it right, then pulled the PAT. For a sophomore to come back after two misses and still have the guts to settle down and say, ‘Alright, I’m going to do it’ is amazing,” McComb said. “I looked at him and said, ‘It’s 43 yards, you good?’ He said, ‘Coach, I’m good.’ At that point, I was like, ‘Alright, let’s do it.’ I gave him a high five and asked if he was 100 percent and he said, ‘I’m 100 percent.’ We do that situation, game on the line, every single Wednesday practice and it paid off tonight.”

The game-winning drive started at the Eagles’ own 27-yard line with 2:29 to play and saw a big fourth-and-2 conversion from senior quarterback Will O’Dell with a 3-yard gain, while fellow senior Zach Fitzgerald made two clutch catches to put the team in field goal range.

It capped off a consistent performance from the offense that outscored Chelsea 16-7 in the second half after falling behind 7-0 early in the game.

“We continued to fight, continued to stay in the game, we backed each other and found a way to win in the end,” McComb said. “It’s important for two things, number one, to send the seniors off with a win, but two, for the program, to find a way to win in the final game of the season for that fourth win, it sets us into the offseason with the goal of improving and working to make the playoffs next year.”

In the opening half, each team touched the ball three times, as long drives kept the clock moving and limited scoring opportunities.

Both teams, however, had their share of success, but only one could capitalize in the early going.

After Chelsea was forced to punt on the opening drive of the game, Oak Mountain got the ball at its own 15 with 9:21 left in the opening quarter and put together a drive that lasted the majority of the quarter.

The Eagles looked to capitalize when a quick pass from O’Dell found Fitzgerald for a 30-plus yard touchdown pass, but a penalty brought it back.

They then missed a 34-yard field goal shortly after, failing to capitalize on a long drive.

Chelsea then got the ball back and followed the same route to success. With Chase Stracener touching the ball play-after-play, the Hornets drove from their own 20 all the way inside the Oak Mountain 15-yard line.

Facing third-and-12 from the 11-yard line, Miller Bauaman took advantage of an Oak Mountain defense that had seen so many runs.

The quarterback hit a fading CJ Durbin in the back right corner of the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown pass that gave Chelsea a 7-0 advantage following a more than nine minute drive.

With only four minutes left in the half and a combined three drives in the game to that point, the two then traded punts the rest of the half, leading to a 7-0 game at the half.

Oak Mountain, however, came out in the second half and continued the trend of long, tiring drives.

The Eagles put together a 17-play drive that lasted more than half of the third quarter, capitalizing when Marty Myricks took a direct snap around right end for a 4-yard touchdown run on third-and-goal.

Now tied, Oak Mountain had flipped the momentum and took advantage by quickly forcing a three-and-out to get the ball right back in the hands of the offense.

With Chelsea’s defense having just been on the field for half of the quarter, the Eagles didn’t need nearly as long to take the lead.

In just more than a minute of game time, O’Dell found Fitzgerald on a quick post over the middle for a 45-yard touchdown. A celebration penalty entering the end zone, however, pushed the PAT back to 35 yards.

After the miss from Renfro, the Hornets capitzlized on the ensuing drive.

After back-to-back runs from Stracener, a holding penalty set up first-and-20, but finally, after toting the ball more than 20 times in the game, the running back for the Hornets broke one, getting around the right end and breaking free for a 70-yard touchdown run.

A successful PAT put the Hornets in front 14-13 going to the final quarter.

The two teams traded punts over the next four possessions, but the Eagles’ defense did its job, forcing stops to keep earning chances.

That ultimately earned the Oak Mountain offense one final opportunity and the senior quarterback drove his team down the field, as O’Dell left the game in the hands of the future at the end to cement the win.

“Whether we made the playoffs this year or not, ultimately, our goal was about winning more games than we did last year, but also about getting respect,” McComb said. “We wanted to be in every game, and aside from one game, we’ve been in every game. I’m very proud of the program and a big step we took forward this season and being competitive in every game. That’s a big step from where we were last year.”

O’Dell finished the night 18-34 passing for 223 yards and a touchdown, while he added 68 rushing yards. Fitzgerald was the top target once again with 122 yards and a touchdown on nine receptions.

Myricks finished the night with 44 rushing yards and the team’s final touchdown of the season.

Chelsea was led by Stracener with a 153-yard rushing performance on 28 carries with one touchdown.

Oak Mountain finished the season 4-6 overall with the win.

Chelsea will now gear up for the playoffs, taking on top-ranked Saraland in the opening round.

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