The Oak Mountain Eagles jumped out to a 21-0 lead Friday night against Pelham and held off a second-half rally led by Panthers quarterback Josh Thomason to win 35-14.

The highly touted match-up between Pelham and Oak Mountain saw two teams with 4-1 records trying to keep pace in the high-powered Region 6.

The Eagles’ Richie Fordham led Oak Mountain offensively, rushing for three touchdowns and passing for another.

&uot;Richie was real tough for us,&uot; Eagles’ head coach Jerry Hood said. &uot;He provided a big spark for us tonight.&uot;

Fordham kicked the scoring off for the Eagles in the second quarter with a four-yard run. Eagles running back Nick Anderson scored minutes later on a seven-yard run. Fordham finished off Oak Mountain’s first half dominance with a 50-yard touchdown pass to John Cubelic.

The start to the second half had the Eagles picking up right where they left off. Fordham ran for his second score on the ground from 12 yards out.

The Panthers, however, were not about to go quietly. On the ensuing Pelham drive, Thomason led his squad down the field using a no-huddle offense. The Panthers finally reached the end zone on a one-yard run by Wes Holland.

A defensive stop by the Panthers gave Pelham the ball again, and Thomason once again marched his squad down the field. The Panther’s drive was halted at Oak Mountain’s one-foot line, however, with Pelham turning the ball over on downs.

&uot;That was a big stop for us,&uot; Hood said. &uot;If they score there, we have a whole different ballgame.&uot;

Pelham receiver Andrew Davis brought the Panthers within two scores of the Eagles later in the game on a 50-yard touchdown catch from Thomason, but it proved too little, too late.

Fordham capped off the Eagles’ scoring and cemented his team’s win on a fake field goal bootleg that he ran for 23 yards and a score. Fordham finished the game completing 12-of-18 passes for 182 yards and one touchdown.

&uot;I thought our whole team played really well,&uot; Hood said. I told them at halftime that this is a good Pelham team and they could expect them to come out hard in the second half.&uot;

Thomason completed 22-of-45 passes for 238 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

The loss dropped Pelham to 4-2 overall and 1-2 in Region 6, while the Eagles moved to 5-1 overall and 3-1 in Region 6.

Pelham stays at home this week as they prepare to host

rival Thompson.

Oak Mountain hosts Sparkman at Heardmont Park Friday night.

Hood said his team needs to be careful as they take on the Senators, who handed Spain Park a homecoming loss in week five.

&uot;We have to continue to play disciplined football for four quarters,&uot; he said