Photo: Hokes Bluff’s Colten Shields sacks Southside quarterback Ethan Sarratt during the Eagles’ 21-13 victory in high school football on Thursday, Aug. 29. (Courtesy of Alex Chaney)
By Chris McCarthy, Publisher/Editor
For the first time in several years, the Hokes Bluff High football team got the better of its crosstown rival.
Helped by a ball-control strategy that moved the chains and kept the Southside offense on the sideline for much of the second half, the Eagles (1-0) posted a 21-13 victory in high school football at Mike Robertson Field on Thursday, Aug. 29.
It was Hokes Bluff’’s first win over the Panthers since 2019, improving the Eagles’ record to 40-32-3 in the 75-year old series.
Not counting the final 21 seconds of the game, Southside (0-2) had three possessions after halftime, only one of which resulted in points. Trailing 14-7 midway through the fourth quarter, the Panthers pulled within a point on Jevonte Strong’s 5-yard touchdown run. But Hokes Bluff stopped the ensuing two-point conversion attempt, keeping the score at 14-13 with 6:02 left in regulation.
Taking over at their own 32-yard line, the Eagles made it to midfield before a holding penalty on fourth down forced Hokes Bluff to punt. Brayden Howard came through with a beauty that the Eagles downed at the Panther 7.
A 14-yard pass completion from Ethan Surratt to Deegan Garrett provided Southside with some breathing room. The Panthers soon faced a fourth-down and 3 from its own 24, but Sarratt again hooked up with Garrett, this time for 27 yards to the Eagle 30.
That was as far as Southside got, as Drew McCarver picked off a pass at the Hokes Bluff 40 and raced into the end zone for the score. Leon Chen nailed the PAT for a 21-13 lead with 27.3 on the clock.
Following a pair of pass incompletions and a delay of game penalty, Sarratt passed to Jamel Boyd for 20 yards as the game clock expired and the Eagle fans spilled onto the field to celebrate.
“I just told our kids that it was evident that they wanted to win this game,” said Hokes Bluff head coach Mike Robertson. “We were able to play with the lead for most of the game, so we were able to put a few drives together that took off a lot of time on the clock. [Southside] kicked us pretty good the last couples of years, but we thought that we could play with them tonight, and we found a way to win.”
For Hokes Bluff, quarterback Bryce Whitaker was 14-for-9 in passing for 164 yards and a touchdown. He also ran 10 times for 50 yards.
“Southside might be a little more talented than us, but we talked all week about the way we could win this game would be about effort and not taking any plays off, and I think we did that tonight,” said Whitaker.
Anderson Morgan led the Eagles in receiving with five receptions for 83 yards. Blain Barron gained 57 yards on 14 rushing attempts.
For Southside, Sarratt completed 14 of 22 passes for 175 yards. Seven of those completions went to Deegan Garrett for 82 yards. Boyd paced the Panther ground game with 86 yards on 11 carries.
The teams combined for 24 penalties for 200 yards.
Southside started out the game on a good note, taking the opening kickoff 74 yards in 11 plays to the Eagles 1-yard line, where Koal Garrett took it in for the touchdown. Cooper Horton converted the PAT for a 7-0 lead at 6:19 of the first quarter.
The Panthers’ advantage was short-lived. On the next possession, a 45-yard pass completion from Whitaker to Morgan placed Hokes Bluff at the Southside 32. Two plays later, Whitaker and Morgan connected for a 28-yard touchdown, with Chen’s extra point tying the game at 7-7.
After forcing a punt on the next Southside drive, the Eagles put together the longest possession of the game – a 15-play, 80-yard marathon that chewed up more than 10 minutes of clock time and resulted in Whitaker’s 5-yard touchdown for a 14-7 lead with 2:33 left in the second quarter.
The first half wound down in exciting fashion with four turnovers in the space of a minute and 33 seconds.
With Southside at its own 40-yard line, Hokes Bluff’s Blake Green intercepted a pass at the Eagle 41. Two plays and 18 yards later, Silas Osborne responded in kind for the Panthers with less than a minute to go in the half. That series lasted one play after the Eagles’ Granger Roland recovered a fumble at the Southside 36.
It looked as if Hokes Bluff would add to its lead in the closing seconds of the half, but the Eagles fumbled the ball away at the Panther 1-yard line, keeping the score at 14-7.
Although Hokes Bluff did not come away with points on the opening possession of the second half after coming up short on a fake field goal attempt, the 12-play, 75-yard drive drained off more than half of the third quarter. The Panthers came up empty on the ensuing series but eventually narrowed the gap to 14-13 on Strong’s touchdown run.
“The first game’s always a tough one with everybody super-excited, but our players showed that they really wanted to win,” said Robertson. “This is a great rivalry and the kids enjoy playing one another. We’ll try to correct some mistakes and get ready for next week.”
Both teams kick off region play next week. Hokes Bluff travels to Etowah in a Class 4A Region 6 contest, while Southside visits Lee-Huntsville in a Class 6A Region 8 matchup.