Photo: Southside’s Koal Garrett (right) attempts to elude Mountain Brook’s Henry Bell during the Spartans’ 45-7 victory in the first round of the Class 6A state playoffs on Friday, Nov. 8 at Barney Hood Stadium in Southside. (Chris McCarthy/Messenger)
By Chris McCarthy/Publisher
Southside’s inability to move the chains cost the Panthers’ dearly in the first round of the Class 6A state football playoffs on Friday, Nov. 8.
Out of Southside’s first eight offensive possessions against Mountain Brook, four resulted in punts, two ended on failed fourth down conversion attempts and one was cut short on an interception.
The Spartan offense had no such difficulties in gaining real estate, as Mountain Brook (8-3) scored points off their first seven offensive possessions on the way to a 45-7 victory at Barney Hood Stadium.
The Panthers lone score, a 3-yard touchdown run by Jordan Bryan, came with 18 seconds left in the game. The Mountain Brook defense held the Panthers to five first downs, including one in the first half.
Four touchdown passes from Cayden Hofbauer helped Mountain Brook race out to a 31-0 lead at halftime. Hofbauer tossed two more TD passes in the second half to stretch the advantage to 45 points before Bryan’s late score.
“We knew going in that Mountain Brook is a great football team and that we couldn’t make any mistakes if we were going to win, and unfortunately we did,” said Southside head coach Ben Stewart. “I thought our guys played their butts off, but few big plays here and there (by Mountain Brook) kind of opened the game up and got us out of what we normally do.”
The Spartans finished with 420 total yards while limiting Southside to 125, including only 37 on the ground.
Hofbauer was 11 for 16 in passing for 219 yards and six touchdowns, with three going to Archie Andrews, who ended up with six receptions for 125 yards. Stuart Andrews paced the Spartan rushing game with 85 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries. Lawson McKnight added 41 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries, all in the second half. Anderson Roberts was 6-for-6 in extra points and kicked a 28-yard field goal.
“We played complementary football tonight,” said Mountain Brook head coach Chris Yeager. “The defense gave the offense good field position, the offense took care of the ball and the special teams kept (Southside) bottled up. We knew coming into the game that we were playing a good football team, and it’s gratifying to have this type of success against a team like (Southside). It definitely felt like it was our best game of the year so far.”
For Southside (6-5), Bryan was 5 for 9 in passing for 61 yards and rushed six times for 35 yards. Koal Garrett gained 25 yards on nine attempts and caught three passes for 18 yards. Josh Peoples had four receptions for 16 yards, while Brian had two receptions for 45 yards.
Stewart acknowledged the contributed of the team’s 23 seniors.
“Those kids mean everything to me, and I owe these guys a lot. A lot of people would say that they wouldn’t rely on a bunch of 16, 17 and 18-year olds for job security, but for me and my career and my family, that’s what I do. These guys fought their butts off for me, and I’d go to war with them every single day.”
