Oak Mountain Eagles earn respect after showdown on Hoover's home field - al.com
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Chris Jones (37) and his Oak Mountain teammates celebrate a defensive stop against Hoover on Friday, September 9. (The Birmingham News/Tamika Moore)
Chris Jones was Oak Mountain's top defender against Hoover on Friday with 15 tackles. (The Birmingham News/ Solomon Crenshaw Jr.)
Oak Mountain's James Bice catches up to Hoover's Sam Gillikin at Hoover High School on Friday, Sept. 9. (The Birmingham News/Tamika Moore)
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Chris Jones counts history among his favorite subjects at Oak Mountain High School.
"You can go back thousands of years with the different cultures, languages and different people around the world," the senior linebacker said. "That's what I like."
Friday, Jones and his Eagle teammates appeared to be on the road to an upset for the ages. A week after falling to region rival Pelham, Oak Mountain went toe to toe with Hoover at Buccaneer Stadium and led 14-0 through three quarters.
When the final seconds ticked off, Hoover had a 21-14 victory. And Oak Mountain had earned a measure of respect.
"It would have been one of the biggest upsets in state history," coach Jeff Harris said. "I know that there's not anybody outside of our camp that gave us a chance of winning that ballgame."
But bolstered by a solid week of practice, Jones and his mates were indeed confident as they looked to sink the Bucs' ship.
"We already saw how other defenses played them," said Jones, a linebacker. "It was just so wrong. All the other defenses really didn't make adjustments like we did.
Our defense really studied real hard and we played it perfect. We shut them out the whole game, until the end of the third quarter. I really was really confident, actually."
Jones was Oak Mountain's top defender against Hoover Friday. He had 15 tackles, broke up three passes, caused a fumble and had five tackles for loss.
"He's very solid for us and a leader," Harris said of the 6-foot, 220-pounder. "He does an excellent job in the classroom. He's got a 3.65 GPA."
The Eagles were flying under the radar prior to the Hoover game with a 1-1 record, 0-1 in Class 6A Region 6. They may garner more notice after pushing the perennial championship contender.
"They left it all on the field," Harris said of his team. "The last few minutes of the ballgame were just a reflection of them just being so spent at that point and so exhausted from a valiant effort. We just didn't have what we needed to stop that final push."
The loss yielded an encouraged squad that will try to build on its strong showing during the remainder of this season.
"We've probably opened some eyes in the rest of our region that we're working hard to get to a competitive level," Harris said. "I think we may have been under most peoples' radar. I imagine now they probably see us as the team that could pose a threat on any given Friday night."
Jones feels he's a little under the radar personally.
He's earned attention from Troy, UAB, Arkansas State and Middle Tennessee State but no scholarship offers as yet.
"I'm just trying to go hard and prove everybody wrong," he said. "I'm also a player, just like my team – under the radar. I'm out there trying to prove my point really.
"Somebody's going to start paying attention to us soon," Jones said.
Join the conversation in the Class 6A football forum or email Crenshaw at screnshaw@bhamnews.com.
15 Sep, 2011--
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