It doesn’t get any bigger than this as No.4 Mountain Brook hosts No.2 Hoover tonight at Spartan Stadium at 7. This is the game of this century in Alabama high school football. Chris Yeager’s Mountain Brook Spartans and Josh Niblett’s Hoover Bucs have steamrolled through the competition this year and while Daphne and Clay Chalkville have been just as good, one of these two teams have a good shot at being at the Super Six in December in Tuscaloosa. They have to go through each other and possibly Clay in the playoffs. This is for the region crown and will give us a good gauge of who, at least, is one of the best teams if not the best team in the state. Ten to 12,000 are expected to attend this colossal showdown. The Hoover fans want to get there at 5:15 as do the Mountain Brook fans. This will be a classic, no doubt, with many of the best players this state has to offer.
I caught up with Mountain Brook Coach Chris Yeager and got his thoughts on the game. Coach Yeager is not downplaying the importance of this game. He embraces it as do his players. Josh Niblett feels the same way. Hoover has been the standard bearers for football in Alabama this century. Mountain Brook has its work cut out. But so do the Bucs. This Mountain Brook team could be their best in Chris Yeager’s six years at the helm and they’ve had some very good football teams.Here’s my conversation with Coach Yeager:
DW: Coach, I know there is major anticipation heading into this game. How has your practice gone this week?
CY: “It’s been good. When you have a chance to play a game like this you kind of have a little more spring in your step. That’s the way it’s been this week.”
DW: How are the kids feeling about this week?
CY: “They’ve been really excited. A game like this here, we’ve talked about it a lot. When you’re a little boy playing touch football in your backyard you can just imagine playing in a game like this. In our region, there are six teams that don’t get to play in this. We consider ourselves real blessed to play in this game. And on the other end of this thing, it’s going to be a game you remember the rest of your life. Nobody wants to play in a game where nobody is going to attend. So we’re really excited about this opportunity.
DW: Coach, what are your concerns about Hoover?
CY: “They lost their quarterback, Sam Gilliken (broken collar bone), and the new quarterback actually compliments the team more. Sam was the guy who sort of carried everything on his shoulders. He carried the ball and threw the ball, so there was one guy and you could sort of focus on him. He was the focal point for the defense. Now you have a guy (Connor Short, 6’0″, 184) whose forte is throwing the ball. He gets the ball out of his hands and now your focal point is 11 guys. They’re spreading the ball around more. The last game they had six different receivers catch passes. Their running back (Caleb Sims, 5’10”, 180) ran for 80 yards . They have balance now and it’s harder to defend. They have a fast defense that does an awesome job. They have great corners ( Nigel Cribbs, 5’11”, 175 and Marlon Humphrey, 6’1″, 172). Whoever they’re guarding, you’re playing with nine offensive players now. That presents problems . Humphrey is a sophomore and he may be the best corner in the state. He’s a different kind of player. He can fly. He’s one of the best track runners in the state. Cribbs and Humphrey are dominant players.”
DW: So what are the keys to victory?
CY:”We can’t turn the ball over and we can’t have penalties. We feel like if we do those two things and we put a hat on hat and we’re in the right place on defense and withstand the Hoover surge. That’s what Hoover does, they come at you in waves. We know there will be one coming. We’re going to have to be mature and handle the highs and lows of the game. If we do those things we have a chance to win. That being said, I feel good about our kids being able to do that.”
DW: Coach, your quarterback, Edward Aldag, has been tremendous. Talk about what he brings to the table.
CY: “Last year, Edward threw for 26 touchdowns, 2,600 yards and only four interceptions. This year, he’s had the same kind of year (13 touchdowns, 1,400 yards and three ints-the Spartans run the ball more this year with outstanding tailback Mark Rector). He’s an unbelievable competitor. He has may have one of the best football IQ’s I’ve ever seen under center. He’s a Drew Brees kind of guy (Edward is six feet, 165). He elevates the play of everybody around him. It’s a lot of fun to watch him play.”
DW: Is he being courted by colleges?
CY:”There is a lot of interest. He threw 26 touchdown passes last year and I believe 14 or 15 of them were for 50 yards or more. The question these college recruiters have is about the intermediate ball. If he can throw the deep ball like that, he can throw the intermediate passes. If he isn’t taken by a Division One school, it would be the biggest miss in high school football history. Everybody talks about the Drew Brees factor based on his performance. He could probably have some opportunities and if there were just two of them, they could be good offers. “
DW: Coach, some of your other key players on offense like Mark Rector (running back, 5’10, 155), Coates Doss (tight end, 6’3″, 175) and Gavin Golsan (wide receiver, 5’8″, 140) gives you a lot of versatility on offense don’t they?
CY: “All those guys are productive players. We feel like Reagan Alexander (tight end, 6’3″, 190) and Patrick Sullivan (wide receiver, 5’9″, 150) are excellent players, too.We try to have balance. A lot of our guys are productive and efficient.”
DW: Coach, how big is the home field advantage?
CY: “It’s awesome. We’ve played four out of the last five times at the Met. The lights at the Met are tough because some of them are in the end zone. And their turf is grass and we have artificial turf here. There should be 10,000 fans at the game maybe more. This game is going to be unbelievable. We played them twice at their place last year and twice in ’08 there. We played one and one in 2009. This game would mean a lot to us. We don’t worry about the history of the matchup (the Spartans haven’t won since 1984)–it means a lot more to the coaches as far as the history goes. For the kids it’s only the now that matters. They have a sophomore group of boys at their school that is bigger than our whole school. Their budget is five times ours, but that doesn’t matter right now. We’re excited to get this opportunity.”
Mountain Brook’s key defensive players are linebacker Hatton Smith (5’10, 165), noseguard Harry Reich (5’11, 215), linebacker Reeves Favrot (5’9″,160), linebacker Zach Gillen (5’11”, 150) and linebacker Win Cowden (5’11, 180). The Spartans run five linebacker sets.
Should be terrific. If you’re going, you should probably leave your work or house at 4:45 or five if you can get away at that time. This really is the game of the century. Can’t wait.
(Chris Yeager is preparing his kids for the game of their lives.)