Mountain Brook Coach Chris Yeager and his talented group of Spartans head to East Alabama to play the Oxford Yellowjackets in the third round of the Class 6A playoffs. The Spartans (12-0) are ranked number one in the state while Oxford is 11-1 and loaded with college talent.
Coach Yeager calls this “a great high school football atmosphere.” Oxford won the state in Class 5A in 1988, 1999 and 1993. They have done well in Class 6A as they’ve been in and out of the class in years. Fourth year coach John Grass took Spain Park to the state championship game as head man in 2007 and has kept the physicality of the Oxford program in place while adding the playmaking ability in space for the offense.
“The biggest thing is they have a balanced offensive attack,” Yeager said. “They have a sophomore running back who’s run for 1,000 yards in the last five games. He’s an unbelievable athlete.”
Racean Thomas is 6’3″. No weight was given on their website. He ran for 301 yards against Spain Park two weeks ago in the first round of the playoffs. The Yellowjackets also are excellent at quarterback and receiver. Yeager calls quarterback Jackson Stephens “extremely efficient.” Stephens was 11-of-17 for 203 yards and three touchdowns in an Oxford 55-19 victory over Northridge of Tuscaloosa last Friday. Trae Elston is the team’s top receiver. He has several college offers. Their best defensive back is Monte Bass,a 5’8″, 170 cornerback, who reminds Yeager of Marlon Humphrey at Hoover, considered the top cornerback in the state. Oxford has two defensive ends, Trent Simpson (6’5″, 230) and Ulrich Jones (6’6″, 245), who are highly disruptive and have to be accounted for.
“Those two are just good at making plays from the backside,” Yeager said. Both are juniors and should have many offers before the year is over.
The linebacking corps lost Kwon Alexander, the Alabama commit, to an injury a while back, so the leader is sophomore Weston Caldwell (5’9″, no weight given). Yeager calls Caldwell, “a good playmaker.”
The thing that stands out to Yeager the most is “this is the most physical offensive line we’ve played all year.”
Michael Flint (6’4″, 295) and Calvin Baker (6’3″, 270) are the line’s leaders. Flint has several FBS offers and Yeager calls him ” a big time player.”
Yeager says the Spartans offensive line led by center Walker Byrd (5’10”, 225) and tackle Paul Davis (6’5″, 280), will have to give QB Edward Aldag time to throw the ball. Yeager calls Byrd, “the most savy lineman I’ve ever coached.” Davis has offers from South Alabama, UAB, Southern Miss and others, but he wants to play at Vanderbilt. That offer may come.
So it’s up to the line and the playmakers to get this done for the Spartans. Mark Rector, Gavin Golsan and Coates Doss will have to step up like they always do and make plays up the middle, in Rector’s case, and on the perimeter in Golsan, Rector and Doss’s case. Aldag has played well for 11 of 12 games this year. He may not have been his best last week, but he’s been stellar all year and deserves offers from FBS programs.
The defense will be tested. Senior linebacker Hatton Smith will have to show his leadership getting the defense to play at a high level to contain the explosive Yellowjackets’ offense.
Yeager likens the atmosphere at Oxford to Valdosta, Ga, where football is life. It’s the same way in Oxford. Expect 7-8,000 Oxford fans tonight and two or three thousand Mountain Brook fans.
Yeager says the key to victory is winning the turnover battle. Mountain Brook has won the turnover battle in 11 of 12 games this season by two turnovers in those 11 games. If the Spartans can do that, look for them to move on to round four.
Spartans 24, Oxford 21
(Chris Yeager leads his Spartans team into a hostile environment to try to move on to the semifinals of the playoffs.)