By Stephen Spiewak
MaxPreps.com
For most of the decade, the Hoover Buccaneers were the face of Alabama high school football, appearing in state title games as often as they appeared on MTV’s "Two-A-Days" reality show. In 2006 however, the Bucs stumbled and were knocked off their perch as the state’s premier team.
Enter the Prattville Lions.
Prattville defeated Hoover in 2006 and held off Spain Park last season to win its second straight Class 6A state title last year. The Lions have lost just once in two years, dropping their season opener in Cincinnati at the hands of St. Xavier (Ohio).
There’s a lot on the line for both teams in Saturday afternoon’s clash of Yellowhammer State titans. A win for Prattville would mean a third straight state title and achieve a level of dominance equaled only by the Hoover Bucs between 2002-2005, when coach Rush Propst’s squad won four straight titles.
For Hoover, knocking off the Lions would signal a return two glory. Two years without a state title is a drop in the bucket for most programs, but likely feels like an eternity for Bucs fans, who are so passionate that they nearly outdrew Colerain (Ohio) fans when the two teams met last season in a game played in Cincinnati.
“A third consecutive state title for Prattville would definitely put Prattville on the level that Hoover was,” said Stacy Mills, producer for WIQR, the Prattville Lions radio network. “Hoover still has that name recognition. But if Prattville can take them this weekend, it would go a long way to supplanting their position as the top dog in the state.”
While it may seem like this game was destined to be, little is further from the truth. Both teams feature first-year coaches, and both teams got off to less than glamorous starts.
For the Lions, head coach Bill Clark’s departure left a void that assistant coach Jamey DuBose stepped up to fill. Prattville fans faced some uncertainty, which was exacerbated when Prattville dropped its spring game to Huntsville.
Fears nearly gave way to panic when the Lions lost at the Burger King Kirk Herbstreit Varsity Football Series to open their year. Though the defense was fierce, their offense sputtered, and the Lions lost to St. Xavier 15-10.
Helping to turn around the team’s season was junior quarterback Sam Gibson, who has thrown for over 1,000 yards and rushed for over 500. By all accounts he has improved leaps and bounds since that game.
“His growth since the St. X game…it’s been a light year’s difference,” Mills said.
After all the turmoil that surrounded Rush Propst as his tenure at Hoover came to a close, Josh Niblett assumed the reins for the Bucs, providing a fresh, youthful face that stood for a restored sense of optimism.
Few thought Hoover could recover so quickly from a tumultuous season that ended with in the semifinals at the hands of Vestavia Hills, but featured several other losses by forfeit during the season, due to use of an ineligible player.
Like Prattville, Hoover suffered an unfamiliar early season loss to start 2008, getting routed by Georgia’s Camden County 44-16.
Since then the Bucs have rattled off 11 straight victories, including a 28-7 semifinal victory over the same Huntsville team that proved its spring performance aganst Prattville was no fluke by posting a 10-4 record.
Senior John Propst, Rush’s nephew, has excelled at quarterback for the Bucs, while younger brother John, a junior, has been the team’s leader on defense from the linebacker position.
Simon is complemented at quarterback by a trio of capable rushers. Phillip Pritchett, Rueben Carson, and sophomore Jimmy Cain, which gives Hoover a multi-dimensional attack.
“That’s something Prattville hasn’t faced this year,” Mills said. “They’ve faced either an all running or all passing team. It’ll be a look they haven’t seen all year.”
Hoover hopes its balanced offense will help it outlast the Lions to capture its sixth title in nine years.
“Nobody expected us to be here,” John Simon told The Birmingham News. “Hopefully [we] will be able to cap it off with a big win.”
