By Daniel Schmidt
AUBURN – Last year, Auburn High School dominated Vestavia Hills High School at Duck Samford Stadium behind big plays and a strong defensive effort en route to a 52-17 victory.
This time it was the revenge-minded Rebels (2-0) who delivered a crushing defeat after riding a dominant first half to a 42-14 victory over the Tigers (1-1). After the loss, AHS must now regroup and refocus its attention on crosstown rival Opelika High School in the first 7A Region 2 game of the season.
Despite the tough result, there were some bright spots head coach Keith Etheredge and his staff can build on entering region play. Antonio Welch recorded 95 receiving yards and a 66-yard touchdown on eight receptions, Jayden Huff scored his first TD in an AHS uniform and Greg Williams recorded six solo tackles.
The Tigers quickly found themselves in a hole after VHHS running back Noah Boylan found the endzone with a 1-yard run with 10:32 left in the first quarter.
Down by seven, AHS found its situation go from bad to worse after a high snap on third down ultimately gave the Rebels the ball on the Tigers’ 49 yard line.
Several plays later, VHHS extended its lead to 14 after Grayson Harper received a shovel pass and cut through the AHS defense virtually untouched for a 33-yard TD, which put the Rebels up 14-0 with 8:15 left in the first quarter.
Following two drives where neither team was able to move the ball, disaster struck again for the Tigers after Parker Simpson intercepted Cason Myers’ pass and returned it to the AHS 9 yard line.
That set up a short Charlie Taffe TD run two plays later and gave the Rebels a 21-0 lead with 1:06 left in the first quarter, indicating a rout was in the cards.
From there, it did not take long for VHHS to create a daunting lead after the Rebels’ swarming defense and a long pass from Price Lamaster to Harper led to a 2-yard TD run by Carson Purdy.
Now down 28-0 with 8:06 left in the first half, desperation started setting in for the Tigers, and a turnover on downs at the VHHS 47 yard line gave the Rebels a relatively short field to work with.
A relentlessly efficient VHHS offense took advantage of that field position, and Purdy scored his second touchdown of the game with an eight-yard run off of right tackle. That gave the Rebels a 35-0 lead with 3:26 left in the first half.
After the teams traded turnovers, including a fumble recovery by AHS’ Carter Chambley, following VHHS’ fifth touchdown, AHS finally got on the board. That came in the form of a powerful 5-yard run from Huff and cut the Rebels’ lead to 35-7 with 1:34 left before halftime.
After starting the second half with the ball, the Tigers quickly built on their offensive success late in the first half with an incredible 66-yard pass from Myers to Welch following a scramble that cut the Rebels’ lead to 21 points. However, that would be the last bit of good news for AHS for the rest of the game.
The scoring concluded after Taffe recorded his second touchdown of the game for VHHS with a slashing 22-yard read option keep with 9:50 left in the game.
What’s Next
The Tigers will travel to Bulldog Stadium to play Opelika High School on Thursday, Sept. 4, at 7 p.m. OHS is 2-0 and coming off a 36-35 overtime victory over Callaway (Ga.) High School. So far, the Bulldogs have scored 30.5 points per game while allowing 27.5 points per game.
