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Photo by James Nicholas
Mountain Brook's offensive line opens wide gap for running backs, Stuart Andrews (10) during a game against Parker High School on Friday, August 30th, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook AL. Photo by James Nicholas
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Photo by James Nicholas
Mountain Brook's band performs before a game against Parker High School on Friday, August 30th, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook AL. Photo by James Nicholas
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Photo by James Nicholas
Mountain Brook's band performs before a game against Parker High School on Friday, August 30th, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook AL. Photo by James Nicholas
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Photo by James Nicholas
Mountain Brook's band performs before a game against Parker High School on Friday, August 30th, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook AL. Photo by James Nicholas
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Photo by James Nicholas
Mountain Brook team captains wide receiver, Sam Smith (22), wide receiver, Archie Andrews (19., tight end Jack Walthallbefore (88) and linebacker, Hampton, King (38) during the coin toss at a game against Parker High School on Friday, August 30th, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook AL. Photo by James Nicholas
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Photo by James Nicholas
Mountain Brook team captains wide receiver, Sam Smith (22), wide receiver, Archie Andrews (19., tight end Jack Walthallbefore (88) and linebacker, Hampton, King (38) during the coin toss at a game against Parker High School on Friday, August 30th, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook AL. Photo by James Nicholas
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Photo by James Nicholas
Mountain Brook players run onto the field before a game against Parker High School on Friday, August 30th, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook AL. Photo by James Nicholas
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Photo by James Nicholas
Mountain Brook players on the sideline, reviewing the last series during a game against Parker High School on Friday, August 30th, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook AL. Photo by James Nicholas
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Photo by James Nicholas
Mountain Brook Head coach, Chris Yeager at a game against Parker High School on Friday, August 30th, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook AL. Photo by James Nicholas
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Photo by James Nicholas
Mountain Brook's student section was full of exciting cheering students during a game against Parker High School on Friday, August 30th, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook AL. Photo by James Nicholas
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Photo by James Nicholas
Mountain Brook dance team members during a game against Parker High School on Friday, August 30th, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook AL. Photo by James Nicholas
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Photo by James Nicholas
Mountain Brook band members during a game against Parker High School on Friday, August 30th, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook AL. Photo by James Nicholas
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Photo by James Nicholas
A Mountain Brook pep squad member celebrates after a mountain brook touchdown during a game against Parker High School on Friday, August 30th, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook AL. Photo by James Nicholas
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Photo by James Nicholas
Mountain Brook wide receiver Tray Vinson (15) dives to try to catch the pass during a game against Parker High School on Friday, August 30th, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook AL. Photo by James Nicholas
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Photo by James Nicholas
A Mountain Brook cheerleader tumbles through the air, while performing a backflip during a game against Parker High School on Friday, August 30th, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook AL. Photo by James Nicholas
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Photo by James Nicholas
Mountain Brook cheerleaders practice, tumbling during a game against Parker High School on Friday, August 30th, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook AL. Photo by James Nicholas
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Photo by James Nicholas
Mountain Brook cheerleaders practice, tumbling during a game against Parker High School on Friday, August 30th, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook AL. Photo by James Nicholas
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Photo by James Nicholas
Mountain Brook defensive lineman Meagher Teague (75) tackles the Parker running back during a game against Parker High School on Friday, August 30th, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook AL. Photo by James Nicholas
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Photo by James Nicholas
Mountain Brook, quarterback Cayden Hofbauer (11) buys more time by leaving the pocket, looking down field for an open receiver during a game against Parker High School on Friday, August 30th, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook AL. Photo by James Nicholas
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Photo by James Nicholas
Parker running back Chancellor Sparks (22) dives over, and is tackled by multiple Mountain Brook defenders during a game against Parker High School on Friday, August 30th, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook AL. Photo by James Nicholas
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Photo by James Nicholas
Mountain Brook, running back Stuart Andrews (10) is tripped up and dives for extra yardage before he's tackled during a game against Parker High School on Friday, August 30th, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook AL. Photo by James Nicholas
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Photo by James Nicholas
Mountain Brook, quarterback Cayden Hofbauer (11) options to keep the ball and head towards the first down marker during a game against Parker High School on Friday, August 30th, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook AL. Photo by James Nicholas
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Photo by James Nicholas
Mountain Brook's , defense is able to read and anticipate Parkers running call resulting in a loss of yards tackle during a game against Parker High School on Friday, August 30th, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook AL. Photo by James Nicholas
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Photo by James Nicholas
Mountain Brook, linebacker Hampton king (12) is able to anticipate Parkers play call and positions himself to get a loss of yards tackle during a game against Parker High School on Friday, August 30th, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook AL. Photo by James Nicholas
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Photo by James Nicholas
Mountain Brook, linebacker Hampton king (12) is able to anticipate Parkers play call and positions himself to get a loss of yards tackle during a game against Parker High School on Friday, August 30th, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook AL. Photo by James Nicholas
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Photo by James Nicholas
Mountain Brook's defense utilized group tackling to great effect, to slow Parkers running game during a game against Parker High School on Friday, August 30th, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook AL. Photo by James Nicholas
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Photo by James Nicholas
A Birdseye view of Spartan Stadium during a game against Parker High School on Friday, August 30th, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook AL. Photo by James Nicholas
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Photo by James Nicholas
A Birdseye view of Spartan Stadium during a game against Parker High School on Friday, August 30th, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook AL. Photo by James Nicholas
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Photo by James Nicholas
Mountain Brook's defense utilized group tackling to great effect, to slow Parkers running game during a game against Parker High School on Friday, August 30th, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook AL. Photo by James Nicholas
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Photo by James Nicholas
Parker defensive back Na’eem Offord (1) is not able to sac Mountain Brook, quarterback Cayden Hofbauer (11), as he leaps for the first down during a game against Parker High School on Friday, August 30th, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook AL. Photo by James Nicholas
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Photo by James Nicholas
Mountain Brook team captains wide receiver, Sam Smith (22), wide receiver, Archie Andrews (19., tight end Jack Walthallbefore (88) and linebacker, Hampton, King (38) during the coin toss at a game against Parker High School on Friday, August 30th, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook AL. Photo by James Nicholas
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Photo by James Nicholas
Mountain Brook's band performs before a game against Parker High School on Friday, August 30th, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook AL. Photo by James Nicholas
MOUNTAIN BROOK -- Lessons are often learned the hard way. On Friday night, with two of the best teams in Class 6A on the field, No. 7 Mountain Brook learned a hard lesson as a touchdown lead at halftime melted away in what became a 30-16 victory for No. 2 ranked Parker in a non-region game.
The Thundering Herd outscored Mountain Brook by 21 points in the second half.
“The thing that I told (the team) is there are winners and there are learners,” said Mountain Brook head coach Chris Yeager. “You take this game and handle it the right way, we’re a winner. We’re not going to be the same team in November that we are tonight. We’ve got a choice. Do we trend upward and do we ascend or do we fail to use the great lessons from this game? We played a great team with great talent. I was proud our guys fought their guts out. You can take a fighting spirit and build on that and really come out with something special.”
Mountain Brook stood toe-to-toe with the Thundering Herd (2-0) for the first 24 minutes. Hampton King and Miller Lee led a defensive effort in the first half that kept Parker bottled up for the most part. Because of that, Mountain Brook was able to build a 13-0 lead early in the second quarter. It was Lee setting up the initial touchdown when Parker quarterback Dylan Reese had the ball slipped out of his hands while trying to throw deep in his own territory. Lee grabbed the ball at the 10-yard line and carried it down to the 4-yard line before being tackled. Running back Stuart Andrews burst into the end zone on the next play to give the Spartans the 7-0 lead.
The Spartans built on the advantage on their next possession when they turned a 4th-and-10 situation into a 31-yard pass from Cayden Hofbauer to a wide-open Andrews. But Parker did what great teams do, they answered the challenge. Running back Terence Gaines scored on a 26-yard run to slice the deficit to 13-7 and a bad Mountain Brook snap in punt formation on the next series led to a safety. Mountain Brook was able to build the advantage back to a touchdown on the final play of the first half with a 20-yard field goal by Anderson Roberts.
Parker head coach Frank Warren said his team was humbled in the first half and his halftime message centered around stepping up with a positive response. The Thundering Herd did exactly that, wearing the Spartans down after halftime. Parker rushed for 183 yards after halftime with Reese, Gaines and Chancellor Sparks all rushing for touchdowns.
“The thing we needed to do that we didn’t do was we needed some sustained drives to keep our defense off the field,” Yeager said. “The defense got wore down just a little bit. Their offense stayed on the field a lot in the second half. Teams that do that usually win.”
Yeager said that five-star recruit Na’eem Offord also played big role in the problems for Mountain Brook after halftime.
“Putting Offord at running back, he’s a difference maker,” Yeager said. “I tell you what he reminds me of is he reminds me of Ryan Williams, who we played against at Saraland. The thing is we needed to see that. A few years ago, we didn’t see that until we got in the state championship game against Saraland and it sort of shocked our kids. That’s why I wanted to play these guys.”
Mountain Brook (1-1) visits Hueytown next week to finish off non-region play.
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