Prattville Area Chamber of Commerce

12/4/2008 - Lions, Bucs renew rivalry at Super 6

Lions, Bucs renew rivalry at Super 6
By Jimmy White
Progress writer

December 3, 2008

Prattville High School's quest for a third consecutive state Class 6A championship will find the Lions facing a familiar foe Saturday afternoon at Legion Field in Birmingham, as Prattville will take on the Hoover Buccaneers, no strangers to the championship game.

Prior to the opening of Hoover High School in 1994, students in Hoover attended what was known as W.A. Berry High School. Even as Berry High School, the Buccaneers had a winning tradition.

Berry High School won state championships in 1977, beating Walker County in the finals 21-0. In 1982, they spilt the state title with Enterprise after a 10-10 deadlock. As Berry High School, the Bucs also went to the semifinals in 1993 before losing to West End, 28-19.

Since becoming Hoover High School, the Buccaneers have been a perennial playoff team. Hoover made the playoffs in 1995, falling to Central, 21-7, in the quarterfinals. Hoover missed the playoffs the next four years, until in 1999, Rush Propst came to Hoover from Mobile County's Alma Bryant High School.

Propst followed longtime Berry coach Gerald Gann. His first team in 1999 went 7-3 and missed the playoffs. The following season, however, Hoover won the state title, defeating Daphne in the finals, 28-7.

Propst was very successful at Hoover, as the Bucs won titles in 2002 (Jeff Davis, 39-29), 2003 (Daphne, 22-17), 2004 (Prattville, 22-7) and in 2005 (Daphne, 56-14).

Prattville derailed the Bucs in 2006, 35-21. The Vestavia Hill Rebels took Hoover out of the playoffs last season with a 21-17 win in the quarterfinals. After a tumultuous offseason, Propst resigned and was replaced by Oxford's Josh Niblett.

Prattville also has a first-year head coach, Jamey DuBose, who also replaced a legend, in this case Bill Clark. Hoover is a balanced team on offense, opting to run first and throw second. The Buccaneers also have an outstanding defense.

Prattville and Hoover started the season with a young offensive team that had to mature as the season progressed. Both returned experienced defenses and special teams.

Hoover and Prattville have combined to win the last six state Class 6A titles. Hoover has claimed four and Prattville two. Overall, the Lions have three state titles and Hoover has five. Saturday's game marks the third meeting of the two schools in the Super 6.

The game will be televised live on Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast. Local radio station WIQR will carry the game live on AM 1410.

Both teams are undefeated in the state of Alabama. Both have one loss to out-of-state football teams. Prattville lost its opener to St. Xavier High in Cincinnati, 15-10. Hoover lost its third game of the season to Georgia powerhouse Camden County, 44-16.

St. Xavier fell on hard times after the win over Prattville, losing its all-state quarterback and running back for the season to injuries, and failed to make the state playoffs to defend its Ohio state title. Camden County won Friday night with an 18-17 comeback win over Woodstock, scoring the winning touchdown with 6:30 left in the game on a 10-play, 65-yard drive. The Wildcats will play Newnan in the Georgia AAAA sate semifinals this weekend.

Kickoff Saturday afternoon at Legion Field is 3 p.m.

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