Hillcrest Scores 30 Unanswered Points to Pull Region Upset

Friday Night Lights is coming down to the wire, and for the Hillcrest Patriots, that means putting another big region rivalry win under their belt against the McAdory Yellow Jackets, pulling the upset 30-7. 

McAdory showed their explosive nature quickly, scoring on a 3-drive possession; a 46-yard pass to Jabari Strait, then two handoffs to RB Roderick Thomas for the fast score to put them up 7-0.

The Yellow Jackets defense forced a quick 3-and-out to get the ball back and proceeded to recover an Ethan Crawford fumble on Hillcrest’s first two offensive drives, but their offense showed many signs of struggles, as a facemask and delay of game kicked them out of field goal range, forcing a punt back to Hillcrest. 

The Yellow Jackets had 5 penalties costing them 35 yards in the first half. 

Get our free mobile app

Hillcrest maintained possession of the ball and play clock throughout the half, scoring on a 19-play and a 10-play drive, both resulting in touchdowns. The Patriots relied heavily on RB Jamarian Johnson, who had 13 rushes for 67 yards. A missed 2-point conversion gave the Patriots the 13-7 lead at halftime.

Hillcrest not only continued to maintain possession of the football, but used their offensein a different way. QB Ethan Crawford was the Patriots second rushing leader in the half, picking up 60 yards on the ground and scoring one touchdown, while RB Jamarian Johnson picked up another 67 and a touchdown, bringing his total to 134 yards on the ground.  Hillcrest also kicked a field goal coming out of half, coming out with the 30-7 win. 

“The physicality really showed up, we won the line of scrimmage on both sides and we had so many guys make big plays for us, I couldn’t be prouder,” said Hillcrest head coach Jamie Mitchell.

The Patriots defense shut down any momentum for the Yellow Jackets, only taking possession of the football three times in the half, resulting in: a 3-and-out, a pick, and 5-snap drive. The Yellow Jackets finished with only 25 total yards in the second half. 

“No excuses, we have to play better on offense, we didn’t give our defense a chance to be successful, we didn’t move the ball enough. We have to go back to the drawing board,” said McAdory head coach Aryvia Holmes.

Next Friday, Hillcrest travels to Paul Bryant High (2-4,1-2), while McAdory hosts Hueytown (5-1, 3-0).