Hoover’s Hinds Tabbed 2020 National High School Boys Track & Field Coach of the Year. Page 26
SPORTS
DON’T MISS AUG. 20 OTMJ The 2020 OTM High School Football Preview. Team profiles, key players to watch, schedules and more!
Thursday, August 6, 2020 ❖ OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL
Bucs’ Football Season-Opener Against Dothan Took Some Scrambling
‘MAKE THE BEST OF IT’ Mountain Brook’s Yeager Appreciates Chance to Play Football This Fall
By Rubin E. Grant
M
ountain Brook football coach Chris Yeager knows it wasn’t an easy decision, and he’s thankful that the Alabama High School Athletic Association Central Board of Control approved the AHSAA’s Return to Play ‘Best Practices’ guidelines and reaffirmed plans to start the 2020 football season on time. The action was taken July 23 at the central board’s annual summer meeting in
Montgomery. “I know it was a very hard decision and they had gotten input,” Yeager said. “I am glad they allowed us to have input, but it’s a lot easier to make suggestions than make decisions. “We’re going to move forward and trust and respect what’s been done.” AHSAA fall sports teams had the option to begin fall workouts July 27, with the first week used by football for acclimation purposes and See YEAGER, page 27
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‘We had the best summer we have ever had. We had incredible energy. And when we were shut down, we spent a lot of time with our players on Zoom and phone calls. We texted them every day. I learned more about my players and built deeper relationships. I feel I know them better than any team I’ve had.’ CHRIS YEAGER, MOUNTAIN BROOK FOOTBALL COACH
Josh Lundy has taken all the changes to Hoover’s first game of the 2020 high school football season in stride. The Bucs were supposed to open the season with a game at the Mercedes-Benz Dome in Atlanta as one of 20-plus teams in the Corky Kell Classic. But because of COVID-19, the Bucs’ game against Lowndes County (Ga.) on Aug. 22 was moved to Mill Creek High School in Georgia. The NFL’s new protocols would not allow any teams to play inside the dome before the Atlanta Falcons’ opened their season. Now, the Bucs aren’t going to Georgia at all. Georgia pushed its high school season back two weeks and, because of Alabama’s decision to start its season as scheduled in late August, Hoover had to scramble to find a first-game oppo“We like to play schools nent to replace from the south to gauge Lowndes County. The Bucs found how we measure up,” Hoover football coach a willing partner Josh Niblett said. and will play host to Dothan Aug. 21 at the Hoover Met. “We were excited about playing in the Mercedes-Benz Dome, but we’ll play anyone anywhere,” said Lundy, Hoover’s senior quarterback. “We’re excited to play Dothan. “It’s the same deal for us. It’s no different. See HOOVER, page 27
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Journal file photo by Jordan Wald
Journal file photo by Lee Walls
By Rubin E. Grant
