Hoover ran only four offensive plays in the second half, but the Bucs didn’t need any more than that, steamrolling Oak Mountain 62-14 for a Class 7A, Region 3 victory on Friday.

The Bucs (2-5, 2-2) capped a six-play opening drive with a 5-yard touchdown run by Kamal Amerson and then scored on their next four possessions to put the game out of reach at 34-0 at halftime.

Sophomore quarterback Noah Schubach and senior signal-caller Andy Howard combined to go 9-for-11 for 128 yards in the first half, with Schubach throwing a pair of TDs — a 4-yarder to Jordan Woolen and a 61-yarder to Jonah Winston — before Howard connected with Woolen on a 22-yard scoring toss of his own.

“It was a crazy second half,” said Hoover head coach Wade Waldrop. “We snapped the ball four times in the second half. Obviously, proud of the win. A much-needed win. We used the phrase ‘good medicine’ all week and that was good medicine. It’s a region win. We’ve got to go on the road next, get a little more confidence.”

Senior running back Chalmers Peters scored on a 37-yard run and Amerson scored again on the Bucs’ only offensive play of the third quarter, a blistering 53-yard run off tackle to make it 55-0 with 6:17 left in the period.

“It was a little pull by the tackle. Follow him through the gap,” Peters said. “O-line did a fantastic job, just following them. I didn’t even get touched at all.”

Oak Mountain (1-6, 0-3) got on the board late in the game when Will O’Dell — replacing starter Gaines Brancato — found senior tight end Jackson Blackwell with a 9-yard pass to the left side of the end zone for a touchdown. After recovering a fumble on the ensuing onside kick, the Eagles marched down the field and scored again, on a 19-yard pass from O’Dell to junior wideout Walker Shook.

“This year is all about continuing to fight to the end, trying to get the program to get to a level of what it takes to be a winner in the future,” said first-year Oak Mountain head coach Shane McComb. “That means you have to fight to the end. That’s been the story of the year, and we’re just going to continue to get better every week.”

But the story was the Bucs’ ability to score in every phase of the game, as JJ Moultrie raced 68 yards for a punt return touchdown, sophomore defensive lineman Justyn Hartley scooped and scored off a blocked field goal and senior linebacker Bradley Shaw nabbed an Oak Mountain fumble and returned it 30 yards to the house.

Play of the game: Schubach’s 61-yard TD to Winston put the Bucs up 21-0 and Hoover never looked back.

By the numbers: Hoover ran the ball 20 times for 241 yards and went an efficient 9-for-11 through the air for 128 yards, never throwing a pass in the second half. Oak Mountain was 11-for-27 passing for 108 yards and ran 47 times — most of it against the Bucs’ subs — for 167 yards. Hoover had 369 yards of total offense. Oak Mountain had 275 total yards of offense.

Game ball: Amerson, who had scoring runs of 5 and 53 yards.

Coachspeak: “I love these guys. We have a lot of freshmen and sophomores out there, and we’re going to learn how to win.” — McComb

They said it: “We’re just flying around. I would say we’re trying to ball-hawk, but if we can make plays against the run, then we’ll do that, too. This win feels amazing. Look, we just need to keep winning, because we’ll build momentum and motivation up. I know for a fact we are not a 1-and-5 team. We just have to put the pieces together.” —Hoover defender Kasey Zylstra, who recovered a fumble for the second straight week

“We didn’t really make plays on defense, so I knew we had to do it on special teams.” — Moultrie, who had a punt return for a touchdown for the second week in a row.

Next week: Hoover travels to Tuscaloosa County while Oak Mountain hosts Thompson.