Mountain Brook’s Thursday season-opener at Spartan Stadium against Vestavia Hills will be one for the record books, no matter the outcome.

A Spartans win will mark the seventh straight over the Rebels, the longest ever for Mountain Brook in the rivalry that dates to 1971. This six-game streak – which includes the 2020 COVID-19 forfeit by Vestavia – is tied for the longest by the Spartans, dating to the first six games the teams played. The Rebels’ longest win streak over Mountain Brook is 14 games, 1986-98, including three wins in the state playoffs.

Sixth-ranked Vestavia holds a 29-28 advantage in the rivalry, but is 0-1 in coach Robert Evans’ tenure. Will the new coach, who led the Class 7A Rebels to a 7-5 finish in his debut season, be able to get his first win over his former employer in the books on Thursday in the game that is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.?

“They’ve won six in a row over Vestavia and we’ve got to change that,” said Evans, who took the Rebels’ job after serving as defensive coordinator at Mountain Brook. “The all-time series is close to even, but they’ve had the upper hand the last several years and it’s a great challenge to start the season off with.

“They are a well-coached, hard-nosed team that’s got good talent. We’re looking forward to that opportunity to challenge yourself right off the bat. It’s an easy way to kind of get into fall camp knowing that you’ve got a challenge.”

Chris Yeager’s squad finished 12-3 last season, falling 38-17 in the Class 6A state title game to Saraland, and is ranked fourth in the 2023 preseason poll. The veteran coach, who carries a 145-61 record into his 18th season at Mountain Brook, said at AL.com’s Birmingham Media Days that the Spartans “really haven’t talked about [the championship game loss]. This is not going to be the ‘Unfinished Business Tour.’ This is a totally different team.

“We learned a lot of lessons that were valuable. When you have an experience like that, it’s a big mistake if you don’t learn from it. You also learn great lessons for life.”

Senior safety Clyde Beavers said he and his teammates have been able to put last season behind them. “It sounds like a cliché, but we’re taking it game by game and week by week. Last year [before the title game], it was just Week 15. It was just another week to try to perfect our stuff.”

Week 1 for 2023, Beavers said, gets the same treatment.

“We treat it like any other game, just day-by-day, play-by-play I stay locked in,” Beavers said. “I stay where my feet are.”

When prodded, though, he said, “It does mean a little more. We’ve grown up playing against those guys in basketball and all that stuff. We know them pretty well.”

Beavers will be part of a rebuilt defense as the Spartans lost its front seven to graduation. Mountain Brook allowed 15 points per game in 2022 and scored 37.7.

Running back Cole Gamble will be looking to build on an All-State season when he averaged 8.3 yards per carry and scored 39 touchdowns. He ran for 2,222 yards on 268 carries for Mountain Brook. Gamble will be joined in the backfield by senior Jack King and new quarterback John Cooper. Clark Sanderson is expected to be a top target at wideout again.

All-State quarterback John Paul Head leads Vestavia Hills’ offensive attack, which scored 34.3 points a game last season. Head tallied more than 1,000 yards both on the ground and through the air last season. The Rebels have just one returning starter on the offensive front in JD Livingston.

“We’re more familiar with our systems even though we’re probably going to be a little bit simpler on both sides this year than we were last year because we have newer, younger players,” Evans said. “But, in general, just the systems are in place and kids know what to expect, coaches know what to expect and how we want to practice and how we want to play.

“It’s been easier in regard to the football side of things, but the off-the-field stuff is ongoing, never ending,” he said. “We have the largest program in the state. We’ve got 137 on our roster [grades] 10 through 12, and we have over 100 freshmen on our freshman team. So, it’s a blessing, but with that comes a set of problems unique to this – like, how do you get everyone to work? How do you get everyone reps? … It’s a constant challenge and it’s non-stop. But, for us to compete in this region, we have to throw our intelligence and strength in numbers at the teams.”