Spartans Look For Redemption Against Hoover

MOUNTAIN BROOK, AL - Mountain Brook came into the 2018 season with tons of question marks, and a bevy of goals - some by coach Chris Yeager, and some by the players themselves. As the Spartans head into their state quarterfinal match-up against defending champion Hoover Friday night, pay-back might be one goal on the players' and coaches' minds.

Mountain Brook lost 31-7 to the Bucs October 26, and that loss is fresh in the minds of players and fans alike, so redemption would make an already successful season even better.

The team already exceeded expectations, advancing this far, compiling a 9-2 record on the season, and giving Yeager his 101st victory as Mountain Brook's coach, making him the all-time winningest football coach in MBHS history.

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Yeager likes to discount the peronal accolades this season has brought to him, and instead has said that what has made this team special is the mindset of taking every game one at a time. Sure, it sounds cliched, but Yeager said that has been the recipe for the Spartans' success this year.

"I feel our team has improved each week," Yeager said. "Our team leaders have kept the group focused and motivated to reach our maximum potential."

The Spartans have a frustrating history with Hoover in football. It has been seven years since the Spartans defeated Hoover - a 17-9 win in 2011 which clinched the region title for Mountain Brook - and the Bucs have captured five state championships since then. A win Friday would place the Spartans in the semifinals for the first time since 2010, when Mountain Brook lost to Hoover 44-14. Hoover would go on to lose in the championship game to Daphne that year.

Mountain Brook has not reached the championship game since 1996, when the Spartans - with Yeager on the sidelines as an assistant coach - fell to Jeff Davis 24-12. But on its way to that championship game, the Spartans defeated a seemingly unbeatable Central-Tuscaloosa squad that has steamrolled through the season and made the experts think the playoffs were a mere formality.

This Spartans game has a similar feel.

The quarterfinal game against Hoover kicks off at 7 p.m. at the Hoover Met.

Photo by Michael Seale/Patch