Homewood at Tuscaloosa County Postgame Analysis [VIDEO]

NORTHPORT – For only the second time in its 93-year history, Tuscaloosa County finished a season winless.

The Wildcats fell 34-14 at home in their regular-season finale against Homewood on Friday night, ending their season 0-10. Tuscaloosa County also failed to win a game in 1975 (0-10).

Against Homewood, Tuscaloosa County made it to as close as 7-7 in the second quarter before the Patriots pulled away in the third. Entering the fourth quarter, Homewood led 24-7, following a halftime lead of 14-7.

The Wildcats did not score again until the fourth quarter, when quarterback Sam Cooper found senior wide receiver Malik Smith on a 39-yard strike in stride to cut the lead to 24-14 with 10:15 remaining.

Sophomore running back Bo Evans scored Tuscaloosa County’s first touchdown of the game on a 1-yard run. For the season, he scored a team-best five touchdowns (four rushing, one receiving).

Homewood senior running back Derrick Underwood Jr. led all rushers with a game-high 210 yards on 19 carries, while senior quarterback Carson Griffis had three rushing touchdowns. His three scores came on runs of 12, 25 and 1.

Griffis also threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Alec Marsch in the third quarter.

In addition to their first winless season in 30 years, the Wildcats fail to reach the postseason for the first time since 1995, ending a streak of 19 consecutive playoff appearances. Tuscaloosa County finished 2-8 that year, which also marks the last time the Wildcats ended a season with a losing record.

Last year, Tuscaloosa County, playing in AHSAA’s inaugural 7A classification season, finished with a 5-5 regular-season record, before beating Bob Jones, 28-21, on the road in its first-round playoff game.

While Friday’s game was the final time Tuscaloosa County will play in 2015, it was also the last game, particularly, for 21 seniors. Each Wildcats senior was recognized in front of the home crowd before the game, accompanied by family members.

Homewood (8-2, 6-1 Class 6A, Region 5) hosts Lee-Huntsville in the first round of the AHSAA Class 6A playoffs.

In the video above, County High play-by-play announcer Mick Gillispie and color commentator Greer Williams provide their postgame thoughts.

Like this season, you can follow the live call of every County High game next year on Tide 99.1 FM, http://tide991.com/listen-live or on your mobile device using the radioPup app.

Scoring Summary:

Homewood 7 – 7 – 10 – 10

Tuscaloosa County 0 – 7 – 0 – 7

HW – Carson Griffis 12 run (Roger Castro kick) 2:31 1st

TC – Bo Evans 1 run (Frank Garcia kick) 9:12 2nd

HW – Griffis 25 run (Castro kick) 2:13 2nd

HW – Castro 20 field goal 7:37 3rd

HW – Alec Marsch 11 pass from Griffis (Connor Smith kick) 3:50 3rd

TC – Malik Smith 39 pass from Sam Cooper (Garcia kick) 10:15 4th

HW – Smith 43 field goal 6:56 4th

HW – Griffis 1 run (Smith kick) 3:31 4th