Oak Mountain first-year head coach Jerry Hood sounded like a boulder had been taken off his back after his Eagles upended the 5A Gardendale Rockets, 40-7.

&uot;Everything is better after a win,&uot; Hood said. &uot;Practice, the kids’ morale: everything.&uot;

The Eagles used 300 yards of offense to down the Rockets for their first win of the season.

The Eagles’ offense took charge of Gardendale early by scoring on four of their first six possessions.

Running back Nick Anderson paved the way for the Eagles, scoring a 5-yard touchdown on Oak Mountain’s first possession. Anderson finished the game with 53 yards on 12 carries.

Also leading the Eagles’ rushing attack was Zach Fowler, who led all Eagle rushers with 61 yards on seven carries.

Sophomore Richie Fordham was almost perfect in the victory, throwing 6-of-7 for 103 yards and a touchdown.

&uot;We scored a bunch of points early and that is what we needed to do,&uot; Hood said.

The Oak Mountain special teams also had a big night as kickers Ryan Shoemaker and Chaelen Martin both added a field goal in the victory. Shoemaker’s 42-yard field goal and Martin’s 31-yard field goal both came in the fourth quarter.

&uot;Both of those kids can kick the ball well, but we just have to have some consistency,&uot; Hood said.

On the defensive side of the ball, middle linebacker Ryan Fordham led all Eagle tacklers with seven tackles. Durward Jeffries and Chris Johnson both added five tackles apiece while Patrick Foshee also had a sack for the Eagle defense.

This week, Oak Mountain hosts Region 6 foe Pelham. Last season, Pelham edged the Eagles 21-14.

While Oak Mountain has gotten back into the win column, Hood knows his team must be ready for a big fight against the Panthers.

&uot;(Montez) Billings is always a threat but they have been running the ball well all year,&uot; Hood said, &uot;so we will have to figure out a scheme to stop the run.