It looked like Oak Mountain’s offense was going to start the 2005 season where it left off in 2004 &045;&045; struggling for positive yards.

But a halftime talk by Eagles head coach Jerry Hood spurred his team to score two third-quarter touchdowns and secure a 24-13 victory over the Fairfield Tigers.

&uot;We definitely have some things to work on this week,&uot; Hood said. &uot;We made a lot of mistakes in the first half and we’ll be working to correct those.&uot;

Hood said he was proud of his team’s performance, however, and thought the players put together a solid second half.

&uot;I’m proud of how the team played on the offensive side off the football,&uot; he said.

&uot;We gave up one touchdown each half, so we have some areas to adjust on defense.&uot;

The Tigers started off the scoring in the game, with a 26-yard touchdown pass from Jeremiah Jones to Dominique Brown.

Oak Mountain responded with a 34-yard punt return by Chad Houston to tie the score at 7.

The Eagles added a field goal late in the second quarter by kicker Ryan Shoemaker that gave them a 10-7 lead at the half.

Oak Mountain exploded in the third quarter with a 1-yard run by Zack Fowler and a 10-yard pass from Richie Fordham to Michael Hallman.

&uot;We had a pretty good second half,&uot; Fordham said after the game.

&uot;I was proud that we were able to get our season off to a good start and it was great to beat Fairfield after last year’s game.&uot;

Fordham completed five of 12 of his passes for 75 yards against the Tigers.

Oak Mountain had a surge of energy from its running game in the second half that provided the Eagles with the leverage they needed to put the Tigers away for good.

Running backs Nick Anderson, James Hope and Fowler combined to earn 174 yards on 45 carries out of the backfield for the Eagles.

&uot;We did a fairly good job tonight,&uot; Anderson said. &uot;We have to give it up to our lineman. They opened up a lot of holes and gave us room to run.&uot;

Fairfield added to field goals in the third quarter but it wasn’t enough to overtake the Eagles. Oak Mountain forced the Tigers to punt eight times and caused four fumbles. The Eagles stay at home this Friday night as they welcome the Spain Park Jaguars to Heardmont Park. Oak Mountain lost to the Jags in 2004, 6-0. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m