By BAKER ELLIS / Sports Editor

PELL CITY – At the end of the day, the season may not have gone as hoped for the Oak Mountain Eagles, but they did manage to go out with a bang, securing a win in the final game of the season on the road against a frisky Pell City team to end the season with a .500 record at 5-5.

In his swan song performance as an Eagle, Warren Shader had another solid game for Oak Mountain, and found Preston Christopher for a 23-yard touchdown pass with just over six minutes to go in the first quarter to put the Eagles on top 7-0, a lead they held through the end of the quarter. Pell City tied the game at 7-7 early in the second quarter, and were within striking distance again late in the quarter before Thomas Pechman picked off an errant pass deep in Oak Mountain territory with under a minute to go in the half to preserve the tie game going into the half.

The Eagles came out firing in the third quarter, and posted 13 points in the quarter, which proved to be the difference in the game. Coleman Reeves found the endzone on a nine-yard touchdown run up the gut of the Pell City defense with less than five minutes to go in the quarter. On the next Oak Mountain possession, on the first play from scrimmage Shader found Reid Golson for a 53-yard completion from the Oak Mountain 21-yard line, marking the biggest play from scrimmage of the night for the Eagles. Daniel Salchert then found the back of the endzone with just 23 seconds left in the quarter, The point after was negated by an unsportsmanlike penalty against the Eagles, and they carried a 20-7 advantage into the fourth.

Pell City sustained a 10-play drive following Salchert’s touchdown that ended in a touchdown to pull the game back within striking distance at 20-14, but the Eagle defense held when it mattered most, and after Pell City maintained a drive late in the fourth quarter, Jared Buxton sacked the Panther quarterback with a minute and a half to go in the game, which was followed by two incomplete passes and a turnover on downs, sealing the win for Oak Mountain.

Shader was 12-28 for 154 yards and a score in his final high school game, while Reeves rushed the ball 13 times for 124 yards to lead the Eagles on the ground. Hall Morton had nine tackles on the night while Josh Jones finished with 8.5 as well.

Oak Mountain finished the 2015 season with a 5-5 record.