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By GRAHAM BROOKS | Special to the Reporter

HOOVER – Hoover quarterback Josh Lundy tossed five touchdowns to lead the Buccaneers to an impressive win over Oak Mountain, as the Bucs controlled the final three quarters on Homecoming night in the 42-7 win on Friday, Sept. 18.

Lundy looked poised leading the Hoover offense finishing 18-of-27 for 352 yards passing and the five touchdowns.

“He continues to get better week in and week out, but he works his tail off all week,” Hoover head coach Josh Niblett said. “Coach has done a really good job of helping him understand exactly what he’s doing and all the looks we see and help him understand where he needs to go with the football with certain situations and matchups. I’m proud of him and I’m proud of what he’s been able to do.”

Hoover wasted no time getting on the scoreboard as Lundy tossed touchdown No. 1 on the first play from scrimmage. The slant to wide receiver RJ Hamilton was good for 66-yards to make it 7-0 Bucs.

The receiving duo of Hamilton and Malik Thomas was a problem for Oak Mountain all night as the pair finished with a combined 178 yards receiving and five touchdowns.

Down 7-0, Oak Mountain’s defense stood tall in the first quarter getting several stops to get the ball back into the hands of the Eagles’ offense.

Oak Mountain’s lone touchdown came in the first quarter on a 60-yard run by quarterback Evan Smith as the Eagles tied the game 7-7 at the end of the first quarter.

Despite hanging tough in the opening quarter, the Hoover offense got going again, as Lundy tossed touchdowns of 4 yards, 33 yards and 15 yards in the second quarter alone to give the Bucs a 28-7 halftime lead.

The Eagles offense was kept in check by a solid Hoover defense that gave up just 268 total yards. Despite that, Oak Mountain running back Judah Tait did break the century mark rushing for 124 yards on 23 carries.

“It’s hard to emulate their offense during practice,” Niblett said. “I thought we played with great speed, we played physical and the key in that offense is you’ve got to stop the fullback and you’ve got to contain the quarterback and make him pitch it and we were able to do that tonight.”

The second half was much of the same story, as Thomas found the end zone for the third time on a 22-yard touchdown reception from Lundy to extend the lead to 35-7 with 8:39 left in the third quarter.

Hoover’s lone rushing touchdown came in the final seconds of the third quarter on a 10-yard score by Dylan-Betts Pauley bringing it to 42-7.

With the win, Hoover remains undefeated in Class 7A Region 3 and Oak Mountain fell to 4-1 (2-1) on the season. The Eagles will try to get back on track in two weeks when they take on Spain Park at home.