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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

FORT PAYNE – Like a famous set of men from Fort Payne, the Oak Mountain Eagles kept rolling on like an 18-wheeler through the state of Alabama as they took their roadshow to the Border Wars and emerged with a pair of commanding victories.

After starting off the week with a 10-0 home win over the Northridge Jaguars on Tuesday, April 8, Oak Mountain defeated the Fort Payne Wildcats 8-0 on Friday, April 11 before beating the No. 1 team in Class 5A, the Guntersville Wildcats, 10-0 on Saturday, April 12 at Fort Payne High School.

Before going north to take part in the Border Wars showcase, the Eagles were in dominant form against a Class 6A Final Four team from 2024 in Northridge. Oak Mountain scored five goals in each half to earn the mercy-rule win where Owen Wells posted a shutout in net.

Luke Jovanovich assisted on half of those goals as he ended the night with five assists. Nate Wright also had a multi-assist night with two assists.

Taylor Hunter, Grant Naumann and John Will Peterson each had two goals on the night while Peterson also added an assist. Sam Collins finished with a goal and an assist, and Gabe Capocci, Gerardo Rodriguez and Ben West had a goal apiece.

Facing off against the Border Wars host Fort Payne, the Eagles came out firing on all cylinders, scoring the opening goal and three more before the break to take a 4-0 lead into halftime.

From there, Oak Mountain doubled its scoring output in the second half without seeing a lapse on defense. The Eagles finished off the 8-0 win to start the weekend on a high note.

Collins led the offense with a hat trick as he had three goals and an assist off a team-high 10 shots, and Jovanovich finished the game with two goals and two assists. Naumann earned a goal and an assist off four shots and Wright and Dennis each scored a goal apiece.

In addition, Capocci finished the game with three assists as he helped create some of Oak Mountain’s biggest goal-scoring chances alongside his eight shots.

Alexander Chaidez-Cruz took the win in goal as he made two saves during the 80-minute match to secure the clean sheet alongside his defense. Oak Mountain outshot Fort Payne 15-2 with shots on goal alone and had 36 total shots.

The next day against Guntersville, the Eagles showed no mercy in their battle with the defending Class 5A runner-up and one of the favorites to claim the title in that classification.

Oak Mountain had one of its most prolific halves of offense all season, scoring seven goals in the first 40 minutes to take a 7-0 lead into the break.

The Eagles kept their side of the pitch clear as Owen Wells didn’t have to make any saves during his 70 minutes in goal. The attack took advantage by scoring three more goals in the second half to secure the mercy-rule win.

Collins finished the game with five goals, one of his biggest totals of the season. What’s more, he was a perfect 5-for-5 converting his shots on goal, and five of his seven total shots found the back of the net.

Rodriguez had two goals and an assist off five shots, and Capocci joined Rodriguez with a brace as he had two goals on the day off four total shots and three shots on goal.

Jovanovich had another prolific offensive day as he finished with a goal and three assists, and Wright rounded out the scoring with a goal while Will Farley had an assist.

The national No. 1 Eagles will look to add another big notch to their resume as they face the Class 6A No. 1 Homewood Patriots on Tuesday, April 15 at 7 p.m. at Homewood’s Waldrop Stadium.