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The Oak Mountain Eagles are heading to the Final Four for the fourth-straight year after they sent off their 16 seniors with an electric in-school match against No. 4 Prattville that saw them score four unanswered goals. (Reporter Photos/Andrew Simonson)

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

NORTH SHELBY – With the bleachers, fence and hill filled with Oak Mountain High School students thanks to an in-school quarterfinal game, everything seemed set up for a triumphant send-off for the Oak Mountain Eagles.

However, an early goal from the Prattville Lions threatened to send that script through the shredder.

Faced with a bout of adversity from the No. 4 team in Alabama, Oak Mountain showed its resiliency. The Eagles battled back from a rare deficit to score two goals in as many minutes and pave the way for a 4-1 victory on Monday, May 5, extending their unbeaten run to 59 matches in a row.

That opening goal from Prattville came off a long throw-in in the 13th minute that threw the Oak Mountain defense into disarray. The Lions converted the counterattack chance easily to go in front 1-0, and for just the third time in 2025, the Eagles found themselves trailing.

In response, Oak Mountain simply put its head down and went to work on offense, and the payoff came in a big way.

Just before the midway mark of the first half, Gabe Capocci sent in a shot and found the back of the net for the game-tying goal. That 1-1 score line would not last long though.

Mere seconds after Capocci’s goal, Gerardo Rodriguez fired home the go-ahead goal, sending the home fans into a frenzy and putting the Eagles up 2-1 in the 17th minute.

Oak Mountain kept pressing the attack from there, nearly coming up on a corner in the 22nd minute before Prattville’s keeper caught a direct free kick in the 33rd minute.

The Eagles’ best effort of the final 20 minutes of the half came from Rodriguez after he took a second-chance strike outside the box and forced a diving save.

The Lions had multiple solid attacking possessions throughout the half though, and they capped off the half with one of their better shots–a header that went over the goal off a long forward ball.

That missed shot let Oak Mountain take a 2-1 lead into the halftime break, and the Eagles continued to press the attack after the break.

Oak Mountain nearly scored the third in the 41st minute off a back-heel flick from Collins, but a Prattville defender met it once it got past the keeper, sending it out for a corner that would eventually hit the far post.

Collins would work the right wing throughout the half to win duels and send in crosses and shots. A cross from him to Michael Dennis led to a shot right at the goalkeeper in the 46th minute, and it set up a big run of play to come.

From the start of the 52nd minute and the next 10 minutes after, the Eagles sent chance after chance into the box and onto the frame in search of their third goal. That included a couple of close-range shots, a cross that Prattville keeper Isaiah Myers caught and a 59th-minute corner that led to a spilled ball and a couple of cleared chances.

Myers would finish the match with 10 saves as Oak Mountain dialed up the pressure throughout the second half.

Finally, in the 62nd minute, the Eagles got their chance to strike. Instead of coming from open play though, Collins stepped up to a free kick from about 20 yards out and launched a laser into the upper 90, way out of Myers’ reach to put the lead even more out of reach at 3-1.

Luke Jovanovich was close to making it 4-1 after firing home a cross from the left wing in the 71st minute, but it was ruled offside.

The Eagles continued working the left wing and came up big in the 75th minute. After the initial effort from a corner kick spilled back to Oak Mountain, a second-chance cross from the left wing went straight to Capocci’s head and right into the back of the net for his second goal of the match and his team’s fourth.

Capocci came up empty a minute later after a defensive breakdown gave him another cross to take a shot off, and the Eagles also got another shot just before the full-time whistle. While neither led to goals, they kept the momentum rolling in the hosts’ favor ahead of the final whistle and sealed the 4-1 win.

In addition to Capocci’s brace, Collins finished with a goal and two assists off a team-high 10 shots and four shots on target. Rodriguez’s goal was just part of his four shots on goal, and Jovanovich earned an assist while also taking a couple of shots on frame.

Now, the Eagles will prepare to defend their Class 7A state championship at the Final Four, which begins on Thursday, May 8 at 11 a.m. against the No. 6 Grissom Tigers at John Hunt Park in Huntsville.

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