HOOVER, Alabama -- The Hoover Bucs flexed their defensive muscles tonight and went on to shutout Mountain Brook 12-0 in a 7A Region 3 contest at the Hoover Met tonight. The Bucs defense held the Spartans to only 77 total yards in the win.

Hoover needed a 68-yard touchdown pass from Jack Hutcheson to Alex Elam in the fourth quarter to give the Bucs some breathing room and secure the Bucs first win of the season. "I saw some leadership and people step up for our offense tonight and I think we made a step in the right direction," said the Bucs wide reciever Elam. "We saw the corner back squatting down a little bit and we just did an out and up and Jack (Hutcheson) did a great job of getting me the football down the field." Elam finished the night with four catches for 79 yards and the touchdown.

Hoover kicked two field goals in both halves of the game. Hunter Schmith kicked a 33-yard field goal with 6:09 in the second quarter and kicked a 31-yard field goal with 3:31 left in the third. Hoover led only 6-0 going into the fourth quarter. "Were blessed to have a win tonight and they have been hard to come by this year," said Bucs Head coach Josh Niblett. "We have to get better everyday. We have a standard that we go by everyday and you have to win the day. We have to get better Monday through Thurdsday. It's all about working that plan and work hard in practice."

The Bucs defense only gave up less than two yards a carry and only 33 yards passing. "We showed a lot of heart tonight and were very close group," said Bucs linebacker Darrell Williams. "We came together. We just had the same mindset this week and we knew we had to stay together and work hard together and good things will happen for us."

The Bucs get their first win of the season and the Bucs worked hard for it during the week of practice. "We really appriciate the win tonight," said defensive lineman Christian Bell. "We had a good week of practice and we really wanted to show it tonight."

The Bucs offense made some strides tonight as Hutcheson was 10-of-18 passing for 150 yards & a touchdown. The running game of Bradrick Shaw and Marcus Webb ran for over 150 yards rushing combined on the night, but two lost fumbles that cost the Bucs some points.

The Spartans get ready for Thompson next week at home.“I thought we would have our opportunities, and if our defense played well, which they did, and we could be opportunistic on offense we could have our chances,” Mountain Brook coach Chris Yaeger said. "But we missed a field goal, we dropped some passes. I didn’t think we would get many opportunities. They’re not going to give people many opportunities so you better make the most of them when you get them, and we didn’t. We played a very good football team."