HOMEWOOD, Alabama -- The #7 Hueytown Golden Gophers go on the road and get a big win against Homewood 32-19 at Waldrop Stadium Thursday night. Roydell Williams scored three times along with 210 total yards to lead his team in the road win.

Midway through the fourth quarter, Williams fumbled but a teammate recovered the fumble but the Gophers had to punt the ball back to Homewood. Homewood takes the drive and cuts the Hueytown lead to one score late in the game. On the first possession for Hueytown, Williams races 73-yards to put the game out of reach and make it a two touchdown lead. "A fumble shouldn't happen in a game, said Gophers running back Williams. "I should not have a fumble, I have to set the example for the younger players so I had to fight through adversity. It's a great feeling to come in here my senior year and get the win with my team."

Williams starts the scoring off for the Gophers and with 7:29 left in the first quarter, the Alabama commit runs 3-yards for a touchdown to give Hueytown the early lead. Williams gets the 2-point conversion and the Golden Gophers take an 8-0 lead. With 5:02 left in the first quarter, Pate Owen dropped back, then scrambled and found the front corner of the end zone to put the score at 8-6 Hueytown. Homewood connected with the two point conversion and it tied the game at 8-8 late in the first quarter. 

With 8:34 left in the second quarter, Hueytown scored again on a Alex Young screen pass to Williams for a 48-yard touchdown score. WIth the touchdown, Hueytown led 14-8 and the 2-point conversion failed. With :47 seconds before the half, Homewood kicker Nicholas Burczyk kicked a 21-yard field goad and that cut into the Golden Gophers lead to 14-11. Just when you think Homewood is going to take the momethum into the locker room, Hueytown had other ideas.

With :40 seconds, Homewood was flagged with a pass interence call at the Patriots 38-yard line so the Golden Gophers were in business. On the next play a penalty on Hueytown took the ball back to the Patriots 43-yard line. On the next play, Young hit Jordan Ivory on a 37-yard pass play down to the Patriots 6-yard line late in the half. With :10 seconds to go in the half, Young hit Que Mays on a 6-yard touchdown play and Hueytown took a big 20-11 halftime lead. That was big for Hueytown. "We didn't quit, we didn't give up, real happy the way we came out and played," said Gopthers head coach Greg Patterson. "We haven't really played well the last 3 or 4 years in our openers so it was good to get the win. We been pretty salty on defense the last three years, they are the unsung heros. They responded well in the second half."

In the second half and with Homewood driving, Williams moved to defensive end and had a chance at the Patriots QB but missed a chance for a sack but kept coming on the play and hit Owen and caused a fumble. "I missed him the first time so I had to redeem myself and get the sack when I kept running to the ball." Also, Williams lined up at safety on defense. 

With 1:16 left in the third quarter, Young found De'Andrea Coleman in the middle of the field for a 28-yard touchdown. With the touchdown, Hueytown led 26-11. For the night, Young finished the game 12-of-17 passing for 191 yards and three touchdowns. "Alex has improved so much and made some big throws," added Patterson. "The touchdown drive before the half was a defining moment for him. A lot of big confidence booster. He is a 10th grader and he is going to make mistakes but he knows we have his back."

With 4:37 left in the fourth quarter, Homewood drove and scored on a Owen to Trae Ausmer 21-yard touchdown and closed the gap to 26-19, but with the next possession Williams does his magic for the 73-yard touchdown run to close out the game and the win for Hueytown. Williams finished the game with 148 yards on 17 carries and two touchdowns along with 3 receptions for 62 yards and a touchdown. On defense, he had a sack and a force fumble. Not to bad of a night.

For Homewood, Owen completed 25-of-41 passing for 240 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 110 yards and a touchdown. Patterson grabbed the Homewood QB after the game to congradulate him on a great night.

Homewood had it's chances in the game but couldn't get much done in the red zone. "Too many missed opportunities," said Patriots head coach Ben Berguson. "We've got to score when we get in the red zone. We have to get better on the offensive line."

Up next for both teams, Homewood will host Vestavia Hills next Friday while Hueytown will host Helena.