Central-Phenix City Defeats Hoover 34-10 to Advance in 7A Playoffs

Red Devils Dominate Second Half for 34-10 Victory

PHENIX CITY, AL – A tale of two halves defined the Class 7A playoff opener between top ranked Central-Phenix City and the Hoover Bucs. After a tense first half ended in a 10-10 tie, the homestanding Red Devils asserted their dominance, outscoring the Bucs 24-0 in the final two quarters to secure a decisive 34-10 victory and end Hoover’s season.

The win propels Central (10-1) into the second round of the high school football playoffs, where they will travel to face Fairhope next Friday night. For Hoover (6-5), the season concludes in the same venue where their 2023 campaign ended, falling to Central in the 7A semifinals.

First Half: A Back-and-Forth Battle

The game began as a tightly contested matchup, with both teams trading blows. Hoover struck first, taking an early 3-0 lead on a 47-yard field goal from James Bryant with 7:52 left in the first quarter.

Central answered back in the second quarter, engineering an impressive 87-yard drive. Quarterback Bobby Coleman Jr. capped it with a 40-yard touchdown pass to JJ Joiner, giving the Red Devils a brief 7-3 advantage.

The lead was short-lived. The Bucs responded with a methodical 69-yard march down the field. Quarterback Kaleb Freeman found Anderson Clark for a 5-yard touchdown pass, putting Hoover back on top 10-7 with only 49 seconds remaining in the half.

Just before halftime, a critical turnover shifted the momentum. Central’s Marquise Cooper intercepted a Freeman pass, giving the Red Devils’ offense a final opportunity. Jack Ciancio capitalized, converting a 35-yard field goal as time expired to send both teams into the locker room with the score knotted at 10-10.

Second Half: Central Takes Complete Control

The Red Devils emerged from halftime a different team. They immediately took the lead on their opening possession of the third quarter, with Ciancio hitting his second field goal of the night, a 38-yarder, to make it 13-10.

Central’s defense then delivered game-changing plays. On Hoover’s first drive of the half, a pass from Freeman was tipped and intercepted by Amaree Law at the Central 6-yard line, thwarting a potential scoring threat.

The offense converted the turnover into points, embarking on a monumental 94-yard drive. The possession finished with another spectacular connection from Coleman to Joiner, this time for a 57-yard touchdown that extended Central’s lead to 20-10 with 1:52 left in the third quarter.

From that point on, the Central defense suffocated the Hoover offense, holding the Bucs to just 64 total yards in the second half. The Red Devils’ ground game then put the game away.

Woodhouse Seals the Victory

In the fourth quarter, running back Jayshaun Woodhouse took over. He broke loose for a 65-yard touchdown run with 4:21 remaining to push the lead to 27-10. As the clock wound down, Woodhouse found the end zone one last time on a 4-yard run with just three seconds left, providing the final 34-10 margin.

Woodhouse was the star on the ground, finishing with 185 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries. Coleman had a prolific night through the air, completing 20 of 35 passes for 327 yards and two touchdowns. His top target, JJ Joiner, caught five passes for 139 yards and both receiving scores. In total, the Central-Phenix City football team amassed 504 yards of offense.

For Hoover, running back Junior Mosley led the team with 69 yards on 16 carries in the season-ending loss.

Central Advances, Hoover’s Season Ends

Central-Phenix City (10-1) moves on to the second round of the Class 7A playoffs and will travel south to face the Fairhope Pirates (8-3) next Friday night. 

For Hoover (6-5), the loss marks the first time since 1999 that the Buccaneers have failed to advance past the first round of the postseason.