The Hoover Viking football team had a stellar season this year being 6-0 going into the homecoming game and now having an 8-2 record to finish the season. 

They also defeated rival Jackson Oct. 24 with a score of 35-14 — and brought home The Rail. 

The team had to overcome lots of obstacles and work together to succeed during this season. Head coach Mr. Brian Baum, assistant coach Mr. Sam Rutledge and seniors Jack Andes and John Collins talked about what the team did to make this year great. All great teams start by having kids step up and grow together. Baum said it has been amazing to watch kids grow and to see them give everything they have to the team to be so successful this year. 

“We have guys fighting through injuries like John Collins, Jack Andes and Carson Morris,” he said. “Those guys battling back and their mindset…they want to be out there for the family and give everything they have.” 

Rutledge said how the kids have truly “learned to love Hoover football” and have grown so much since the beginning of this season. 

“I think our team has grown exponentially since the beginning of the season because Coach Baum has created a culture of winning,” he said. “The boys have grown more and more confident as the season has continued because the kids have bought into what we are doing as a whole. The kids have had success, listened to what we coach them to do, executed it and reaped the rewards of doing their 1/11th. Our players slowly but surely have begun to put the team over themselves.” 

Even though the team has found a lot of success within this season, it was not easy for them. The team has had to overcome many challenges dealing with players getting hurt and people having to set up into positions they may not normally play. Baum said Louisville at halftime was definitely a moment where the team had to make some quick adjustments. 

“We asked our kids to go back to things we haven’t done in awhile,” he said. “Using Andes at quarterback positions, it’s something I have been talking about since last spring if anything happens to John. They stepped up to another level.” 

An injury halfway through the season can really make or break a team. It can determine what the other half of the season may look like especially if you lose such a valuable player, like a quarterback. Collins said how he has dealt with his injury and how he had to change some things to succeed in the season. 

“I sprained my ankle week five and it has really affected my running game,” he said. “But the injury made me realize and force myself to become a better pocket passer which made our team better.” 

A team can work all season long and still not have the outcome that they want. 

“We didn’t want to have another average season so we knew we had to put in the work,” Andes said. “I think this season’s biggest factor for the team’s success has to be the work we put in during the offseason. As soon as the season ended last year, our senior class was already bought in and ready to work. We lost early in the playoffs last year and had a lot of games where we only lost by a touchdown. A lot of us changed significantly with our size, we got bigger, faster, and stronger. We also are determined to win and will give it everything we got.” 

In every sport there is that one position that has to be the leader on the field. They need to be there for the team and really stand out. For football, that is the quarterback. 

“Being the quarterback it is always on me and I try to just try and be the best I can,” Collins said. “I try to just focus on the game and do my job. I try to put the team first and me second because my ultimate goal is to win us the game by doing my job right.” 

One way to succeed is to have fun and for the energy of the team to be high. Andes said the locker room energy is a lot different this year. 

“Every year, we listen to music to lock in, but this year when we listen to music after warm-ups we are all up and moving around, dancing, singing and hyping each other up. I remember the first game this season against Buchtel, before Coach Baum even came out to talk to us before heading up, we were already circled up ready to go out on the field. We ended up winning the game 30-0.”