Hoover falls to Florida’s IMG Academy in regular season finale
Hoover, AL – The Hoover Bucs (7-3, 6-1) went down to national powerhouse IMG Academy (FL) 48-7 Friday night at the Hoover Met to close out their 2018 regular season.
This is the second time the Bucs have welcomed IMG (7-1) to Hoover, in 2017 the Ascenders took a 32-21 win over the eventual state champion Bucs back to Bradenton, Florida.
IMG lit up the Hoover Met scoreboard early as UAB quarterback commit Bryson Lucero payed off a 93 yards scoring drive with a touchdown toss to Trey Sanders from just outside the Hoover redzone. The touchdown would be the first of Lucero’s three scores of the contest.
The Bucs lone score of the night came late in the first quarter as running back Dylan Pauly bolted into the endzone from 15 yards out.
The Ascenders punched the ball into the Hoover endzone three more times on runs by Trey Sanders, Lucero and Noah Cain to take a 28-7 lead into the locker room.
Senior IMG quarterback Bryson Lucero completed 12 of 20 passes on the the night for 245 yards through the air and a pair of touchdown passes. He added another 35 yards on the ground and rushing score. Trey Sanders lead the Ascenders on the ground with 128 yards on 13 attempts and a touchdown. Parker Windatt lead the IMG receiving corps with three grabs for 53 yards and a pair of scores.
Hoover signal caller Robby Ashford finished the night wth 101 yards connecting on 12 of 28 passes. Auburn commit George Pickens hauled in four catches for 40 yards while running back Larry McCammon snagged five catches for 25 yards and rushed for 97 yards on the ground.
The Bucs begin their march to Jordan-Hare Friday night as they play host to the Bob Jones Patriots to open up the 7A post season. Hoover currently holds a 6-0 advantage, all-time, over the Patriots from Madison. The squads last faced each other in the first round of the 2016 postseason with the Bucs coming out on top 31-10.
