Pike Road’s Iverson Hooks Leads Patriots to 76-51 Record-Setting Victory

Week 0 AHSAA Football Spotlight 

Montgomery, AL – Pike Road High School senior quarterback Iverson Hooks helped the Patriots shatter the school’s all-time scoring record to claim the first AHSAA Prep Football Spotlight of the 2021 season.

Hooks rushed 16 times for 307 yards and five touchdowns and completed 5-of-6 passes for 219 yards and three TDs for Coach Patrick Browning’s Patriots to lead Pike Road to a 76-51 win over McGill-Toolen Catholic last Friday night. He recorded scoring runs of 66, 85, 86, 1 and 4 yards and TD passes covering 58, 76 and 55 yards.

His eight TDs puts his name in the AHSAA Record Book along with his 526 total yards.

McGill-Toolen running back Braylon McReynolds also had a career night with 242 yards rushing and four touchdowns of 3, 80, 80 and 2 yards.

The 127 combined points by the Patriots and Yellow Jackets ties for eighth all-time with Hewitt-Trussville and Spain Park, who scored 127 in a four-overtime 64-63 Huskies win in 2014. The AHSAA state record (146) came in 2016 when Childersburg knocked off Central Coosa 82-64 in the final game of the regular season.

Among the records Hooks set, his eight scores in Friday’s win is tied with 13 others for second all-time in the AHSAA behind three players who accounted for nine: James Raines in Class 1A Berry’s 2015 68-0 win over Brilliant; Tommy Haley-Ricks in Hubbertville’s 2008 76-52 victory over Vina; and Brent Gulledge of Victory Christian in a 2004 70-6 win over Lyman Ward. The most recent player to account for eight TDs was Moody’s A.J. Wallace in a 56-55 loss to Corner in 2020.

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Hooks’ 526 total yards in a single game ranks 13th in the AHSAA. Trinity Presbyterian’s Jack Poundstone set the AHSAA single-game state record in 2008 with 618 total yards (492 passing and 122 rushing) in a 54-40 loss to Cordova in the second round of the Class 3A state playoffs. Seth Brown of St. John Paul II Catholic had 614 total yards in a 49-36 win over West Morgan in 2019 and Kaleb Barker of Priceville who posted 596 yards in a 68-41 victory over J.B. Pennington.

Moody’s Wallace, who had 570 total yards in last year’s 56-55 overtime loss to Corner, was the most recent entry into the AHSAA Record Book’s Total Offense category prior to Hooks’ performance.

A complete listing of AHSAA individual records can be found at: https://www.ahsaa.com/Sports/Football/Football-Individual-Records and team records are located at: https://www.ahsaa.com/Sports/Football/Football-Team-Records .

Hooks’ performance edged out Arab High School’s twin-brother performance in last week’s 35-0 win over Albertville. Ed and Wes Johnson, the Knights’ senior quarterback and wide receiver duo, put on quite a show in the first half, and the defense did the rest as Arab shut out their Marshall County rivals 35-0 in the 83rd meeting between the two schools. Ed had a big night at quarterback rushing for 127 yards and four TDs, while completing 9-of-12 passes for 95 yards. His brother Wes a spectacular night on the receiving end of his brother’s passes totaling five receptions for 64 yards. He also had an outstanding game on defense.

In a big Covington County battle last week won by Straughn 42-6 over Pleasant Home, three brothers scored touchdowns for the Tigers.  Jaylon Guilford, a junior running back, scored the game’s first TD on a 1-yard run. His younger brother Eli scooped up an Eagles’ fumble from his nose-guard position on defense and rambled 49 yards for the second TD.  Their older brother Abram, a senior, completed the family connection with a 78-yard run for a TD. He added a 15-yard TD run and 19-yard TD pass to Parker Black.

While brothers scoring touchdowns in the same game is not a record category in the AHSAA Record Book, Straughn head coach Ashley Kilcrease said it is special when it happens.

He and his brother scored TDs in the same game and Ashley’s three sons accounted for TDs in the same game – two of them at a time but not all three, he said.

“I spoke to Mr. Guilford Monday,” said Kilcrease. “I told him he couldn’t let COVID get inside his house. All three of his boys are important to our team.”

(Photo: AL.com | Steve Kittrell)