Hillcrest defeats Helena 42-7 in second round of AHSAA playoffs: takeaways

Hillcrest defeated Helena 42-7 in the second round of the Class 6A AHSAA playoffs on Friday night at Lloyd Johnson Stadium.

The Patriots used a strong second half where they outscored the Huskies 21-0 to claim victory. Six different Patriots, including two defensive linemen — Jalen McIver and Mathew Cockrell — found the endzone for Hillcrest in the victory.

The win moves the Patriots to 12-0 on the season and sees them advance to the quarterfinals. Helena (9-3) saw its season come to an end.

Here are three takeaway's from the game.

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Another stellar defensive performance by Hillcrest

Hillcrest's defense has been talked about all season, and rightfully so. It is one of the top-five defenses in the state, allowing just 7.1 points per game coming into the matchup against Helena.

The Patriots' defense caused three fumbles on Friday night, with McIver and Cockrell returning two of them for touchdowns. McIver's came on the Huskies' first drive of the night, with the Patriots forcing the fumble and McIver landing on it in the endzone. Cockrell's came in the fourth quarter, with the defensive lineman running the ball nearly 50 yards for the score.

The Patriots also made it hard for the Helena offense to perform. Besides the 87-yard touchdown run by Jordan Washington at the end of the first quarter, the Helena offense was essentially shut down by the Hillcrest defense.

"Our defense again," Mitchell said. "We sputtered a bit on offense, and they just keep giving us a chance to hang around."

Slow start for the offense, but it found its way

The Hillcrest offense jumped to an early 14-0 lead in the first quarter behind the fumble recovery in the endzone by McIver and a 42-yard touchdown run by Decorrin Thomas. After that, though, the Patriots struggled a bit offensively. A few costly procedure penalties did not help, but they took the 21-7 lead into halftime behind a 1-yard touchdown run from quarterback Bryson Kimbrough.

After a scoreless third quarter, Hillcrest really found its momentum in the fourth. Kahden Smith got things started for the Patriots behind a 7-yard touchdown run. That was followed by a 13-yard touchdown pass from Kimbrough to Jamarcus Prince, and Cockrell's score was Hillcrest's final of the night.

"I just felt like the first half we kept self-inflicting some problems with penalties, dumb football and we just stayed behind the chains," Mitchell said. "We are not thrilled for that. We need to stay on schedule, we need to get in short-yardage situations. We were able to do that in the second half, and we were able to finish some drives."

What's next for Hillcrest?

Hillcrest advances and will face Saraland next Friday in the quarterfinal round at Spartans Stadium.

The matchup will not be the first time the two have met with high stakes on the line. Two years ago, the Patriots defeated the Spartans 24-16 in the quarterfinals. Last year, though, Saraland defeated Hillcrest 56-31 in the second round of playoffs, eventually going all the way to claim the Class 6A state title.

This year, heading down to Saraland, the Patriots have the opportunity to get revenge on the Spartans for last year's loss.

"I think it's a game a lot of people want to see, and that a lot of people thought it would come down to that, and it has," Mitchell said. "There's no question (Saraland) is going to be favored, and rightfully so. But we are going to show up, I can promise you that."

Anna Snyder covers high school sports and University of Alabama recruiting for The Tuscaloosa News. Reach her at asnyder@gannett.com. Follow her on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, @annaesnyder2

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: AHSAA playoffs: Takeaways from Hillcrest's second round 42-7 win over Helena