John Phillips — for The Birmingham News, August 29, 2009 12:21 a.m.

Senior quarterback Tripp Martin threw two touchdown passes to lead the Panthers to a season-opening Region 6 victory against the rival Eagles.

Martin’s scoring strikes covered 4 yards to Dominique Harris in the first quarter and 13 yards to Reed Bright in the fourth period.

Pelham took an early 3-0 lead on Cameron Haynes’ 43-yard field goal, following an Oak Mountain fumble.

Only four minutes later, Martin directed a 54-yard scoring drive, capped by his 4-yard pass to Harris.

Harris finished with 57 yards receiving and 40 yards rushing. Senior tailback Ryan Williams also had a solid game.

“We battled tough and the defense played incredible,” Williams said. “We are extremely close knit as a team and spend a lot time with each other outside of football. This is as close a team we have had in the four years I have been here.”

Panther defensive back Tom Williams was instrumental in the shutout with two interceptions and a fumble recovery.

“I’m pleased with the effort defensively and the way they fought,” Pelham coach Brett Burnett said. “Give credit to the kids from Oak Mountain, they kept battling to the very end.”

Oak Mountain, playing its first game under coach Jeff Harris, was paced offensively by Ross Ware’s 65 yards rushing.

Between all the schools, Upwards programs, Heardmont sports, and many others, there is a smorgasbord of athletic offerings in the Oak Mountain area.  Trying to keep up with them can be a daunting task!  All of them have hard-to-remember acronyms such as OMES, OMYBS, OMIS, OMHS, BASL, USASL, etc, and all have different web extensions.  Is it a .com, .net, or .org?  Confusion reigns when trying to find out what to do, and where to go – especially if you are looking online.

This site hopes to end the confusion.  We will have links to all the Oak Mountain area sports teams and events posted soon.  You’ll have only one name to remember when registering for Oak Mountain area sports teams – OakMountainSports.com!