Oak Mountain QB Will O’Dell hopes he will get a chance to play football at the next level. He is an excellent student with a 4.39 GPA and 31 ACT.By Rubin E. Grant
Before the start of the high school football season, second-year Oak Mountain head coach Shane McComb said senior dual-threat quarterback Will O’Dell would be a force.
McComb probably didn’t envision just how impactful the 6-foot-4, 210-pound O’Dell would be.
O’Dell accounted for 1,352 yards total offense and 11 touchdowns in the Eagles’ first four games.
“Everybody knows he’s a stud, man,” McComb said after O’Dell passed for 208 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 194 yards and a touchdown in Oak Mountain’s 38-28 season-opening victory against Briarwood Christian. “He’s a heck of a kid, a great player and one of the best I’ve ever coached.”
O’Dell was even more impressive the next week, producing 472 total yards and four touchdowns in a 38-20 victory against Pelham. He threw for 297 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 175 yards and two TDs.
Their 2-0 start meant the Eagles surpassed their win total of 2023 when they won their opener and didn’t win again, finishing 1-9.
Oak Mountain has come back to earth the past two weeks, falling 35-28 to Prattville at Heardmont Park and 42-7 at Thompson to open 0-2 in Class 7A, Region 3 play.
Still, O’Dell has continued to produce. He threw for 243 yards and a TD and ran for 121 yards and two touchdowns in the loss to Prattville.
Thompson, however, held O’Dell in check. He accounted for 114 (all passing) of the Eagles’ 189 total yards. He completed 12 of 14 passes, including a 7-yard touchdown to junior wide receiver Zach Fitzgerald on a tipped pass.
Despite the back-to-back losses, O’Dell is encouraged by how the Eagles have started the season.
“The season so far has been good,” O’Dell said. “It’s a tall task to go out and compete every week, so it’s a testament to what we’ve been doing all spring and summer.
“We have a lot of new offensive coaches and young players on offense. Last year we started a lot of sophomores and juniors. We had a lot of growth and now we’re starting to see the benefits.”
O’Dell credits his teammates for his sensational start.
“I’m really just trying to run the offense,” he said. “Our receivers have been making great catches, (junior running back) Marty Myricks has been running great and the linemen have done an incredible job of protecting me. It’s been the entire unit doing their jobs.”
O’Dell, who also plays basketball and baseball, has been a quarterback from the time he began playing football. He’s bigger, stronger and faster this season.
“I started playing in the seventh grade,” he said. “I’ve always been tall and now my body has started to fill in.”
O’Dell took over as the Eagles’ starter when was a sophomore. He describes himself as an experienced dual-threat quarterback and athlete with good size, a strong and accurate arm, deceptive speed – he runs a 4.5 40-yard dash – and strength, and an extremely high football/QB IQ.
O’Dell hopes he will get a chance to play football at the next level. He is an excellent student with a 4.39 GPA and 31 ACT.
“I’ve been talking to quite a few colleges,” O’Dell said. “I’m leaving it in the hands of my lord and savior, Jesus Christ. I know he has a plan for me.”
This week, O’Dell hopes the Eagles can snap their two-game losing streak when they host Tuscaloosa County.
“Getting in the playoffs is still our goal,” O’Dell said. “We’ve got plenty of season left. But our main thing this season is going out every day and gaining consistency and earning respect.”
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