Hoover defensive lineman Michael Nysewander (91) lays an immediate hit on Gardendale sophomore receiver LeRoy Stover (30), who had just caught a pass from Dallas Tidwell in the Rockets’ 29-7 playoff loss to the Bucs.

It wasn’t one of top-ranked Hoover’s patented routs.

But it wasn’t a miracle-of-miracles upset by visiting Gardendale.

It was something in between, but the Buccaneers maintained the upper hand throughout, capitalizing on Rockets mistakes to take a 29-7 victory Friday at Regions Park, in the first round of the 2010 AHSAA Class 6A playoffs.

Two first quarter special-teams miscues — a blocked punt by Hoover linebacker Ray Morris that was recovered in the end zone by cornerback Montez  Carlton, and a snap that went over punter Trey Wade’s head and out the back of the end zone for a safety — put Gardendale in a 9-0 hole before the Bucs offense even got in gear.

But when it did, the defending state champions were able to take control of the game, if not complete command. Two scores by pint-sized running back Justin McArthur — “J-Mac” to the Hoover faithful — on runs of 18 and 14 yards in the first half gave the hosts a margin of comfort on the Jumbotron scoreboard.

And they needed it, because the Rocket defense was having one of its best nights ever. They shut the Bucs down multiple times, including three big stands in the first half that kept the game within reach at intermission, and within doubt until very late in the game. Two of those stands came

“Let me tell you, our defense played tremendously,” Gardendale coach Chris Fancher said. “We put them behind the eight ball a couple of times, when we couldn’t make a first down on fourth and half a foot and another on a dumb call by the head coach. They handled it very well.”

Offensively, the Rockets had  their ups and downs. The Bucs shut down their rushing game, with only 26 yards gained for the game on 20 attempts. Running backs Christian Rogers and Christian Green were held to 28 and 27 yards, respectively.

But quarterback Dallas Tidwell, playing in what proved to be his final game in a Rocket uniform, stepped up. Despite several incompletions due to missed routes or dropped catches, Tidwell connected on 22-of-39 tosses for 255 yards.

His only scoring pass came on one of receiver Ja’Micheal Willis’ patented touchdown receptions. Tidwell threw to Willis about 15 yards away on the right sideline, then Willis dodged three Bucs defenders and ran diagonally across the width of the field, just getting inside the pylon for a spectacular 72-yard score.

The Rockets had other chances. On their second possession of the game, Tidwell drove the ball downfield efficiently to the Hoover 18. But the drive came up empty after a one-yard loss by Willis, followed by three incomplete passes including one into double coverage in the end zone.

Gardendale drove again to start the second half, as four Tidwell passes got the Rockets down to the Hoover 22, only to stall out on a Connor Eagan interception, the only pick allowed by the Rockets all night.

Hoover did what they had to do to win but not much more, which concerned coach Josh Niblett.

“We were a little lackluster,” Niblett said. “We didn’t play with the intensity and pride that we needed to. J-Mac had another game over 100 yards, but we just didn’t have a sense of urgency. We can’t do that when we go up against Spain Park next week.”

Hoover quarterback Ryan Carter was 17-for-28 with one fourth-down interception by Zac Smith, who then fumbled the ball right back to Carter to give the Bucs a fresh set of downs.

Carter’s only touchdown pass was to Jaylon Denson for six yards in the third quarter. Denson had eight catches for 110 yards.

Matt Oliver led the Gardendale defense with nine solo tackles and four assists. James Peterson added eight solos and three assists.