Stover stands tall against rivals

By By Todd Thompson, Hartselle Enquirer
Just in case you wondered, Nikita Stover is still catching passes for the University of Alabama.
Sometimes lost in a corps of talented receivers, Stover sent a message that he still is an offensive threat for the nation’s top-ranked team.
Stover caught a 39-yard touchdown pass from John Parker Wilson in the third quarter Saturday to help spark the Crimson Tide’s 36-0 trouncing of Auburn at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa.
The play, originally a comeback route on a quarterback bootleg, helped the Crimson Tide stretch its lead to 16-0 with just 1:45 gone in the second half.
The Tide’s win means Alabama will take a 12-0 mark into the SEC Championship game this week against Florida.
The pass from Parker was Stover’s first touchdown catch since the Independence Bowl.
But more importantly, Stover’s touchdown made the game a three-possession game. Against Auburn, a team that had struggled to put points on the scoreboard all season long, the score was magnified even more.
So when Stover broke from his defender and hauled in the pass from Wilson on the way to the end zone, it was the first of several game breakers.
The Hartselle graduate had several key blocks in the win, including a seal block on a 41-yard touchdown run by Glen Coffee in the first half where he took two defenders out of the play.
During his career at Alabama, Stover has recorded two touchdown catches against Auburn.
But this one might have been his biggest. In his final home game at Bryant-Denny Stadium against Alabama’s biggest rival.
It doesn’t get much better than that.
Sports editor Todd Thompson can be reached at 773-6566 or at todd.thompson@hartselleenquirer.com