The Trussville Tribune – Kickoff Edition | The Trussville Tribune, 2022

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Kickoff Edition | The Trussville TribunePage 2 August, 2022 Champions!!! Thank you for making our community proud. We look forward to another great season in 2022! Becky Johnson, City Council, Place 1 Dean Kirkner, City Council, Place 2 Chris Nail, City Council, Place 3 Bo Johnson, City Council, Place 4 Orletta Rush, City Council, Place 5 Charles Webster, Mayor

Kickoff Edition | The Trussville TribuneAugust, 2022 Page 3 C lay -C halkville h igh S C hool CLAY-CHALKVILLE FOOTBALL 2022 Varsity Roster No. NAME POS GR No. NAME POS GR No. NAME POS GR 1 Kamari McClellan QB Jr 34 NaKarius Allen LB So 67 2 Mario Byrd WR Sr 35 Sonny Randolph DB So 68 3 Ormond Wallace DB Sr 36 Jaylen Cole LB Fr 69 4 Mario Craver WR Jr 37 70 5 Zac McCray RB Sr 38 Deon Callins DB Fr 71 6 DJ Barber LB Jr 39 Brayden Butler DB Fr 72 Jac'Qawn McRoy OL Jr 7 Matthew Yafondo LB Jr 40 Dezmond Kemp DL Sr 73 Cameron Cottrell OL Jr 8 Deion Gunn DB Jr 41 ArShaun Davis LB Sr 74 Shawn Welch OL Sr 9 Jaylen Mbakwe WR Jr 42 Cadell Averette LB Jr 75 10 Cameron Jones DB Sr 43 76 Adrian Custard DL Sr 11 Deantuan Matthews LB Sr 44 77 Jaylen Garcia DL Sr 12 Armarius Butler DB Sr 45 Patrick Smith DL So 78 13 46 79 14 Armarion Butler DB Sr 47 80 Roderick Alexander WR Jr 15 Christian Young WR So 48 81 Devian Moore WR So 16 Brannon Allen QB Fr 49 Avion Pickett DL Jr 82 Jaydon Stone TE Jr 17 Jabari Staples WR Jr 50 Tristan Jointer LB So 83 Justin Feggins TE Fr 18 Marlon Compton WR So 51 Anthony Carter OL So 84 19 Jeremy Billingsley DB Jr 52 85 Emory Brewster WR So 20 Ka'Reyon Allen DB Sr 53 86 Kamrin Jefferson WR So 21 Aaron Osley RB So 54 Brady Phillips OL Jr 87 Jalen McCloud WR Jr 22 Jakari Brewster LB Sr 55 Amari Holyfield OL So 88 Jaden Gordon TE So 23 Jamarqus Jones DB Jr 56 Pierre White OL Sr 89 Kumar Robinson WR So 24 Xavier Starks LB Fr 57 Jaden Jones OL Fr 90 Lincoln Moxey Jr. DL Fr 25 Allan Cotton RB Sr 58 91 Cameron Grant DL Sr 26 Kylon Stewart DB Fr 59 Darrien Griggs OL Sr 92 Marcus Underwood DL So 27 Coda Cooper LB Sr 60 93 28 Tyler Staples DB Sr 61 94 Jamon Smith DL Sr 29 Christon Black DB So 62 Jakari Foster OL Sr 95 30 TK Slaughter RB Fr 63 96 Randall Cole DL So 31 Bravis Cave Jr RB So 64 Adrien Spivey OL Jr 97 Devin Finley DL Sr 32 Isaiah Miles RB Fr 65 AJ Williams OL So 98 Mason Daniels DL Jr 33 Gage Richardson LB Sr 66 Mekell Green OL Fr 99 Coaching Staff Support Staff Drew Gilmer - Head Coach Klint Starling - Football Opps Adam Helms - DC Keith Rodgers - MS Head Coach Jake Helveston - OLB Dr. Christopher Carter - Team Physician Nick Andrews - CB Zac Berger - Athletic Trainer Gene Richardson - ILB Dusty Strickland - Film Coordinator Jake Hibbs - Safeties Tristan Webster - Film Assistant Derius McCall - DL Jordan Rush - Film Assistant Sean Watson - DL Joey Bennett - OC Zack Hart - WR / Pass Coord. Preston Hatcher - OL Kyle Dickerson - RB Heath McCoy - QB 8/19 vs. Briarwood 7 p.m. 8/26 at Hueytown 7 p.m. 9/2 vs. Pell City* 7 p.m. 9/9 at Pinson Valley* 7 p.m. 9/16 vs. Center Point* 7 p.m. 9/23 at Thompson 7 p.m. 9/30 OPEN 7 p.m. 10/7 vs. Huffman* 7 p.m. 10/14 at Oxford* 7 p.m. 10/21 at Shades Valley* 7 p.m. 10/28 OPEN A * denotes Region foe Clay-Chalkville 2022 Var sity Football Schedule Photo credit: Lifetouch

Kickoff Edition | The Trussville TribunePage 4 August, 2022

Clay-Chalkville reloads for 2022 season

By Bobby Mathews Sports Editor ALABASTER — ClayChalkville head coach Drew Gilmer knows his team has a target on its back. The Cougars are coming off of an undefeated 6A state cham pionship season and head into the 2022 season with fan and media expectations at an alltime high. But like many suc cessful teams, the 2022 squad will have to fill the void left by experienced upperclassmen. The Cougars replace quar terback Khalib Johnson with Oxford High School transfer Kamari McClellan. Rodreck us Johnson, who saw action at running back in 2021 will likely be expected to fill the void left by the graduation of Ed Osley. Jaylen Mbakwe will play both wide receiver and defensive back, and Mario Craver — who had a breakout season as a receiver in 2021 — returns for his junior season. "You don't replace those guys, per se," Gilmer said during an interview for Bir mingham metro area media days on Monday, July 11. "You take this team and you look at the guys you have here and you try to put them in the best spot to be successful. We've got a lot of talented players there, but it probably will be different. We don't have that big back like an Edward Osley like we did last year, but we've still got a lot of talented, fast skill guys. So it'll again be up to the coaches to see what we've got and kind of put all the pieces together." The Cougars will face a familiar foe in the second week of the season, heading to Hueytown to play the Golden Gophers in a rematch of the 2021 6A state championship game, which the Cougars won 46-42. They will again have to account for the Gatorade AllState Football Player of the Year, Golden Gopher quarter back Earl Woods. For Clay-Chalkville, there's talent sprinkled all over the field. But Mbakwe stands out as a leader that other players gravitate toward. "He's got a positive attitude and an attractive personality that people want to respond to," Gilmer said of Mbakwe. "Guys like being around him, and he does the right things. He's a great kid. He works, he's selfless, and on top of that he's a phenomenal athlete. He's a pretty good McLellanpackage."willbe huge ly important at quarterback, trying to put the ball into the hands of Clay-Chalkville's talented skill players. The ju nior moved to Clay toward the end of the 2021 academic year from"HeOxford.andhis family moved into Clay toward the begin ning or middle of spring this past year," Gilmer said. "We've been very impressed ever since he's gotten there with us. He's a good kid, works his tail off. Got a lot of skill, a lot of abili ty. Again, for him, he's learning new terminology, new process, and then speeding up his deci sion-making so that when the play happens he can execute. But we like where he's at." Defensively, the Cougars also graduated a great deal of talent, but 2021 All-State line backer D'Angelo Barber said he expects Clay-Chalkville to be strong again on that side of the ball. The Cougars pitched five shutouts on the 2021 sea son and two other times held teams in single digits, allowing only 15.9 points per game over the course of the entire season. "Last year they gave us the mindset of a nasty, aggressive, physical playing style," Barber said. "You don't want to have anything brought to you. You want to come take everything." That junkyard dog-tough mindset will be in full effect as the Cougars start their 2022 season on August 19 hosting Briarwood High School. Clay-Chalkville muscled its way to a 15-0 season and a 6A state title in 2021. (Photo by Ron Burkett) Clay-Chalkville heads into the 2022 season as the No. 1 team in 6A. (Photo by Ron Burkett)

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Kickoff Edition | The Trussville TribuneAugust, 2022 Page 5

A look back at Clay-Chalkville’s 2021 6A state title win

By Bobby Mathews Sports Editor BIRMINGHAM — Ed Osley ran for three touch downs in the first half and five overall, and Clay-Chalkville put Hueytown to bed for the second time this season to claim the AHSAA 6A football championship here, 46-42, on December 3, 2021. Osley ran the ball 28 times for 157 yards, while Mario Craver had six catches for 126 yards and a score. Khal ib Johnson was 15-for-19 for 251 yards with two touch downs and an interception. Marquarius White caught six balls for 81 yards, including a circus catch to keep a drive alive in the second half. For Hueytown, quar terback Earl Woods ran 31 times for 112 yards and a touchdown, while De’Andre Coleman ran for a pair of scores.Clay-Chalkville needed every point they could wring from their high-powered of fense, and the game wasn’t really decided until Nathan Owens recovered an onside kick with 17 seconds left. The Cougars started off strong defensively, stopping Hueytown on the Golden Go phers’ first two possessions of the first half, with Rodarius Sykes sacking Hueytown on back-to-back plays to force the second punt in as many possessions.Clay-Chalkville got the scoring started when Osley came out of a four-receiver bunch formation on the right, took a handoff and sprinted down the left sideline for a 33-yard score with 8:44 left in the first quarter. Johnson found Owens for the tw0point conversion and the Cougars led 8-0. But Hueytown came back with a 66-yard pass from Woods to De’Andre Cole man, who also caught the two-point conversion to tie things up with 5:26 left in the first. Osley scored again, this time from 13 yards out to put the Cougars back on top with 11:12, but Johnson threw an interception on the two-point conversion.Disaster struck on the next possession for the Cougars. Taking over at their own 10, the Cougars’ Johnson was sacked by Stevens Hicks and Jaden Thomas to put ClayChalkville behind the sticks. That’s when Keith Green stepped up and intercepted a screen pass at the 13-yard line. Three plays later, Cole man scored from the 1. The Golden Gophers missed their two-point attempt, and the score was tied 14-14 with 7:24 left in the half. The Cougars turned the ball over on downs at the Hueytown 6-yard line, and then forced a punt which was returned deep into Gopher territory by Mario Craver. Five plays later, Osley found pay dirt for the third time, and Clay-Chalkville went into the half up Osley,22-14.who had 92 yards in the first half alone, worked as the decoy for the next score, a 15-yard touchdown play-action pass from John son to Nathan Owens on third-and five play. Johnson then found Marquarius White for the two-point conversion and Clay-Chalkville went up 28-14. Hueytown answered with a 7-yard touchdown from Jakael Rowser with 3:29 left in the third. The two-point conversion was no good, and the Cougars clung to a 28-20 lead.On the ensuing drive, White made a circus catch to set up Craver on a 60+ yard catch-and-run. A face-mask penalty tacked on at the end of the play made it first-and-10 from the Hueytown 11. Os ley didn’t wait. On the next play, he took it all the way in for his fourth score of the game. The two-point try was no good, and Clay-Chalkville led 34-20 with 1:40 left in the quarter.Hueytown’s Woods found the end zone with 11:14 left in the game, and Coleman added a two-point conver sion to make it 34-28, ClayChalkville. The Cougars wouldn’t have the ball long on their next possession, as the Golden Gophers forced a fumble and recovered it at the Clay-Chalkville 45. Hueytown was helped on the ensuing drive by a rough ing the passer penalty, and Woods’ subsequent pass to Rowser took Hueytown to the 9-yard line for first-andgoal. Woods hit Mitch Tucker in the back of the end zone, but Coleman lost three yards on the two-point try, and the score was knotted at 34 all. Johnson got things going on the Cougars’ ensuing drive with his legs, running for an 11-yard first-down before finding Osley for a catch-andrun down to the Hueytown 27. After a great defensive play to deny a touchdown pass to Jalen Mbakwe, Os ley sped past everyone to score his fifth touchdown on the next play. The two-point conversion was no good, and Clay-Chalkville led 40-34 with 7:11 left in the game. The Cougars forced a turnover on the kickoff when a squib kick bounced off a Hueytown player. Then, with less than four minutes remain ing, Clay-Chalkville elected to go for it on fourth-and-one. Osley powered through the line, legs churning, and got past the first wave of defend ers for a 12-yard game. On the next play, Johnson hit Craver for a 35-yard touchdown pass to make it 46-34, Cougars. Woods led Hueytown down the field again, con verting a fourth-and-17 with a scrambling run through the Cougar defense. The drive was helped along with a personal foul against Clay-Chalkville that gave the Golden Gophers a first down at the 11-yard line. A Woods run to the five and a pass interference penal ty moved the ball to the twoand-a-half yard-line. A shovel pass to Coleman went for a first down to the 1-yard line, and Hueytown called timeout with 25 seconds left. On the next play, Coleman went up the middle on a direct snap for a score. The twopoint try was good, and with 20 seconds left in the game, Clay-Chalkville led 46-42. Hueytown tried an onside kick on the kickoff, but Ow ens recovered for the Cougars with 18 seconds left. John son knelt down, and ClayChalkville celebrated on the field. This story will be updat ed with statistics and quotes from coaches and players. All photos by Ron Burkett

Kickoff Edition | The Trussville TribunePage 6 August, 2022 0 Andrew Bishop DE • So. • 6' 0" • 205 lbs 1 Connor Rhodes QB • Jr. • 5' 9" • 121 lbs 2 Clayton Hollis Jr. 12 Riggs Dunn FS • Jr. • 5' 11" • 180 lbs 14 Kadarius Barnes Jr. • 5' 11" • 180 lbs 15 Colin Wadsworth Jr. • 5' 10" • 155 lbs 15 Jack Ollis WR • Sr. • 5' 10" • 155 lbs 23 Nicholas Hill OLB, WR • Sr. • 6' 1" • 185 lbs 24 Macon Gallant SS • Sr. 26 Micah Johnson CB • Jr. • 5' 8" 27 Rob Wright SS • Jr. • 5' 9" • 155 lbs 28 Kennedy Mitchell Jr. • 5' 9" • 175 lbs 30 GavinFSWilliams•Jr. 32 Camron Wynn CB • Jr. • 5' 5" • 123 lbs 32 Brooks White WR • So. • 5' 8" • 138 lbs 33 Donovan Price TE, RB • Jr. • 6' 3" • 220 lbs 34 Jackson Varner WR • Jr. • 5' 10" • 145 lbs 34 Max Sr.Herring 35 Braylon Chatman OLB, MLB • Sr. • 6' 0" • 200 lbs 41 Jaycen Horton SS • Sr. 43 Trey Potter RB • So. • 5' 7" • 142 lbs 48 Hunter Kyle RB, TE • Sr. 51 Aaron SimmonsJr. 52 BrentSr.Russell 53 AidanJr.Elliot 56 JackJr.Erwin 60 Trace Wilbanks G, C • Sr. • 6' 2" • 294 lbs 64 JamesJr.Wine 73 Kade Martin T • Jr. • 6' 4" • 295 lbs 75 Zach ChatmanJr. 80 Colby Blake TE • So. 81 Tarell Seals TE, WR • Sr. • 6' 4" • 210 lbs 84 Jeremiah Hill Jr. 86 Charles Borden TE • Jr. • 6' 0" • 172 lbs 87 Hopkins Long TE • Sr. • 6' 2" • 200 lbs 88 Carson Bowen TE • Jr. 88 Jadon Loving WR • Jr. • 5' 10" • 160 lbs 89 Nicholas Thach TE • So. • 5' 10" • 170 lbs 92 Tyrell Averhart Jr. • 6' 2" • 250 lbs 93 Conner Durden DE • Jr. • 5' 11" • 195 lbs 96 Mohammed Alabsi NG, DL • Jr. • 6' 2" • 250 lbs 96 Connor Knight DT, DE • Sr. • 6' 3" • 285 lbs Cooper DESo.BraxtonJacobSo.ChildressTriplettSuttonWellsSo.LeBlancSo.BrettMoseley•6'0"•150lbsCadeCollinsSo.JordanColleySo.JackCurtisSo.•5'7"DaneMcilwainSo.•5'4"•178lbsAustinPruetSo.StevenFisherSo.•5'7"•145lbsJasonTanSo.JakeButlerSo.VerdellSnider•Jr.•6'4"•185lbsParkerDotsonWR•So.OwenSewellFS•So.MichaelIgbinogheneSo.•5'10"•165lbsTJRogersCB•So. Nick Camp Jr. • 6' 1" Owen Robinson MLB • So. • 5' 10" • 190 lbs Braxton Brown Sr. • 6' 1" • 165 lbs Mason McIntrye So. • 5' 10" • 195 lbs Drake Jones So. • 5' 6" • 135 lbs Alijha Gardner So. • 5' 6" • 136 lbs Cameron Simpson So. • 5' 6" • 150 lbs Andrew Sandford So. • 5' 11" • 220 lbs Nico So.CBSo.MasonKylenSo.SugitaNewellSo.Holloway•6'1"•195lbsKerryHinton•5'7"•130lbsNoahDobbins•5'10"•140lbsStevenSigleriiSo.WilliamAlexanderSo.TrevorMoultrieSo.•5'11"•180lbsJonathanHoffman SS, FS • So. • 5' 6" • 130 lbs Jonah CarsonSawyerFr.JacksonJamesSo.ZeitvogelWR•Jr. 8/19 at Central-Phenix City 7 p.m. 8/26 vs. Gadsden City 7 p.m. 9/2 vs. Oak Mountain* 7 p.m. 9/9 at Tuscaloosa County 7 p.m. 9/16 vs. Hoover* 7 p.m. 9/22 at Huffman 7 p.m. 9/30 at Thompson* 7 p.m. 10/7 vs. Vestavia* 7 p.m. 10/14 at Spain Park* 7 p.m. 10/21 vs. Chelsea* 7 p.m. 10/28 OPEN Hewitt-Trussville 2022 Varsity Football Schedule h ewitt - t ru SS ville h igh S C hool A * denotes Region foe Photo credit: Belmont Studios

PROUD SUPPORTER OF HEWITT-TRUSSVILLE AND CLAY-CHALKVILLE ATHLETICS

Kickoff Edition | The Trussville TribuneAugust, 2022 Page 7

After a 9-3 campaign in 2021, the Huskies are set to take on a tough schedule in 2022, including 7A state finalist Central-Phe nix City in the first game, as well as another road trip to 7A state champion Thompson. (Photo by Bobby Mathews) Peyton Floyd takes over as quarterback for the Huskies for the 2022 season. (Photo by Bobby Mathews)

By Bobby Mathews Sports Editor TRUSSVILLE — It’s no secret that Hewitt-Trussville will have some adjustments to make on offense for the 2022Theseason.Huskies lost their starting quarterback, top two running backs, top two re ceivers, tight end and three starting linemen to gradua tion. Head coach Josh Floyd says the Huskies return only two or three starters on of fense, but return an experi enced core of defensive play ers.But the Huskies are not easing into the 2022 sea son. Instead, they’re starting off with a game on the road against 2021 state finalist Cen tral-Phenix City, and they’ll be relying on a talented group of underclassmen to lead the way when Hewitt-Trussville has the “Obviouslyball. we’re going to be replacing a lot on of fense,” Floyd said. “Trace (Wilbanks) is the only senior starting that’s returning. But, that being said, those guys have been running this sys tem since fifth or sixth grade. It’s not the same, of course. There’s nothing like Friday nights. It’s hard to get ready for Friday nights until you’re in it.”Quarterback Peyton Floyd, who started three games in 2021 while Cade Ott Carruth recovered from an in jury, will start behind center for the Huskies. Senior Rick ey Gibson III — nominally a defensive back — will also see playing time as a wide re ceiver.“Rickey has worked hard to get where he’s at,” Floyd said. “He’s got a lot of God-given natural ability for sure but I’ve been real proud of Rickey. He’s had a great offseason. He got stron ger. And even though he got stronger and put on a little bit of weight, he was still running the fastest times and jumping higher than he’s ever jumped. The thing about Rickey is that he has that speed that you just can’t coach someone to have. We expect to use him on offense, too, because he’s a guy who can go get the foot ball and we’d be silly to not at least experiment with that some.”And while there are not that many starters returning, many of the new faces step ping up saw significant play ing time last season. For Hewitt-Trussville, though, the early part of the season is going to come down to defense. As the offense finds its groove, it will be players like heralded defen sive lineman Hunter Osborne and linebackers Braylon Chatman and Hunter Jones who will contribute for the Huskies.

One of those players: Tyrell Averhart, who had 47 tackles and 13 tackles for loss and seven sacks as a sopho more on the defensive line. Coming into his junior sea son, Averhart will continue to be a key on the defensive line as opposing offensive line men key on Osborne. “Our program has prov en that we have guys step up every year,” Floyd said. “We’re really excited about where we are as a program right now. I think the future is really, really bright. We obviously want a state cham pionship. That’s the end goal. We haven’t done that yet, but I’m proud of where our pro gram’s at. Part of that is that you have to rebuild every singleAndyear.”then there’s Osborne, an intimidating presence on the defensive line at 6-4 and 255 pounds. He’s coming off of a junior season that saw him amass 60 total tackles, 10 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks. He was dominant enough upfront — even playing along side Finkley — that he’s garnered 53 college football scholarship offers. “Hunter had a great offsea son,” Floyd said. “And you mentioned guys that gradu ated. We lost about 30 guys to graduation. It’s hard to re place those kind of numbers but that’s why you have off season programs where what you do is get bigger, stronger, faster. But a lot of that is that you allow guys to step up and lead, and Hunter’s been one of those guys who has done a great job as a leader. The thing about Hunter is that he obviously has that God-giv en size. He’s got that length, those long arms. He’s tough to block, and we’ll probably do some different things with him as Osbornewell.”has now commit ted to play at The University of Alabama for his college career.

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“You talk about personnel. It’s hard to replace a Justice Finkley,” Floyd said. “How do you replace a guy like that. He’s pretty special. But we do have guys who we believe are going to step up and do a great job.”

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Hewitt-Trussville prepares for tough 2022 schedule

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Kickoff Edition | The Trussville TribunePage 8 August, 2022

Osborne is just the latest in a long line of Hewitt-Truss ville players who have com mitted to playing FBS foot ball and specifically in the ultra-competitive SEC. When Osborne hits the Capstone next season, he’ll see former teammates like Justice Fin kley (Texas) and Omari Kel ly (Auburn) on the schedule. The bonds between the Hus kies, forged over the course of seasons fought in the trenches of the most difficult region in Alabama (7A Region 3), played into recruiting as Fin kley and Kelly were extolling the virtues of their chosen schools to try to sway Os borne’s decision. “They tried to, they defi nitely did,” Osborne said. “I mean, Justice, he and I have a tight relationship. We’re boys, you know they called us ‘the Bookends.’ I went down to Austin and got to hang out with him. He got to show me Texas from his point of view. I was like ‘Oh my gosh, this is going to be hard to turn down.’ And, like, Omari ... and all of the Auburn boys, we’re tight. Every time I got to talk with them, it was like ‘This is going to be hard.’ And it was a tough decision, but I know I made the right one for Knight,me.” who has trans ferred back to Hewitt-Truss ville from Pinson Valley said that the Bulls were a great fit for Everythinghim. was just so amazing from the facilities to the dorms to the coaching staff,” Knight said. “They’ve been on me hard for about six to seven months, and I’ve been in a group chat with the whole staff, and I knew then I was a priority for coach (Jeff) Scott.”He chose USF over other teams like Arkansas, Florida State, Kentucky, Miami and South Carolina, who had all made verbal offers to him. Knight, a 6-1, 275-pound force in the trenches, is rat ed as a three-star prospect who can stop the run and get after the quarterback. With a 300-pound bench press, a 455-pound squat and a 485-pound deadlift, he com bines that power with lower body leverage to keep offen sive linemen in check. Knight is looking forward to his senior season with the Huskies, and said he feels right at home. “It feels great,” Knight said. “Same coaching staff, same family, same plays and schemes so everything is great.” He also fits in with Al abama commit Hunter Os borne on the other side of the line and junior Tyrell Aver hart, who enters his junior season after an outstanding sophomore campaign. The defensive front for the Hus kies is going to be stout. “It’s just as good as adver tised,” Knight said. “What’s fun about having all us on the same DL is since we’re in a four-man front, it’s gonna be so hard to stop us because there will be so many one on ones.”For himself, Knight wants his teammates and Huskies supporters that he’s going to put it all on the line, every game.“I want people to know I’m a leader who wants to win and I’m gonna compete at all costs,” he said.

D-line, D-1: Huskies’ Osborne & Knight commit to play college ball

Hewitt-Trussville’s Skylar Carillo, Connor Knight, position coach Dylan Haraway and Hunter Osborne. (Photo courtesy of Dylan Haraway’s Twitter.)

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By Bobby Mathews Sports Editor TRUSSVILLE — HewittTrussville’s defensive line is set to wreak havoc this sea son. Two of the four linemen the Huskies use on defense have committed to play col lege football with bigtime FBSForteams.Hunter Osborne it was a moment he had long waited for.The rising senior defensive lineman for Hewitt-Trussville had waited through much of his junior season to receive an offer from Alabama. Tex as, Notre Dame, Auburn, Georgia and Miami were only some of the 53 FBS programs to offer the 6-5, 260-pound Osborne a scholarship. The offer from the Crim son Tide finally came on Jan uary 22. Osborne made sure that the weeks and months waiting for it were all worth it on Monday, August 1, when he chose Alabama from a fi nal four that included Texas, Clemson and Tennessee. In front of around 200 friends, family, classmates and sup porters, Osborne lifted the crimson ball cap from the ta ble in front of him and chose Bama.“When the offer came through, it was go time,” Os borne said. “I had to look at all of my options, of course, and that’s what I did. But I always had Alabama in the back of my mind ... this is a big opportunity for me, a big moment in my life.” It has been a long journey for Osborne, who — though the Alabama offer was one that he wanted badly — still did his due diligence. He took his last official recruiting vis it on June 24, to Tennessee. And after talking things over with his parents, going over the pros and the cons and ev erything in-between, Osborne made a decision that almost seemed inevitable. And it was a conversation with his mom, Patricia, that helped seal the decision.“Mymom is literally my best friend,” Osborne said. “That’s the one person I go to with everything. Me and her have talked about all this type of stuff. It was like, ‘do you agree with this, do you agree with that?’ And yeah, we butted heads on some things but we came down to the agreement that this is where I need to be. Alabama is my home.”The stats tell part of the reason Osborne was such a sought-after commodity. In a junior season that saw Hewitt-Trussville go 9-3, Os borne had 35 solo tackles and 60 total tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks and 16 quarter back“Ihurries.thinkhe’s so tall and long,” said Huskies head coach Josh Floyd. “He has that God-given frame. But what makes him special is his work ethic. He’s put so much into this thing. He’s a humble kid. He’s hungry all the time, hungry for success. He wants to be great, and that sets him apart from a lot of guys.” Osborne credited HewittTrussville strength coach Brandon Herring for helping him put weight onto an orig inally lanky frame. When Osborne first showed up as a freshman, he weighed 150 pounds. Entering his senior season, he’s put 100 pounds on a frame that looks like it could carry more. “Our development is huge here,” Floyd said. “It’s a huge part of what we do here. We start working with these guys when they’re in youth foot ball and middle school weight program, like Hunter did. Coach Herring does a great job with our guys. It’s a big part of what we do here, and we take a lot of pride in it.”

Kickoff Edition | The Trussville TribuneAugust, 2022 Page 9 P in S on v alley F ootball r o S ter 0 Markeon Thomas K, P, WR • Fr. 0 Kaden Edwards WR • Fr. • 5' 7" 2 Tj Metcalf SS, FS • Sr. • 6' 1" • 185 lbs 5 Jacobi Jackson OLB, MLB • Sr. • 6' 1" • 220 lbs 5 Jeremiah Coleman FS • Sr. 6 Carlos Ivy MLB • Jr. • 6' 0" 29 Hayden Siddle FS, LS • Sr. • 5' 8" • 140 lbs 40 Joshua Rembert CB • Sr. • 6' 0" 40 Jaylon DENorwood 43 Josh MitchellDE 44 TaurusRBChambers•Jr. 51 Carson Moorer C • Sr. • 5' 8" • 270 lbs 55 JevontaDEWilliams 69 Braden Herring QB, K • So. • 7' 11" • 250 lbs 78 James Favareto G • So. 85 Davontae Adams WR • Jr. 90 Amyr Mccurdy 98 Damian Gonzalez K, P • Sr. • 5' 11" • 200 lbs Keywone Posey QB • So. • 6' 0" • 185 lbs Tevis Sr.JaylenRBMetcalf•Jr.Peterson•6'0"•175lbsJamisonGreenQBZachMatthewsJr.DamarcusPeeplesDE•So.TJCalhounDaylanHallG•Jr.MilesLeonardSo.MarcusDavisJaylanTyusSr.RecoEnglishNG•So.BarryThomasRB•Fr.TjStewartOLB•So.TaftPriceJr. Ian Sr.DeMarionRBWillis•So.Hatten•5'7"•180lbs Cameron Griffin DT • Sr. • 6' 4" • 290 lbs Brayden Robbins WR • So. TedariusSo.Powell Nilan WRDevonteRutledgeRedwine•Jr.•5'10"•138 lbs Ryan AlexandarSantanaSimmonsJamesG•Jr.RobinsonMLB•Jr.CoreyBarber WR, CB • Fr. • 5' 11" • 148 lbs Rashad Sager 6' 4" • 195 lbs Derrico Freeman WR, QB • Fr. Jamaricus Thomas QB • So. Joshua Woods RB • Fr. JamesFrankSo.PerdomoLorinoC•Fr. Matthew Childs CB • So. Gabe Lando Phillip QBCameronThomasJennings•Jr.•6'0"•236lbsDemarcusWaldrop Nick Heflin JacarlosRodJr.IvyJr.HunterQB•So.JeffreyFomby WR • Jr. • 6' 0" • 180 lbs Jaylen ZaccheausByronWRJohnson•Jr.QuatesAllenG,C•Fr.JoshuaAllisonSr.JaiyanTolbert RB • Sr. • 6' 2" • 210 lbs Steve Newton Jordan Bothwell CB, WR • Fr. Toni JohnWRGonzalez•Sr.Moriarty 8/19 at Florence 7 p.m. 8/26 vs. McAdory 7 p.m. 9/2 OPEN 7 p.m. 9/9 vs. Clay-Chalkville* 7 p.m. 9/16 vs. Oxford* 7 p.m. 9/23 at Homewood 7 p.m. 9/30 vs. Huffman* 7 p.m. 10/7 at Center Point* 7 p.m. 10/14 vs. Shades Valley* 7 p.m. 10/21 at Pell City* 7 p.m. 10/28 OPEN Pinson Valley 2022 Varsity Football Schedule A * denotes Region foe P in S on v alley h igh S C hool Photo credit: Iron City Studios

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By Bobby Mathews Sports Editor PINSON — New coach. New quarterback. New run ningThat’sbacks.the storyline for Pinson Valley heading into the 2022 football season. There’s a little bit of mystery surrounding the Indians, and new head coach Lee Guess is enjoying keeping people — including the media and Pinson’s opponents — a little unsure.The Indians have a new starting quarterback, sopho more Keywone Posey, who stepped into Zach Pyron’s shoes last season while the now-Georgia Tech player was in concussion protocol. Posey won two of three games for Pinson Valley as a freshman and kept the Indians in the playoffTalentedhunt.

File photo

receiver Amare Thomas, who is committed to Virginia, will offer some steady leadership on the of fensive side, while sources say defensive back T.J. Met calf will also see some play ing time on the offensive side of the ball. “I don’t know where you heard that,” Guess said, not willing to show his hand be fore the season begins. But Guess has an intimate famil iarity with the Pinson Valley program. He’s been an assis tant coach there for several years, and he was the offen sive coordinator for the Indi ans for the last two seasons. “I think it helps, you know, being there,” Guess said. “And that’s one thing, it didn’t bother me (coming in as the new head coach) be cause I knew who all of the all of the upcoming seniors that needed to be in those roles. And I was just wanting them to see, it was going to have to be them stepping up and wanting to fill in those shoes instead of us telling them to fill in their shoes. And that’s been the only kind of chal lenge I pose towards them. Because I’ve been around a lot of good teams.” This year’s version of the Indians is stacked with talent, and part of that is that players have been patient while oth ers have had their own oppor tunity to play and show out. “And you know, the more players you have that go in and go out, everybody gets to wait their turn,” Guess said. “And that’s how it’s been for any sport. And I’m glad it’s worked out the way that it has, you know. It’d be really difficult if I came into a total ly new program as a first-year head coach, and not be there, I would have to evaluate ev erybody. But I know what the two (meaning Thomas and Metcalf) can do. And I know what a lot of other guys who haven’t had a chance to really be on the field and hold their own and say, This is who you got to stop week in and week out. Or this is who we’ve got to prepare to go against week in and week out. And I know they’re hungry for able to kind of put their name out there and let people start see ing them fill the shoes with a lot of the D one and D two players that we keep pumping out.”The Indians play in 6A Region 6, and over the last five years every 6A state champion has come from that region — including Pinson Valley three times. “This region is home. Yeah, I mean, I was lucky enough to get a chance to play in the SEC, and it was the same thing that it is ... week in week out, you have a team that is potentially able to knock you down and put you behind in the SEC, east or west, and there’s a goes your stock for the champi onship. So that’s what I was used to playing in. And that’s why I came back to Birming ham, and have tried to put myself surrounded with a lot of the teams that are contin ually having to do that any way. So it doesn’t bother me ... may bother a lot of other teams who get put in the re gion.” That level of competition is something that Guess and the Indians crave. “But I enjoy that ... it’s just something that we’re used to. And that’s what I know, our guys always lock into it every year,” Guess said. “They’re not looking at who do we got to play there just so to say, are we going to be able to be ready for that game that is going to deter mine if we can actually step over that hurdle and deserve that walk to the champion ship or not?”

The Indians made the playoffs with Posey behind center.“I took the gamble to say, let’s go with our backup who I thought was ready, and who just stepped up and ba sically made a pass down the field and put us in a chance to score. And so that let me know that the stage wasn’t too big for him already. And so we took two games with him as a starting quarterback. And he wasn’t coming out. And he knew it. And I made the game plan to where he was com fortable around him.” And, of course, this year the expectations are even higher for Posey and the rest of the Indians. But it’s the kind of pressure they’re used to. PInson Valley senior defensive back T.J. Metcalf. (Photo from the AHSAA)

Kickoff Edition | The Trussville TribuneAugust, 2022 Page 11 Found e d in 1 97 6 ASSE In te r na t ional Stude n t E xchan g e P ro g ra m is a Pu b lic For privacy r e as ons phot os above ar e not phot os of actu al stude nts Host an Exchange Student Today ! I N TER N ATIO N AL ST U DE N T EXC H A N GE PROGRA M S N TER N ATIO N AL ST U DE N EXC H A N GE PROGRA M Hanna from Germany, 17 yrs excited to learn new sports while in America. Giorgio from Italy, 16 yrs. ing playing the guitar. Karen at 1-800-473-0696 host.asse.com or email info@asse.com ( for 3, 5 or 10 months) Enrich your family with another culture. Select an exchange student from over 70 different countries. All families are welcome to apply! Make a lifelong friend from abroad Indians know what it takes to win in 6A

terback. Zach Pyron is gone, and the reins of the offense are now in the hands of a sophomore, Keywone Posey, who came in and started three games as a freshmanafter Pyron was injured in a loss against Jackson-Olin. “I was training a fresh man to be able to be a back up to a D1 quarterback, and it happened in a way that nobody wishes it does but Zach got hit in the head, and we wanted to be protective,” Guess said. “We said ‘You know what, we know you could come back a little ear lier and the doctors are okay with it ... but I don’t want you to. I said I want to be as clear as we can to where we are ready for the playoffs with you.”

By Bobby Mathews Sports Editor PINSON — Don’t for get: The Indians know what it takes to win. They’re only a little removed from their 2020 6A state title win, Pin son Valley’s third in a span of fourTheyyears.play in the toughest region in 6A, along with two other teams — reigning 6A state champs Clay-Chalkville and Oxford — who have won a state championship in the past five years. This is big-boy football, and new head coach Lee Guess knows it. “We’ve had coaches and players that have seen it, been there before, and that’s the difference that I want,” Guess said. “I know this team’s wanting to take their own route there and to where they want to be. They’ve seen people take a team to the championship. But now it’s their turn to actually have to walk through it, and to be that team that goes to the champi onship. And that’s every, you know, year for any team.” Teams that have reached that level know what it takes to get back there. Guess knows it firsthand, as he coached under Patrick Nix and Sam Shade at Pinson Val ley, and won state titles with both of “Youthem.know, for Clay, for Thompson, for whoever is going to try to take another shot at it, I want to play the best,” Guess said. “And if we didn’t have anybody in our region to give us a true challenge of identity, are we really ready? I would kind of be a little actually hesitant for our team, because I want to see how we are early on and I’m glad we get to play you know, one of the best teams in the state in our third game of the WritersstatecurrentlyThat’sseason.”Clay-Chalkville,rankedNo.1intheintheAlabamaSportsAssociation6Apreseasonpoll.Aswithanyheadcoach,therearesomeunknownsgoingintotheseason.HowwilltheIndiansreacttocertainsituations?Howwilltheyreacttothepressure?Butonethingiscertain:PinsonValleywantstogetbacktothetop of the mountain. After falling in the quarterfinals of the 6A playoffs last season, there’s unfinished business. “Yes, of course, I know that feeling that I had when we lost the last game of the season,” said defensive back T.J. Metcalf. “And we don’t want to feel that again. So I got that chip on my shoul der to never get beat like that again. And if we do get beat, knowing that we put everything online, because from what the score (last year) said, we didn’t put ev erything online. But no, I got that mindset, we go out there and win by any means neces sary. So I believe that’s what we’re gonna do.” One of the big differences this season will be at quar

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Kickoff Edition | The Trussville TribuneAugust, 2022 Page 13 1 Alex Cox OLB, DE • Sr. • 6' 0" • 215 lbs 3 Brady Seaman So. • 6' 0" • 150 lbs 4 Kayden Jeffrey CB • Fr. • 5' 8" • 130 lbs 5 Jackson Bennett CB, FS, SS • Sr. 5 Drake Digiacomo WR • Jr. • 5' 10" • 145 lbs 7 Jake Conner SS • So. • 6' 1" • 170 lbs 8 Noel Cox CB, WR • Jr. • 6' 0" • 155 lbs 8 Brady Caldwell WR • Fr. • 5' 10" • 135 lbs 8 Cole Tittle RB, OLB • Jr. 9 Parker Mcadams OLB, MLB • Sr. • 6' 1" • 195 lbs 9 BrodyDEGoolsby•Jr. 9 Mack Trucks Sr. • 5' 10" • 135 lbs 10 Reese Darnell OLB • Sr. • 5' 11" • 145 lbs 10 OwenQB,PrickettCB 10 Ryan King 11 BaylorOLBSandlin•Sr. 12 Aaron Frye QB • Fr. • 7' 0" • 300 lbs 12 Garrison Gooch OLB • Jr. 13 Waydon Lett WR • Jr. • 5' 9" 13 Waydon Lett WR • Jr. 13 Waydon Lett WR • Jr. 13 BetsySo.Parrish 14 Collin Lockhart WR • Sr. • 6' 3" • 185 lbs 15 Asa MorrisonQB 15 Payne Bryan MLB, OLB • Sr. 16 Hudson Hobbs WR • So. 17 Ransom Wingate WR • Sr. 19 Bryce Byrd FB, RB, WR • So. 20 Cody Ingram FS, SS • Jr. • 5' 8" • 125 lbs 21 Jonathan Robinson MLB, OLB • Jr. 21 Parker Zann CB • Fr. • 5' 5" • 130 lbs 21 Landon Griffin CB • Sr. 22 Jackson Allen WR • Jr. 24 Mason Gore RB • Jr. 26 Dayten Montgomery TE, G • Sr. • 5' 11" • 186 lbs 26 Brock Sharit Sr. • 5' 7" • 155 lbs 28 Seth Jones WR, CB • So. • 5' 6" • 127 lbs 29 TuckerSr.Cayse 31 Elijah Schultz CB, RB • Sr. • 6' 0" • 164 lbs 33 Ashton Merchant DE, NG, DT 33 Colby Ellis 34 Cole Black RB • Jr. 35 Jacob Bickerstaff WR, FS • 6' 0" • 172 lbs 35 Josh MLBHonnicutt 35 KaydenOLBHanrahan•Jr. 37 LoganMLBBlalock•So. 38 Kody Forsythe 40 Bronson Thrasher CB • So. 42 Justin Jones FB, RB • Jr. 44 Toxey Voudrie WR • So. 48 Jackson Wildinger MLB, OLB • Sr. • 5' 9" • 165 lbs 49 Cooper Tibbs OLB, TE • So. • 5' 11" • 182 lbs 50 JanaDEDuke 50 SamDTLambert•Sr. 50 Caleb Adams MLB, FB • Fr. 51 DaytenCMontgomery•Sr. 54 Chandler Chancellor G, T • Sr. 58 BryanSr.Cachon 65 SladeGWyatt 66 Brodie Ginn G, NG • Jr. • 5' 9" • 250 lbs 75 MatthewSr.Cherry 77 Brenden Mccain NG, DT • Sr. • 6' 0" • 295 lbs 77 Jeremiah Lawson DT, T • Jr. • 6' 0" 86 Walker Cole TE • So. • 5' 10" 87 Jacob Blandamer 90 David oliver DT • 230 lbs 99 Andrew WRJaMaarJaxonMarkSr.CarrollJonesCouchMLB•Sr.JoshuaHoWR•Fr.HollowayWR•So.ReedWallace•Fr.•5'8"•143 lbs ReidenFr.Darnell Jamil ZacharyAustinBradyColeJohnMuhammadDTDogilG•So.CorkrenWitcherSethMoodyBromleyCBCooperLandSr.GolightlyWRAndreBrown5'6"•115lbsClaytonMartinJosephGlennChrisBondsG,T,OLB Steve Thornton G • So. Nathan Baldwin T, G, C JamilLeviMuhammedHoward RB • Fr. • 5' 11" • 130 lbs Christian Dorsett 5' 3" • 120 lbs Armon Boshell Aden Ruple WR • Fr. DaytenLoganAlexMontgomerySr.HollandSwansonFr.KurtisMoorePatrickCone5'8"•160lbsNathanHurtJacobColeBrodieEskewSS,FS•Jr.JakeIsbellWR•Jr.JaxonCouchBenPayne TE • Fr. • 5' 10" • 140 lbs Zeland Bond T, G, C • So. Taylow Blackwood Wyatt Emanuel T • Jake5'JaydenFr.Ward5"•115lbsYarbroughFB,TEBradenMinton WR • Sr. • 5' 6" • 147 lbs JacksonJamariDEBryantCash WR • Jr. • 5' 8" • 180 lbs Gavin Webber RB • Fr. Brodie Nolan Boaz Thornton QB • Fr. • 6' 0" • 138 lbs Brennen Cambron TE • Fr. • 6' 1" • 160 lbs Wes Couch T • Fr. 8/19 at Etowah 7 p.m. 8/26 vs. Mortimer Jordan 7 p.m. 9/2 at Leeds* 7 p.m. 9/9 vs. Southside-Gadsden 7 p.m. 9/16 at Alexandria* 7 p.m. 9/23 vs Oneonta 7 p.m. 9/30 at Moody* 7 p.m. 10/7 vs. Lincoln* 7 p.m. 10/14 OPEN 10/21 at St. Clair County* 7 p.m. 10/28 vs. Pell City 7 p.m. Springville 2022 Varsity Football Schedule A * denotes Region foe S P ringville h igh S C hool

Springville

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embraces challenges that 5A class brings

By Bobby Mathews Sports Editor SPRINGVILLE — If there’s one thing Springville offensive line coach Chris Mills knows, it’s that this group of Springville players is capable of rising to the challenge.InJon Clements’ second year as head coach, the Ti gers face another change: They’ve been re-classified to 5A, competing in Region 6 against traditional rivals like Moody and Leeds, and facing off against familiar county foes with more than bragging rights on the line. “These guys went through a gauntlet the last two years. In 6A, they played some re ally good teams in the North east region of Alabama, you know, and they gave Oxford all they wanted last year. I think they won four or five games in most of them throughout the year. That was Coach Clements’ first year there last year. So as far as battle testing goes, we got a lot of guys who were on the field last year that we’re re ally going to be counting on this year. And we’re looking forward to it.” Mills said that the Tigers start off by seeing a familiar foe: Matt Clower, who left the defensive coordinator po sition at Clay-Chalkville after the 2021 season to take over at Etowah.“Game one with Etowah, Matt Glover is the head coach,” Mills said. “They’re very familiar in that Coach Clements and I were both of fensive coordinators for him at Pinson Valley several years back. So you know, I’ve known coach Glover since I moved to Birmingham. He hired me when I moved here in 2010.”Working with Clements at Springville has been a blast, Mills“I’vesaid.been on the offen sive side of the ball 18 to 19 years I’ve been in coaching, and I’ve coached everything on offense, and I actually haven’t coached offensive linemen in about 15 years. I’m having a blast,” Mills said. “You know, I’ve actu ally known Coach Clements personally for, I don’t know, seven or eight years. This is the first time we’re actually working together. And more than his expectations as a coach, I wanted to come work with him because of who he is as a person, who he is as a husband as a father. And the things that me and him think are important are very much in line.”Springville will see an other familiar face when they play“IEtowah.believe he (Glover) just hired Coach Woody, who was the linebackers coach of Springville last year,” Mills said. “So there’s a lot of fa miliarity there. In game one, you know, obviously, their personnel we don’t know a lot about. So that’ll be some thing we’ll be we’ll have to kind of figure out as we go.” And Mills said he’s real ly looking forward to play ing Mortimer Jordan in the second game of the season. Mills came to Springville from Mortimer Jordan, where he was the offensive coordi nator.“You’ve got two schools who, the players are athlet ically very similar. You’re gonna match up really well,” Mills said. “Two small com munities that have really grown over the last decade. And it should probably be a game that’s played year in and year out. You know, you’re only about 20 minutes from each other, 30 minutes from each other. Both com munities love football and support their teams really well.”

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New faces for Springville, but same old rivals await By Bobby Mathews Sports Editor SPRINGVILLE — It’s a season of change for the Springville Tigers, who head into the 2022 campaign with a new quarterback behind center.Asa Morrison will take over as the Tigers’ signal-call er, and close friends on the team believe he’s just the young man to lead the offense. “We’re pretty good friends,” Springville wideout Noah Wilcox said. “And I mean, I trust him with the ball a lot. Like, I want him back there. And so I like when he’s back there a lot.” The offense will look a bit different this season with Morrison behind center. “I feel like this year the for mations are a little different,” Wilcox said. “Like, we’re just about everything. And I’m just gonna keep on playing.” Even with a new starting quarterback, it’s going to be hard to think up new wrinkles that opposing coaches on the schedule haven’t seen before, especially with coaches and players who are familiar with one“It’sanother.St. Clair County Schools. You know, we’re in the same system so again a lot of familiarity,” said Springville offensive line coach Chris Mills. “The prin cipal at Moody, I’ve known for a long time andI thought he made a great hire with Coach (Jake) Ganus. He brings a lot of experience: played in col lege at UAB, played at Geor gia, been a coach at Thomp son. That has a lot of flash to it. He brought some guys with him, I think he’s got an assis tant who played in the NFL who is coaching with them again this year. I think it’s al ways good when a school in St. Clair County is good or winning games.” For the Springville play ers, that Moody game is always fierce. In 2021, the ending of the game got a little chippy between both teams. “I think that one’s gonna be a rough football game,” Tiger linebacker Kayden Hanrahan said. “I mean, I think everybody’s gonna go out there and just hit, hit, hit and just not stop until the whistle blows. Maybe some afterwards.”TheMoody rivalry means a lot to the Springville play ers, clearly, but Mills said that he doesn’t want them to focus on the Blue Devils yet. “That’s far enough down on the schedule right now, you know, we got a lot a lot to worry about before we get to them,” Mills said. The Tigers know that, but there’s a palpable ex citement in the air. Before the season starts, there are games on the schedule that really get the players moti vated. Like the first one at Etowah.“Imean, for me, it really is Etowah for the first game because our old linebacker coach went there,” Hanrahan said. “Obviously I love him. He’s been my favorite coach. And so it’s kind of I just want to just be able to talk to him after the game and just rub it in his face a little bit.” Offensively, Wilcox says he’s going to try to stay set tled and not look ahead to the next“I’mteam.just one game at a time,” Wilcox said. “I’m not looking that far into the schedule. So I’m just like, when the first game gets here the season takes off. And then second game comes when that one’s done. Keep it roll ing.”

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Kickoff Edition | The Trussville TribunePage 16 August, 2022 M oody F ootball r o S ter 1 A'mon Lane CB • Jr. • 5' 11" • 175 lbs 2 Cole Mccarty QB • Sr. • 5' 11" • 190 lbs 2 Chase Jackson FS, SS • Jr. • 6' 2" • 175 lbs 4 Davion Dozier WR • Sr. • 6' 4" • 200 lbs 5 Blaine Burke WR, RB • Jr. • 5' 8" • 175 lbs 6 Aidan Robinson WR, CB • Jr. • 5' 11" • 165 lbs 7 Zane Smith QB, MLB • Jr. • 6' 2" • 195 lbs 7 Zane Smith MLB, OLB, QB • Jr. 8 Charlie Kitts DE • Jr. • 6' 1" • 185 lbs 9 Marshall Teofilo MLB • Fr. • 5' 10" • 165 lbs 9 AJ Wallace QB • Sr. • 5' 11" • 160 lbs 11 Dewayne Logan WR, MLB • Sr. • 6' 3" • 185 lbs 11 Abram Jackson RB • Jr. • 5' 7" • 170 lbs 12 Kellen Talley CB, FS • Sr. • 6' 1" • 170 lbs 14 JacobMLBHadaway•Jr. 14 Braden Wright WR • So. 14 JacobMLBHadaway•Jr. 15 Eric Vance WR, CB • So. • 5' 9" • 135 lbs 16 Caden Cofield SS, FS, CB • Fr. • 5' 8" • 140 lbs 17 Ryder Carpenetti RB, CB • So. 17 LucasFSRay 20 Lou Bearden OLB • Jr. • 5' 8" • 157 lbs 21 Josiah Dozier RB • Fr. 22 Jagger Ludolf MLB • Fr. • 5' 7" • 160 lbs 23 Sidney Walton CB • So. • 6' 2" • 175 lbs 24 Carson Dillashaw DE, TE • Sr. • 6' 6" • 230 lbs 25 Jaylen Rhetta SS, C • Fr. • 6' 0" 26 WillMLBFisher•Fr. 28 Caleb Barber WR, TE • So. • 6' 2" • 160 lbs 29 Samuel Deschamps WR • Fr. • 5' 10" • 138 lbs 30 CarterCBMitchell•Fr. 30 Tyler Mussleman FS • Jr. • 5' 8" • 117 lbs 31 Hayden Bowman FS, CB • Jr. • 5' 10" • 140 lbs 32 Keelan Jackson SS, FS • Fr. • 5' 10" • 150 lbs 34 Jon Cade Carroll TE • Sr. • 5' 7" • 175 lbs 37 Caleb Goree RB • So. 38 Colton Jackson NG, DT, DE • Jr. • 5' 10" • 190 lbs 40 Luke Hayes DT, DE • So. • 5' 10" • 195 lbs 41 Brody Grimes FS • Fr. • 5' 10" • 140 lbs 43 Junior MorenosuarezK•Jr. 44 Simon Molay DE • So. • 6' 2" • 190 lbs 45 Caleb Rhoten CB • So. 45 Jeffery Hopper DE • So. 47 GavinWRCunningham•Fr. 48 Carnell Jackson CB • So. 48 TravisCBMcClendon•Jr. 49 Sawyer Comans MLB • Fr. • 6' 0" • 154 lbs 50 Mason Myers T • Sr. • 6' 5" • 265 lbs 53 Jackson Randall G, T • So. • 6' 3" • 290 lbs 55 Ben Rothe C • Sr. • 6' 0" • 220 lbs 56 Pete Johnson G, T • Sr. • 5' 11" • 271 lbs 57 Max Myers G, T • Fr. • 6' 0" • 180 lbs 58 Jaxon Huckeba G, C • So. 59 Ethan Nichols DT • Sr. • 6' 1" • 220 lbs 60 Caleb Griffin DT, NG • Sr. • 6' 0" • 290 lbs 61 Cameron Mallory DT • Fr. • 5' 11" • 230 lbs 62 Grant Atkinson C • Jr. • 6' 0" • 250 lbs 63 TristanMLBSheridan•Jr. 64 Jt Steber G • Sr. • 6' 0" • 260 lbs 65 Austin Owen T, G • Fr. • 6' 0" • 191 lbs 68 Logan Hall DT, DE • Jr. • 6' 1" • 210 lbs 70 Jared Newton T, G • So. • 5' 8" • 228 lbs 72 Caydon Smith C, G • So. • 6' 0" • 260 lbs 73 Brennan King T, G • So. • 5' 9" • 236 lbs 74 Braden Bankston G, T • So. • 6' 2" • 272 lbs 75 Eli Walker DT, DE • So. • 5' 10" • 206 lbs 77 JbTMyers•Fr. 78 Cayden Ingram G, C • Fr. • 5' 4" • 183 lbs 81 Fisher Beard WR • So. 88 Ryder Hixson DT • Fr. 95 Izaiah Hatch DE, DT • So. • 6' 1" • 200 lbs JonahIssacFr.WilliamsBell 8/19 at Pell City 7 p.m. 8/26 vs. Sylacauga 7 p.m. 9/2 vs. Alexandria* 7 p.m. 9/9 vs. Cleburne County 7 p.m. 9/16 at Lincoln* 7 p.m. 9/23 at Shelby County 7 p.m. 9/30 vs. Springville* 7 p.m. 10/7 at St. Clair County* 7 p.m. 10/14 vs. Leeds* 7 p.m. 10/21 vs. Southside-Gadsden* 7 p.m. 10/28 OPEN Moody 2022 Varsity Football Schedule A * denotes Region foe M oody h igh S C hool Photo credit: PPG Pics

By Bobby Mathews Sports Editor MOODY — The message from Moody High School has been pretty simple since new head coach Jake Ganus has taken the helm of the football team.The Blue Devils are not lookingDon’tahead.ask about rivalry games. Don’t think about how they’ll finish in the regu lar season. Don’t worry about the playoffs. It’s a coachspeak mantra: One game at a time. But coaches for Moody say that this sense of singular purpose that they’re currently using will benefit the team in the long run. “Our goal, you know, ev eryday getting up is not nec essarily just making a deep run. We try to instill a man tra that it’s it’s be better than you were the day before,” said offensive coordinator Erik Kuykendall. “And just finding the little things to do in that regard. Whether it’s attacking the weight room, whether it’s attacking the field, whether it’s attacking film, whether it’s attacking, stretching and recovering, and whatever you got to do on a daily basis, instead of really looking at that big zoomed-out picture. What can I do today to control it? And so that’s really all we fo cus on is that day to day basis typeThismentality.”focuson what it will take to be great today rather than tomorrow means that the Blue Devils — who finished one game out of the 5A play offs in 2021 — aren’t looking at last year, Kuykendall,either.like Ganus, was an assistant coach at Thompson prior to coming to Moody. So far, he said, the experience has been great. The Blue Devils turned out more than 90 student-athletes for the spring. Those num bers have been winnowed down a little, but the players who have stuck it out makes this Moody team one of the largest in school history. “When when God opens the door, sometimes you feel you feel in tugging on your heart. And I thought this would be a great opportu nity for me and my family,” Kuykendall said. “And of course, I love Coach Ganus. And when he first approached me about it, I didn’t really think much of it because I loved where I was at. I loved coaching for Coach (Mark) Freeman, and the kids and the community. And Alabas ter was a great, great place. I never thought I would leave there. But like I said, God opened that door. And I felt the tug and had the desire. So I knew it was time to make thatTheleap.”coaching staff doesn’t want to talk about whether the Blue Devils can make the playoffs — of course they believe that they can — or whether they can make a deep run. Instead, they continue to focus on daily and mea surable improvements. And part of the team’s success this season will be because of the leadership of a senior class that has taken its lumps in the past but has stuck together through the hard times and is poised for the good times. “Well, one of the things that that I think is speaks volumes is that a lot of these guys have been playing var sity for multiple years. And so that tells you kind of the caliber of the kids and play ers that they are,” Kuykend all said. “And so a lot of the names that you mentioned, whether it’s skill positions or offensive linemen, a lot of them have seen seeing varsity playing time. The only cave at is anytime there’s turnover on a coaching staff or a po sition coach or a coordina tor position? Obviously, you kind of get into well, what? What kind of scheme are you in? What are the X’s and O’s going to look like? What are the techniques is going to be? What are we focusing on? What can we do well not do well. So that’s been fine to look into and dive in and try to work on to try to do what, what we feel our players puts them in a position to be suc cessful.”Moody travels to Pell City on August 19 to start the sea son. File photo

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Moody heads into season with renewed purpose

wel comed the Moody players in over the early practice season, allowing the Blue Devils on the field around 4 p.m. on the days they bused over. “It’s been kind of a long process,” Clay-Chalkville head coach Drew Gilmer said. “I’ve known Jake (Ganus, Moody’s head coach) since he was at Thompson and then he got the job there at Moody. Long story short, my fatherin-law is the president of the school board over there in St. Clair County, so there was that connection there.” Gilmer offered Ganus any help he needed when the for mer UAB and University of Georgia linebacker took over the Blue Devils’ program. So when it was evident that the current Moody facilities wouldn’t be sufficient to run spring practices for a roster that has ballooned to more than 100 players, Ganus took Gilmer and the Cougar pro gram up on that offer. “When I got the job at Moody, he reached out and said ‘Hey, if you ever need anything, let me know,’” Ganus said. “So we got to talking a little bit more, and he’s one of the best head coaches in the state so I lean on him for advice on lots of things, not just Xs and Os but a lot of program and organi zational stuff.”

Linda Crowe Matt Morris Lynn Taylor Ellis Key City Council Nick Rutledge

For his part, Gilmer wel comed the chance to help. “We said that ain’t no problem at all,” Gilmer said. “Anything that we can do to help and give the kids a good experience, we’re all for it.” When the Blue Devils got a firm start date for their turf installation, Ganus knew that his team would need more room to have the kind of prac tices he wanted to run. “For us to be efficient with our numbers right now, we can’t practice on our practice field,” Ganus said. “We have to practice on a 100-yard full practice field, so Coach Gilmer was my first call.”

Practices moved fast for the Blue Devils, as Ganus and his assistant coaches ap proached the sessions in an organized, disciplined man ner. Players moved quickly from station-to-station all over the field, without much wasted time or effort. “They really have treated us like you teach your kids to treat your guests,” Ganus said. “I mean, it’s been really nice. We’re obviously super grateful for him and ClayChalkville.”

JoeMAYORLee

An unusual spring: Moody upgrades meant Blue Devils head to Clay-Chalkville for practice

Moody High School's football team did much of their Spring training workouts at Clay-Chalkville High School. (Photo by Bobby Mathews)

By Bobby Mathews Sports Editor CLAY — The Moody High School Blue Devils looked at home during spring drills, even though the loca tion was unfamiliar. The Blue Devils have been displaced this spring due to improvements to their football field, where grass has been torn up and is be ing replaced with artificial turf. Instead, they practiced at a nearby location — ClayChalkville High School — on several days this Clay-Chalkvillespring.

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Kickoff Edition | The Trussville TribuneAugust, 2022 Page 19 0 Nicholas Davis FB, RB • Jr. • 6' 2" • 224 lbs 1 Sam Lollar QB, OLB • Fr. 2 Zj Dale RB • So. • 5' 8" • 160 lbs 4 Jeremiah Hunter RB, OLB • Sr. • 5' 10" • 194 lbs 5 Dorian Hunter CB • So. • 5' 9" 5 Jarod Latta QB • Sr. • 6' 0" • 185 lbs 6 Kavion Henderson DE, WR • Jr. • 6' 3" • 233 lbs 7 Devonte Megginson MLB • Sr. • 5' 8" 7 Chris Burge DT • Jr. • 6' 2" • 250 lbs 8 De’Marion Keenan WR, CB • Sr. • 5' 10" • 159 lbs 11 Rylan Rose TE • So. • 6' 2" • 195 lbs 12 Caden Orrick WR • Fr. • 6' 1" • 130 lbs 13 Cj Douglas SS, FS • Sr. • 5' 11" • 190 lbs 15 Christian Simmons CB • Sr. • 5' 9" • 155 lbs 16 Conner Nelson QB, OLB • So. • 6' 0" • 180 lbs 20 JD Hardy WR, FS • Sr. • 6' 0" • 155 lbs 21 JakoreyDEMendenhall•Jr. 22 Zavier Dale T, RB, WR • Fr. 26 Christian Howard RB, OLB 26 Miles Jones RB • So. • 5' 8" • 150 lbs 27 Treven Williams 27 Tristan Miller RB • Sr. • 5' 5" • 150 lbs 28 Nash Jones T, RB • So. 30 Jacob Calvin WR • So. • 6' 0" • 155 lbs 36 Grayson Ford FB, TE • So. • 6' 2" • 219 lbs 38 Jackson Arthur K, P • Sr. • 5' 10" • 150 lbs 44 Devin Johnson DE, T • 6' 3" • 210 lbs 50 John Larson C, G • Sr. • 6' 1" • 215 lbs 59 Joseph Stone DT • Jr. 64 Taylor Pulliam G, T • Jr. • 6' 0" • 220 lbs 69 Devin Ravizee T • So. 71 NoahJr.Davis 77 Carlos Plascencia T, DT • So. • 6' 1" • 232 lbs 80 Caden Belter MLB, MLB, MLB • Sr. 91 Micheal Turner DT • Sr. Nick Nilsen Jax Garner C • Fr. Miles CAngeloBrandonCBAshfordMitchellDT•So.StringfellowSS•Sr.TreRiggsSeanHicksDT•Jr.JesusHernandezC,G•Fr.JeremiahHall•Jr.•5'8"•150lbsJohnathanBowlinCB,FS,SS•So. Josh Lee Kole Ryan Blane GavinArderienSr.BrasherEllisCBBowlin T • Fr. • 6' 5" • 220 lbs CliffordFSHenderson•Sr. Ray AngeloNateMiddlebrookRB•Jr.Williams4'9"•135lbsStringfellowWR,SS•Sr.JohnThomasDT•Fr.DavidLunaLelandMinchewOLB•Sr.ColbyDysonSr. Hayden Cofield Kole Ryan DE • Sr. Jackson McEntyre FS • Jr. • 5' 9" • 152 lbs Julian Reed DE • So. Hunter Scott SS • Jr. Luis MylesJoshOLBLazaro•So.MyersBowlin DT • So. • 6' 0" • 240 lbs Nathan Davis FS, SS • Jr. Wilson Beasley T, G • So. Jaelyn Felder WR, RB • So. • 5' 8" • 147 lbs Jhaquae Willis Taylon Gaiter QB • Fr. • 5' 3" Cameron MLBDE,DaltonZaineSr.SimmonsHoodWR•Jr.DempseyDT,NG•Sr.B.J.DavisTikemFittsRB•Jr.TuckerSummers•Sr.•5'10"•180 lbs Alex TerrenceNehemiahOLBBradford•Sr.LeeRB•Fr.JonesRB•Jr.WillThomasSSJacobCalvinJr.ElijahLewisDE•So.WillFord TE • Jr. • 6' 0" • 152 lbs Luis JaxonMasonMLBLazarro•So.JohnsonRB•So.ArmstrongG•So.SamTurnerWR•Jr.LadaviousSmithJr.CashArmstrongJaydenWilliamsDT•So.RyderChambers5'9"•145lbsFredricCarterRB•Jr. 8/19 at Mortimer Jordan 7 p.m. 8/26 vs. Pell City 7 p.m. 9/2 vs. Springville* 7 p.m. 9/9 at St. Clair County* 7 p.m. 9/16 OPEN 9/23 at Sylacauga 7 p.m. 9/30 vs. Southside-Gadsden* 7 p.m. 10/7 at Alexandria* 7 p.m. 10/14 at Moody* 7 p.m. 10/21 vs. Lincoln* 7 p.m. 10/28 vs. Center Point 7 p.m. Leeds 2022 Varsity Football Schedule A * denotes Region foe l eed S h igh S C hool

Leeds remains in 5A Re gion 6, and some region foes will feel familiar: Moody, Al exandria and St. Clair County all return in the region, while Springville was reclassified as a 5A program and will now be a region foe. “I think it’s better,” Hood said. “We schedule in such a way before the region (games) that we are playing as tough a teams that would play us, and we do that on purpose. We want to play bigger schools with more numbers and all that kind of stuff because I think that just makes you better.”

Leeds finished 10-2 in 2021, and this season they’re facing an even tougher 5A Region 6. (File photo)

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The Green Wave sees a familiar foe to end the regu lar season, however, as Cen ter Point — a former region foe — will take on Leeds on October“George28. (Bates, Center Point’s head coach) and I couldn’t find anybody else to play, and they said we were supposed to have 10 games,” Hood said, laughing. “We like playing those guys because they’re so athletic and they do such a good job coaching them … wish it wasn’t Week 10, to be honest with you.”

By Bobby Mathews Sports Editor LEEDS — Green Wave head coach Jerry Hood didn’t waste a lot of time looking ba ck at the Green Wave’s 2021 campaign, where Leeds went 10-2 and finished second in 5A Region 6. “Last season’s over,” he said. “Each team is an enti ty unto itself. I thought last year’s team did a good job not letting the year before — which was a very successful season — kind of creep in there … we’re built on the foundations of hard work, having a proper attitude. We’re going to give our kids the best opportunity in every game to win the game, and if you do, you do, and if not, we’re going to play the next game.”

The Green Wave will use Jeremiah Hunter as a running back, replacing the graduated Rametrius Yelverton, while Conner Nelson will see a good bit of action at wide re ceiver. CJ Douglas will again be a force in the defensive backfield, while superstar re cruit Kavion Henderson will anchor the Leeds defensive line. Look for Henderson to draw double teams for much of the season, which will like ly allow Chris Burge to have a big season.

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The region is going to be tough, and part of that is that there are tough rivalry games ahead, including Moody and Alexandria.“Now,there is a little bit of a risk with that, but when you go down through our re gion, I think when you look — like, Moody will be on a high this year. We could see that coming last year. Adam (Wallace) had those guys go ing in the right direction. And those kids are now seniors, and they’ve got some new ad ditions and all that. They’ll be a strong team. Alexandria will always be a strong team. They are Whileloaded.”the Green Wave defeated Moody last season, Leeds lost the Region title to Alexandria. But those two aren’t the only dangers in the revamped region. “ … then you get to Lin coln, Southside Gadsden, Springville and those type of teams … they’re all quality teams,” Hood said. “There’s no off-week now. Which I kind of like to be honest with you, because you gotta wake up, play your game, lick your wounds, and move on.”

Quarterback Jarod Latta enters his senior season as a fouryear starter for the Green Wave. (File photo)

Jarod Latta will return as quarterback for his fourth year as a starter under Hood. “Jarod is an outstanding person,” Hood said. “He’s come a long way. He took a lot of coaching really quickly when he was a ninth grader, and he’s grown from that. He understands our offense inside and out now. He gets all our kids in the right place. He’s improved his leadership skills, especially verbally, because he just doesn’t natu rally want to be the show of the room. But he has a great leadership style.”

For Leeds, Green Wave just keeps rolling

File photo

LET'S GO - HAVE A GREAT SEASON!

By Bobby Mathews Sports Editor LEEDS — Leeds began its season on the road in a jamboree game against 6A Helena on August 11. No, the final score didn’t matter. Here’s what did: Leeds showed up, on the road, helmed by an experi enced quarterback but with questions in the running game and at wide receiver. The turnover is normal — players graduate every year — and Leeds head coach Jerry Hood began the process of finding out what the Green Wave of 2022 will really be like. Hood expects his team will be disciplined, play smart and make good deci sions on and off the field — the hallmarks of a Jerry Hood team.“That’s what that’s what the high school setup is de signed to do,” Hood said. “A kid graduates and a new kid comes in his place. We feel very good about the peo ple that are coming behind them. And when you have a program, the goal is, you know, these kids get to play and they have their time and the next guy is ready. We’re always looking, you know, five years down the line to be honest with you and see what where we think we can go, put people in the right places so that there’s never really a big gigantic fall off. You just continue on with what you do and put them all in the right place and let them play.” Hood expects his team will be disciplined, play smart and make good deci sions on and off the field — the hallmarks of a Jerry Hood team.“We believe in certain things. You’ve got to be physical to play football, and if you don’t have discipline, you know, there’s a lot of games where instead of 10-2. you end up, you know, eight and three, something like that,” Hood said. “So we try to be perfect on all the things we can control. We control our effort, we can control all the discipline about penalties and all that kind of thing. I think the thing that we want most, as far as football goes is to never get too high, never get too low. When when we should be a certain level and we lose we should be close to that same level, understand ing it’s a journey and then you get in the playoffs and try to make a run. This will be Hood’s fourth year leading the Green Wave. By now, the expectations of the program have been set. “So the maturity of all these guys now that we’ve been there for three years, they understand our work ethic,” Hood said. “They understand how we practice how we play games, and then just keep your composure and keep on keeping on and good things will happen for you. So all of us believe that. And I’m I’m dang proud to be with them because they’re fantastic kids.” The Green Wave will de pend on the steady leadership of senior Jarod Latta, who is entering his fifth year playing for Leeds. He played as an eighth grader and then start ed as a freshman. For the past three seasons, he’s been an important part of the Green Wave’s success. “He started some games as an eighth grader and then you see his progression from the ninth grade, his ability to take me and me being in his ear pretty heavy, and he has just grown, grown grown,” Hood said. “He knows ev erything we do. Offensively, he takes care of the football. And now he’s developed his body, and even shown the ability run a little bit. So we think that’ll be an added feature for Jarod this year. I think he’s just done a fine job. And he’s not really a vo cal leader, but he’s a leader. So he stays within himself and uses his brain and his arm and his legs a little bit to lead us. So we’re happy to have him back because he has a lot of game experience. That’s a big deal.”

In year 4, Leeds players know what Hood expects

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David Miller, Mayor Kenneth Washington, District 1 Eric Turner, District 2

Johnny Dutton, District 3 Angie Latta, District 4 Devoris Pierce-Ragland, District 5

Kickoff Edition | The Trussville TribunePage 22 August, 2022 1 Harold Holloman WR • Sr. • 5' 9" • 170 lbs 1 Noah Steen MLB • 5' 10" • 225 lbs 2 Jalen Smith CB, WR • 5' 11" • 180 lbs 2 Kemarius Horne FS 3 Rodrellas Smith WR • 5' 9" • 148 lbs 3 D'Ontae Eatmon RB, WR • 5' 10" • 205 lbs 3 Jabez Eaton QB, FS • 6' 0" • 145 lbs 4 Jayvon Jones WR, FS • Sr. • 6' 0" • 185 lbs 4 AntonioWRReese 4 Jayson Jones WR, QB 5 Jahmari Steele-Johnson SS, SB • 5' 9" • 175 lbs 6 Deon Moore FS, CB • So. • 6' 0" • 165 lbs 6 Jaylen RaeQuaen Taylor RB, MLB • 5' 11" • 218 lbs 7 Troy Bruce Jr RB, SB • Sr. • 5' 8" • 170 lbs 8 Rafael Portis WR, RB • 5' 6" • 145 lbs 9 Jordan Pickens WR • 5' 6" • 142 lbs 9 Kaleb Parker Holt MLB, TE • So. • 6' 0" • 170 lbs 10 Robert Blanco CB • 5' 8" • 155 lbs 10 Jabari Collier QB, WR • Sr. • 6' 1" • 175 lbs 11 Gerrell Perry QB • So. • 5' 9" 11 Tamarkus Judkins WR, SS • 6' 0" • 175 lbs 12 Nicholas Starks RB • 5' 5" • 134 lbs 13 Vernon Jackson WR, CB, QB • 6' 0" • 163 lbs 13 Jonathan Dudley QB, WR • 6' 4" • 175 lbs 13 VernonWRJackson 14 Jordan Jackson T, DE • Sr. • 6' 2" • 230 lbs 14 DeMario Hicks Jr. OLB, TE • Sr. • 6' 1" • 225 lbs 15 Jacobe Myricks WR, CB • Sr. • 5' 9" • 150 lbs 15 Everett Johnson WR, QB • 5' 11" • 155 lbs 18 Chrys Cox WR • 5' 8" • 150 lbs 18 Camron Bonner SS, MLB • Jr. • 5' 8" • 160 lbs 19 Ah'monte Summers WR • Sr. • 5' 6" • 122 lbs 20 Jeremiah Bishop FS, SS • Sr. • 5' 10" • 160 lbs 21 Jaylen Amison SB, CB • Sr. • 5' 10" • 170 lbs 22 Simmeon King FB, OLB • 5' 10" • 180 lbs 23 Antonio Garfield So. • 5' 8" • 150 lbs 24 Antwone Brown RB • Jr. 24 Kejuan Brown RB, MLB • 6' 1" • 225 lbs 26 Joshua Simon RB • So. • 5' 5" • 171 lbs 27 Anderson Womack RB, WR • 5' 7" • 167 lbs 28 O'Marion Nelson RB • Sr. 30 Darryl Baity OLB • Sr. 31 Tyrik King OLB, RB • Sr. 32 AlontaeDEWatkins 33 Khalid Collier MLB, OLB • 6' 0" • 220 lbs 33 MelvinSo.Bike 33 Samuel Nelson MLB • Jr. • 5' 8" 34 Eric Jones MLB, OLB • 5' 9" • 180 lbs 42 ZadenDEJones 44 David Lee MLB • Sr. 45 Kemarion Gloss WR 46 WillieTENixon 50 David Lee G 52 Myron Eatmon G • Fr. 54 Demaria Jones T • 6' 0" • 200 lbs 55 Louis Parrish T, NG • 6' 3" • 280 lbs 55 Gerald Perry DE, G • Sr. • 5' 11" • 250 lbs 56 Jackie Hurst Jr. G, DT • Sr. 57 Javon Brooks T, NG • 6' 0" • 325 lbs 60 DietrickDTSmith 60 Zamir Jones T, G • 5' 9" • 250 lbs 61 Brandon Levitt G, NG • 5' 9" 61 Julian Peterson T, DT • 6' 0" • 220 lbs 61 B'Carii Pope NG • Jr. 62 JaquanDEBurgess 64 Jaheem Nathan DE, C • Jr. • 5' 8" • 215 lbs 70 Trayvion Chapman G, SS • 5' 10" • 185 lbs 71 Ronald Grayson DT • 6' 1" • 250 lbs 74 JamesSo.Edwards 75 JaylynG,RaineyT 77 WillieFr.Kimble 82 Stefron Terry WR • 5' 8" • 140 lbs 83 Kamareon Washington WR, CB • 6' 0" • 147 lbs 85 Brian Keeylen WR • 5' 1" • 116 lbs Allen DecardiusKelvinDEFrazierRembertDE•Sr.MartinCBDenorrisMinceyWR,CBJamariJohnsonCB•So.MekhiBrownWR•Jr.JacarlosHunterQBTerenceTubbs FS, WR • So. • 6' 0" • 183 lbs Shamar Blair CB, QB, WR • Fr. Javiyeen MLB,MykuanWRCahmariKendariusTaylorBlairT,DT,DE•Fr.Osborne•6'0"•155lbsAmonLewisOLB•Sr.KenyonBrownDERichardsonCBDenzelHolderT•6'5"•325lbsJacoriusHarrellMalikBrownTE•Jr.•6'1"•205 lbs JaquanMarioDTMccurdyClarkJr CB • Sr. • 5' 11" • 169 lbs Chadstin JevontaeGThomasTurnerMLB•Jr. Omarion Nelson RB • Sr. Jacaleb Smith So. • 5' 9" Randall T,TE,CBDeNarriusKelvinKalebRBDavisPharrisThompsonQBNasirLewisDE•Jr.CrawfordFr.•5'9"•156lbsRonaldKingFS•Jr.KevinMooreRB•Sr.DamitriDavisWRDurrellCammackJr•So.•5'5"•125lbsRoderickHintonRBDatonJacksonSSDerrickDukeCBKingMcWilliamsWRJayshaunIrbyWR•Fr.JayveyonJohnsonDE•5'11"•267lbsJoelLewisWR•Sr.MahkiSmithG•Sr.ZaccheusHamiltonG•Jr.DevinDejarnettSo.JeremiahHillT•Sr.JuliusFinnersonRBKaliqYoumasCBCedricColemaWR•Fr.DesmondYoungbloodDE•So.•6'0"DevinMaghoumbouDevontaeHaglerWR•Sr.KeymonSteele-JohnsonCB•Sr.JohnathanHallOLB•Fr.Jai'MourynFullerDT•So.•6'0"•250lbs 8/19 at Jasper 7 p.m. 8/26 vs. Aliceville 7 p.m. 9/1 at Huffman* 7 p.m. 9/9 vs. Pell City* 7 p.m. 9/16 at Clay-Chalkville* 7 p.m. 9/23 vs Fairfield 7 p.m. 9/30 at Shades Valley* 7 p.m. 10/7 vs. Pinson Valley* 7 p.m. 10/14 OPEN 10/21 vs. Oxford* 7 p.m. 10/28 at Leeds 7 p.m. Center Point 2022 Varsity Football Schedule A * denotes Region foe

Kickoff Edition | The Trussville TribuneAugust, 2022 Page 23

Center Point ready for all comers in move to 6A

By Bobby Mathews Sports Editor CENTER POINT — The Eagles are used to being underdogs. It’s a familiar role for Center Point, which moves up to Class 6A in 2022 and joins powerhouse pro grams like Clay-Chalkville, Pinson Valley and Oxford in RegionCenter6. Point went to the quarterfinals of the 5A state championships in 2021 after being unranked for the entire season, ending up 9-4 overall and 5-2 in 5A Region 6. By the end of it all, though, the Eagles had proven that they were one of the top eight pro grams in the 5A. Center Point had proven itself, and was one of the teams to watch in 5A for 2022. Then came reclassifica tion, and now the Eagles must prove themselves again. “I’m a 6A guy,” Bates said. “My staff knows it. My kids know it. I love 6A because I think it’s the most competi tive class top to bottom.Truth be told, we’re in a pretty good region … it provides local fla vor to our region. You know, being in 5A, we had to trav el a good bit. It was hard to form rivalries. Now with half of the region being within 20 minutes of Center Point, to me that’s what I’m excited about.”The Eagles will rely on a core group of seniors that have been building for mo ments like this. Jabari Collier will again start at quarterback after a junior season where he truly became a leader at quarterback. Former all-state running back Troy Bruce will carry the load on the ground, even though he admits that Collier is actually the faster of the“Hetwo.may actually be fast er than me in the 100,” Bruce said, “but I’m more explo sive.”

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Bruce, who wears his coach’s old number, 7, is “the best back, pound for pound, in the state,” Bates said. The numbers bear that out. As a junior, Bruce played in 12 games and carried 198 times for 1,579 yards and 26 touchdowns. But the number that’s most impressive for Bruce is 0. That’s how many times he put the ball on the ground for the Eagles. “He never fumbled,” Bates said. “Never put the ball on the ground one time all season.” And that’s despite a turf toe issue that kept Bruce out of practice for most of the second half of the season. “I think the Clays and the Pinsons, you know, the teams that have been in the playoffs the last couple of years … I think it’ll be a great opportu nity and a great experience to play against some of those,” Bruce said. “They put their pads on just like we do.” In the passing game, Col lier will rely on Harold Hol loman and Therman Moore at receiver.“The thing with Harold is, he’s so talented,” Bates said of Holloman. “He’s proba bly got the best ball skills of any student-athlete I’ve been around. So in the past he had to play both ways, and that took a lot out of him. But this year he’s predominantly go ing to be our go-to receiver.” But Holloman’s skills are strong enough that he will still see limited playing time at defensive back when called upon.The Eagles know that the competition will be stout in a region where three teams have combined to win the last five 6A state titles, and they know they’ll be expected to proveButthemselves.theEagles aren’t scared.“We know it’s a tough re gion, but we’re a tough ball club,” Bates said.

Kickoff Edition | The Trussville TribunePage 24 August, 2022 Find everything you need for your Fall foliage, gardens, natural area and home enhancements at Hilltop! Fresh baked pies, brownies, and other delicious homemade treats - including cookies as big as your face! Mulch, gravel, dirt, and sand available; we even deliver! The famous Mr. Kenneth planting tomato seeds with care. Hilltop 205-452-2563Farms 1028 US HWY 11 Trussville, AL 35173 Follow us on Facebook for weekly updates and specials! Fresh arrivingavailable,producemoreweekly. Mums and pumpkins for your festive fall decorations. Breakfast & Lunch Local Produce Fresh SpecialCateringBakerySeasonalPlantsGardenMeatCenterDecorEvents

By Bobby Mathews Sports Editor CENTER POINT — Ja bari Collier kept the Center Point Eagles within striking distance of Pleasant Grove during the quarterfinals of the 2021 5A playoffs. With Pleasant Grove keyed on Troy Bruce and limiting the standout running back to only 54 yards, Collier scored two running touch downs and threw another as the Eagles kept the Spartans on their toes deep into the third quarter of Friday night’s quarterfinal 5A playoff game. Collier got the scoring started with 8:40 left in the first quarter, when he ran the ball in from one yard out. The Eagles re-took the lead when he ran 24 yards to pay dirt on their next possession. Over all, Collier ran for 195 yards and passed for 59 more on 7-for-14 attempts. He hit Therman Moore for a 15-yard score to bring the Eagles within a touchdown on the first drive of the second half, but Center Point could get no Thisfurther.isthe second time this season Collier has been named The Tribune’s Player of the“He’sWeek.the fastest kid on the team and he’s our sec ond-leading rusher,” Center Point head coach George Bates said of Collier earlier this season. “He’s becoming a more vocal leader, and he’s explosive.”Collier and the Eagles have adjusted to a new scheme that takes advantage of Center Point’s speed and athleticism.“Earlyon we had a new offensive coordinator, new system, and that system is a good fit with his talent” Bates said. “Now he (Collier) un derstands that he is the focal point of what we’re doing. He touches the ball every play, and he’s a threat for us on ev ery down.”

After the loss to Pleasant Grove, Collier was stoic on the sidelines. The end of the season hurt, as the Eagles felt they had more they could have accomplished. But this was a team that went 9-4 and made it into the quarterfinals of the 5A playoffs, proving that Center Point has made major strides as a program. Collier was in his first full season as quarterback, and according to his coaches, he made tremendous progress at the position. He enters his senior season in brand-new territory, as the Eagles fly into the 6A classification, and into Region 6, where the last five 6A state champions have beenOfcrowned.course,the Eagles also have the joker in the deck: Bruce at running back is a game-changer who provides another dose of real speed — and an added element of shift iness in the backfield. How good is Bruce? In the 2021 playoffs, Bruce ran wild in the first round, a road game against East Limestone. He posted 368 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns in a 66-36Centerwin. Point opened the scoring with a 36-yard touch down pass from Collier to Harold Holloman with 9:42 to play in the first quarter. East Limestone tied the game at 7-7 on a 40-yard pass from Gage Hill to Barrett Brown with 6:09 remaining in the first and then Bruce took over. Bruce scored five of Cen ter Point’s six rushing touch downs in the first half, scor ing from 60, 18, 24, 1 and 66 yards. Collier added a 24-yard touchdown run in the second quarter as Center Point built a 45-7 halftime lead. Bruce’s sixth rushing touchdown, a 42-yarder, came with 8:27 left to play in the Allthird.told, Bruce ran 19 times for 368 yards and six scores. When the Eagles’ of fense is working, Center Point can pile up the yards and the points against East Limestone, Center Point finished with 580 yards of total offense. The Eagles proved them selves in 5A in 2021. Now the 2022 campaign in a new, tougher class and region, be gins.

Center Point’s star running back, Troy Bruce, enters his senior season for the Eagles. (File photo)

Bruce, Collier are 1-2 punch for Center Point

Center Point quarterback Jabari Collier has been working diligently to improve in the passing game as the Eagles move up a classification to 6A. (File photo)

Kickoff Edition | The Trussville TribuneAugust, 2022 Page 25 James D. Stewart, Mayor John London, District 1 David Spivey, District 2 Cindy Cuellar, District 3 Robert Box, District 4 Aaron Sims, District 5 IT’S TIME TO TAKE THE FIELD, MOUNTIES! We wish you the best of luck this season!

Kickoff Edition | The Trussville TribunePage 26 August, 2022 2 Jacob6'Mahand3" 4 Quincy Crawford CB • So. 5 Alfonso Weathers WR • 5' 9" • 170 lbs 5 Jacari Wedgeworth QB • Sr. • 6' 4" • 218 lbs 6 Christian Thomas Sr. • 5' 6" • 154 lbs 8 Matt PartridgeSr. 8 Malique Steele Sr. • 6' 2" • 175 lbs 9 J’Caius Moore QB • Jr. 11 IsraelWRHoward 12 Steven Sigler II RB, WR, CB • So. 13 Tyree Hines CB • Sr. • 6' 0" • 175 lbs 14 Kordae Harper 15 Torez McCall 16 Dacorion Thomas 5' 11" • 170 lbs 18 Clayton Garrison QB • 5' 9" 19 JiQuez Daniel WR • So. 20 Kendall Odom WR, CB • Jr. • 6' 0" • 165 lbs 21 Sephan White 25 Dreyden Foster 27 New Player 27 JordanJr.Johnson 29 Darrell Brooks jr SS • So. • 6' 0" • 182 lbs 29 Jacaryous Burrow CB • So. 30 DavidJr.Ware 31 Coach Freddi Smith CB 32 Kaleb Tolbert FB, TE, DE • Sr. 33 Dorien Dansby OLB • Jr. • 5' 10" 34 JoshMLBMoore•So. 34 New Player 37 Chris Major 38 ElijahJr.Allen 38 Josh AndersonWR 39 Nick Mack 39 DaruisSr.Ford 40 Parker Porrill FS • Sr. 41 Caleel Holifield Sr. 42 Harrison Robinson OLB • Jr. • 5' 6" • 143 lbs 43 Derice Johnson DT • So. 43 Nathan Lavender MLB, LS • Sr. • 5' 11" • 200 lbs 48 New Player 49 Carlos Ford 50 Johnny Steele DT • So. 51 Tithe-Raymond Byrd DE, NG, OLB • Sr. • 6' 0" • 210 lbs 53 Antarrius Sanders G, C • Sr. 56 Marek Saliba DT • Jr. 57 Kordell Steele Sr. • 6' 3" • 225 lbs 58 Chris Ingram So. • 5' 10" • 240 lbs 62 Julian Maddox C • So. • 5' 8" • 200 lbs 64 BryanTBlackwell•Jr. 65 David Hunter 66 Keshawn Wilson 5' 6" • 240 lbs 71 Jamarion Campbell 5' 11" 72 Tripp Clements 5' 10" • 140 lbs 73 Orlando Lowman T • Sr. 80 New Player 84 Jeffrey Fomby WR • Jr. • 5' 11" • 160 lbs 84 Chase Miller K, WR • Sr. 86 Ryder Dean WR • Sr. 88 WuilmanKGuerrero 88 New KayviyanAustinPlayerSheaTyrusBlackRiley-stallingsKorda’eHarperBralenHartFB,MLB•Jr.Ja'koriThorntonSr.IsaiahRiggsRB•So.BrantleyEarlyJr.CalvinCurringtonRB•Jr.•5'8"•200lbsZayBoldenQB•So.LelandMinchewJaylonLathamJeremiahGlennJalenGreenMohamedToureSr. Darrin Roscoe Dj MLBDTChristopherBrooksIngramPeytonKiddT,G•So.RashadMorrisSr.JustinStephenSteveBrownQB•6'2"•200lbsluanielambeySr.KeshawnMngramWR•So.JaylonSkinnerJontaeWilliamsKyleDeRamus•So.•5'7"•210lbsChaseLillyDariusFordJamesThorntonGAjariJonesG•Fr.JohnSlackLizbethHernandezAveryPrichardCalebMccormickRoderickCraigWR•Sr.EthanJohnson•Jr.•6'0"•202lbsCharlesSheltonJr.AshleyMazucaDerickWilsonC,G•Fr.•5'8"•190lbsJiQuezDanielsJoshuaMooreJustinMillerDT•So.MicahThomasRB•Sr. 8/19 at Stanhope Elmore 7 p.m. 8/26 at Fairfield 7 p.m. 9/2 at Oxford* 7 p.m. 9/9 OPEN 9/16 vs. Huffman* 7 p.m. 9/23 vs Bessemer City 7 p.m. 9/30 vs. Center Point* 7 p.m. 10/7 vs. Pell City* 7 p.m. 10/14 at Pinson Valley* 7 p.m. 10/21 vs. Clay-Chalkville* 7 p.m. 10/28 OPEN Shades Valley 2022 Varsity Football Schedule A * denotes Region foe S hade S v alley h igh S C hool Photo credit: Black & White photography.

By John Goolsby Special to

Senior linebacker Kor dell Steele said the defense played well overall, “but we need to start being more ag gressive. Other than that, we are looking good.”

“I think his arm strength is amazing,” said standout ju nior wide receiver Christian Thomas.Thomas, who had a huge day, had possibly the most spec tacular reception of the day. Wideouts Quincy Craw ford, Kendarius Irvin, and Marcus Thomas also had big days catching the ball. Junior cornerback Erin Callens and senior corner back Jacob Mahand were standouts for the Mountie defense.

Shades Valley has shown throughout the offseason that they won’t be satisfied with the 3-7 record they earned in 2021, and signs of that began during the Mounties’ spring game against Springville, where Shades Valley won both halves of the game against the Tigers.

A Shades Valley defender closes on opposing quarterback in 2021. The Mounties have geared up in the offseason to prepare for an even tougher schedule in 2022.

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Kickoff Edition | The Trussville TribuneAugust, 2022 Page 27 “It’s not whether you get knocked down; it’s whether you get up.” - Vince Lombardi 1672 Gadsden Highway • 205-582-1488 • petsuppliesplus.com GOOD LUCK ON THE UPCOMING SEASON! Spring, summer work shows progress for Shades Valley

The Tribune IRONDALE

The Shades Valley football team put in the work over the off season, including going 5-1 over a two-week span during 7-on-7 against tough compe tition at one point during the summer.The purpose of 7-on-7, which is played without pads, is to give skill players on ei ther side of the ball a chance to hone those skills in prepa ration for the upcoming sea son.The Mounties welcomed Midfield and Oxford into Frank Nix Stadium and went 2-1 in the 7-on-7 com petition with a win over the Patriots and a win over the Bulldogs to avenge a loss earlier in the day to Annis ton.The Valley receiving corp continues to improve and is building depth for the up coming season. Junior quar terback Steve Brown hooked up with Christian Thomas, Quincy Crawford, Korda’e Harper, and Ji’Quez Daniel for Nelsonscores. was pleased with the effort of his offensive line in 11-on-11. “Our offensive line got a chance to compete against some good competi tion from two good football programs,” he said. The Mounties will be a young team when they take the field against Stanhope Elmore to start the season, but Nelson likes what he sees thus far. “The kids, overall, are learning how to compete on both sides of the ball,” he said.A week prior, Shades Valley got another taste of good competition when they headed over to Hoover. The Mounties traveled to Spain Park, a 7A Region 3 school, to take on the Jags, Huey town and Hueytown,Helena.of course, made the finals in the 2021 6A state championship game, losing only two games all season — both to eventual champion Clay-Chalkville. Helena was no slouch either, as the Huskies finished 9-2 and also made the 6A play offs.The Mounties went 3-0 in the 7-on-7 competition. In the 11-on-11 competition, Shades Valley defeated Spain Park and dropped two close contests to the Golden Go phers, led by former Mountie quarterback Earl Woods, and the ButHuskies.second-year head coach Reuben Nelson was pleased with some aspects of the Mounties’ play. “The boys showed some fight today,” said Shades Val ley head coach Rueben Nel son.The Mounties’ players feel like they are making sol id progress as a team. “The team performance was great. I feel like we are coming together as a team,” said junior linebacker Ethan Johnson.His teammates backed him“Iup.feel like we performed great as a team, stepped up to the plate, and competed with some of the best,” add ed junior quarterback Steve Brown.Brown had a big day throwing to the Mountie re ceivers.

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WeekOXFORDthree begins with the Mounties’ third straight away game, this one against the Oxford Yellow Jackets on September 2. In 2021, Oxford was 7-5, and 5-1 in Class 6A, Region 7, finishing in first place in their region. Among their victories were wins over Arab, Chel sea, Fort Payne, Pell City, Scottsboro & Springville, while their losses were to Central-Phenix City, Gads den City, eveneryfrombecamemeeting1932,withplayoffThompsonSouthside-Gadsden,&asecondroundlosstoPinsonValley.ShadesValley’sseriesOxforddatesbacktobutthatwastheonlyuntil2002.Theyregionopponents2006-11,andmostevmatchupwashardfoughtthoughOxforddomi nated the series. In that first meeting in 1932, Oxford took a 25-7 win in Oxford. The two teams did not meet again un til 2002 when Oxford moved up to 6A after being a long time 5A powerhouse. The two teams met 8 times in 10 years between 2002-11, with six of those matchups being region contests. Shades Valley’s first and only victory in the series came in 2009 in a thrilling 2117 win at Frank Nix Stadium. This will be the 12th all-time matchup with Oxford. Oxford won the first six meetings be tween the teams, and leads the overall series with a 10-1 record.Oxford’s head coach is Sam Adams, who is entering his second season with the Yellow Jackets, and ninth overall as a high school coach. Adams was head coach at Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa the previous seven seasons prior to coming to Oxford, with a record of 56-29. Adams was an assistant at Hoover in 2012 & 2013, helping the Bucs to state titles both seasons. ShadesHUFFMANValley’s fourth opponent of the season, and first home game, is a Region 6 contest with the Huffman Vikings on September 16. In 2021, Huffman was 2-8 overall and 1-5 in Class 6A Region 6, finishing in sixth place. Huffman’s wins were over Benjamin Russell and Woodlawn.Huffman opened in 1968, and has 274 wins and five region championships in 54 seasons of football. The Vi kings have appeared in two state title games in 1973 and 1985, finishing runner-up bothThetimes.Mounties series with Huffman dates back to 1977, and Shades Valley narrow ly leads 15-14, though on the field, Huffman leads 1514. A 2007 Huffman forfeit is the difference. Although Huffman opened in 1968, the Mounties did not face the Vikings until the 1977 state playoffs. The teams would not face each other again un til the 1984 season, but since 1984, they have met 28 of 37 years. The series is tied at home 7-7, but without the forfeit, Huffman would hold the 8-6 lead. Shades Valley leads 8-7 in away games, with Huffman holding a 7-5 record at Lawson Field, and Shades Valley leading 3-0 at Huff man’s new field. Huffman’s head coach is Marlon Bush, entering his first season with the Vikings, and as a head coach overall. Bush was Huffman’s defen sive coordinator last season, and before that spent two years at Hoover, and six years at Ramsay on Mounties head coach Rueben Nelson’s staff. Bush graduated from East Limestone in 1997, and UAB in 2002. This will be Bush’s first head coaching experi ence against Shades Valley, while the Mounties’ Nelson is 1-0 against the Vikings. Montgomery (I-65 Northbound) I-65 North towards Birmingham Drive 70.4 miles I-65 N Exit I-65 at Pelham/Helena bottom ramp, left Hwy 52 right Pelham Parkway (Home Depot right) Sports Med. on the right (0.3 miles) reach Yeager Parkway, then have gone too far (I-459TuscaloosaEastToI-65 Take I-20E/I-59 North towards MergeBirminghamontoI-459 N. via EXIT 106 towards Gadsden/ATL Merge onto I-65 S. via EXIT 15 toward TakeMontgomeryEXIT242 (“tank farm” exit) towards Helena/Pelham At the bottom of the ramp, turn right onto Hwy 52 East At the 2nd stop light, take a right onto Pelham Parkway Andrews Sports Med. is on the right (0.3 miles) If you reach Yeager Parkway, then you have gone too far Emily Bell Casey, MD Rachel G. Henderson, MDRicardo E. Colberg, MD Patients can now call office 939-3699

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By Shane Paschal Founding ahsfhs.orgmember, IRONDALE — Look ing ahead to the early season matchups for the Shades Val ley Mounties, it’s pivotal for this team to find early success to build on the foundation that head coach Reuben Nelson began laying last season. The Mounties finished 3-7, but that’s not the whole story. Because this is Shades Valley’s first season in The Tribune’s coverage area, here is a quick scouting report on the teams the Mounties will be facing as they try to climb those early hurdles and work toward a playoff berth. Shades Valley’s first con test of the season is a non-re gion away game against the Stanhope Elmore Mustangs. Stanhope Elmore is from Millbrook, near Prattville, and we play them at Fos hee-Henderson Stadium at Stanhope Elmore High on August 19. In 2021, Stanhope Elmore was 5-5 overall and 2-4 in Class 6A, Region 3, finishing in fifth place in their region.Stanhope Elmore’s cur rent head coach is Brian Bradford, who is entering his sixth year with the school and ninth year as a head coach overall. He has a coaching record of 39-46, including a three year stint at Chilton County where he went 9-21, and an 30-25 record with the Mustangs. Bradford is 1-1 against Shades Valley as a headStanhopecoach. Elmore will be led on offense by returning QB, junior Jacob Bryant. Josi ah Scott and Jackson Thomas, a Troy commit, will be targets for Bryant. Orenthal Martin, who plays both receiver and running back, is another Mus tang threat on ShadesFAIRFIELDoffense.Valley’s second game of the season is on the road at the Fairfield Tigers on August 26. In 2021, Fairfield was 7-4, and 5-2 in Class 5A, Region 5, good enough for third place in their region. Among their vic tories were wins over Carver, Center Point, Cordova, Ram say & Wenonah, while their losses were to Jackson-Olin, Parker, Pleasant Grove & a first round playoff lose to Fairview.Shades Valley holds a 12-9 advantage over Fairfield, but the teams are an even 5-5 at Clements Field. Fairfield’s head coach is Shepherd Skanes, who is en tering his first season with the Tigers, and third overall as a high school coach. Skanes was head coach at Ellwood Christian the previous two seasons, with a record of 0-17. Skanes was head coach at Concordia College from 2005-12, compiling a record of 33-40 during his tenure. SV’s Nelson has a 7-5 record as a head coach against Fair field, during his years at Mid field & Ramsay.

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Kickoff Edition | The Trussville TribunePage 28 August, 2022

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This is going to be a dif ferent Huskies team than in years past. With two defensive linemen — Hunter Osborne and Connor Knight — signed to FBS programs (Alabama and South Florida, respec tively), as well as the return ing Tyrell Averhart up front, Hewitt-Trussville is going to mean business on the de fensive side of the ball. They also return the leading tackler, Hunter Jones, at linebacker and Rickey Gibson in the defensive backfield. Don’t be surprised to see the Huskies lean on that expe rienced, talented defense while the offensive side works out some kinks in the early going. I expect Hewitt will likely fin ish 8-2 or 7-3 in the regular season, and I think they’ll get a signature win over Hoover. Clay-Chalkville

Here’s a fun little exercise: Let’s try to predict the future. There’s a certainty that comes to being a football pro gram in The Tribune’s cover age area: Everyone is going to be good. From top to bottom, teams in our area are filled with really good athletes and coach es. And realignment/reclassifi cation has made football in the area even more of a pressure cooker.Center Point moves from 5A to 6A, joining the Region of Doom (Region 6), where the team that wins the region is all but certain to contend for a state title. Shades Valley is now in the region, as well, and they’re looking to build on Reuben Nelson’s first year … the Mounties’ defense looks nasty.In 5A, Springville was re classified into 5A, and they join a Region 6 that includes ri val schools Moody and Leeds. That region is going to be very, very tough, and there aren’t re ally any cakewalks unless you count St. Clair County. One thing is really clear from talking with coaches and players recently: These play ers are tired of hitting their teammates. They’re absolutely ready to line up and play some one — maybe anyone — else. Looking over the schedules for each team in our coverage area, I have some thoughts on what we can expect. Hewitt-Trussville

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Predicting the future: How will area teams fare in even tougher regions?

The 6A state champs are probably not going to run the table during the regular season. That midseason matchup with Thompson looms large, as does an early game against a famil iar foe, 6A finalist Hueytown, who Clay held on to beat for the 2021 championship. That doesn’t mean that the Cougars can’t win another state title, of course.The Cougars have talent to spare, especially two worldclass receivers in Jaylen Mbak we and Mario Craver, but they also return a very experienced and tough offensive line. De fensively, Clay-Chalkville will again be like the 2 Live Crew album that carried the first parental advisory warning: as nasty as they wanna be. (My wife just warned me that the above reference is probably too old for most of our readers, but I’m leaving it in there, because it’s a good line.) The Cougars will finish 9-1 heading into the playoffs. Pinson Valley So many questions sur round the Indians this season. New head coach, new starting quarterbac, new starting run ning backs. That could signal a down year, but Pinson Val ley will surprise some folks, I think. Keywone Posey will likely start the season at quar terback, as he started a couple of games as a freshman and helped the Indians to some key wins while Zach Pyron was injured. Amare Thomas, a Vir ginia commit, should have an other really good year. Defensively, I know that Pinson Valley prides itself on its toughness and grit. The Indians are going to hit, and they’re going to try to make the other team quit. In the ul tra-competitive 6A Region 6, I still see Pinson Valley as a playoff team. I expect them to finish 7-3 heading into the postseason. Center Point Coach George Bates and I had a good conversation over the summer, where he told me that the Eagles have to deal with what’s in front of them after moving up to 6A and into Region 6. The Eagles proved they belonged in the elite among 5A teams, but reclas sification means that they’re starting from scratch. They’ve got nothing to lose, and that’s going to make them dangerous. Troy Bruce is clearly a great running back, and all he needs is a small crease to make something happen. Great hands, terrific speed, and he’s got the ability to make guys miss at all three levels. But I think his teammate, Jabari Col lier, is my way-too-early pick for player of the year. Collier is quicker than a hiccup, and in a 100-meter run, he’s ac tually faster than Bruce. He’s been working hard to improve as a quarterback, and I think he’ll show that off. Throwing to Therman Moore and Har old Holloman is going to be a big help, too. Good, steady re ceivers always make QBs look even better than they are. Center Point will finish 6-4 and make the playoffs in the toughest region in 6A. Shades Valley When we talk Mount ie football, we’ve got to talk about head coach Rueben Nelson, who won a 5A state championship at Ramsay back in 2016. Nelson knows what it takes to win, and the 3-7 cam paign from 2021 will be where the building blocks of a suc cessful program will be laid. That said, I think the Mounties are still a year away from being a playoff team. I have an enor mous amount of respect for Coach Nelson, and you can tell he’s committed to rebuilding the Theprogram.Mounties will un doubtedly be better than they were last year. I saw them during their spring game against Springville, and the Mounties looked disciplined and focused, and they’ve defi nitely got some athletes — es pecially on the defensive side of the ball. Those boys look hungry. If they keep that up, they may be looking at 6-4 on the season. Leeds Man, does Jerry Hood know how to build a program. Jarod Latta returns to start at quarter back for the Green Wave, and they’re going to need his steady leadership behind center. Jere miah Hunter replaces the re liable Rametrius Yelverton at tailback, and CJ Douglas will be roaming the defensive back field. Those Leeds boys will again be dangerous. The Green Wave went 10-2 last season, and there’s really no reason to think that they can’t do the same thing this season. Alexandria will be a tough row to hoe, but the Cubs always are. The fact is that Leeds is always going to be a physically and mentally tough team that’s going to play disciplined football. That’ll be more than enough to get them into the playoffs again. Leeds will finish the regular season at 8-2 and make a deeper run than they did in 2021. Moody Here’s where I think Moody has a winner in head coach Jake Ganus: He’s got those boys excited to play football. Talking with Davion Dozier, who will again be a deep threat for the Blue Devils, he was most excited to show what he can do in the middle of the field. Expect to see a more versatile Dozier unleashed. Cole McCarty will play well at quarterback, replacing the de parted A.J. Wallace, and Amon Lane is going to be the player to watch anytime he’s on the field. Blaine Burke, who has put on a significant amount of muscle, will be a force in the backfield. If the offensive line can live up to its potential, you’re go ing to see Moody make some headway in 5A Region 6. The Blue Devils will be better, but the region is stronger after re classification. I think 7-3 feels right for Moody. They’ll make the playoffs, along with Leeds, Alexandria and Southside. Springville It’s going to be an adjust ment for the Tigers as they move from 6A to 5A. Asa Mor rison moves from backup QB to starter, and I think that will be a good thing for Springville. Morrison’s teammates like and trust him, and he’s a good enough athlete at the position — and big enough, at 6-4 — to see the whole field and get the ball where it needs to be. Springville’s gonna see some not-so-friendly faces in region play, however. I expect the Tigers to be much more consistent in their execution on both sides of the ball during head coach Jon Clements’s sec ond season. Will that improve ment be enough in a revamped region that got even tougher with reclassification? I’m not sure. I think Springville finish es 6-4 but misses the playoffs. Come the end of the sea son, I guess we’ll find out how well I fare as a prognosticator, won’t we? Bobby Mathews is sports editor at The Tribune and au thor of the novel Living the Gimmick. Reach him by bymathews.bune.combobby.mathews@trussvilletriemail:orontwitter:@bob

Bobby Mathews

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1972 State Champs Higginbotham quickly parlayed his success as an as sistant at Banks into becom ing the head coach of Moun tain Brook High School for the 1973 season. The young head coach knew there was an opportunity to be successful at the affluent Birmingham suburban school. There were doubters though and they seemed to be right after the Spartans won only a single game that first year. However, Mountain Brook took a big step in the right direction in 1974 and finished the season with a 7-3 Higginbotham’srecord.

third year leading the Spartans ended with an undefeated season and the 1975 state championship. Mountain Brook’s march to the title was led by All-State running back Major Ogilvie. Ogilvie originally wanted to play quarterback when he ar rived from Vestavia, but Hig ginbotham had other plans. “I gave him about a week and a half at quarterback before I moved him to running back,” said Higginbotham.

1975 State Champions That move proved to be the right one. Ogilvie was a highly recruited running back and signed with Alabama af ter the 1976 season. Ogilvie would later team up with Hig ginbotham’s former quarter back at Banks, Jeff Rutledge, in the backfield of Alabama’s 1978 national Championship team.The 1975 season had an additional highlight. The two Higginbothams final ly squared off against each other as head coaches. Mor ris Higginbotham took his Hewitt-Trussville Huskies to Mountain Brook for the sea son’s third game. Son pre vailed over father as the Spar tans won Higginbotham22-20. took over at Shades Valley the next year and remained at the helm through the 1998 season. Hig ginbotham’s first Shades Val ley team went 9-2, won the region title, and advanced to the playoffs for the first time since 1974. Shades Valley, 1977-1998 Higginbotham had great success in his 22 years as the Shades Valley head coach, Higginbotham went 160-86-2. His teams won 11 region/area titles, made 14 playoff ap pearances, played in the state championship game twice, and made the semi-finals and quarter-finals once. The 1989 and 1992 teams were ranked in the top 25 nationally by USAHigginbothamToday. carried the same attention to detail he learned from his father and Coach Bryant with him throughout his career. For mer Mountie and Samford linebacker Brian Moore said, “one of the best things about Coach Higg is he knew how to coach us up. His attention to detail and working on the small things step by step.” Moore continued, “the condi tioning and workouts we did prepared me for college. I was ready on day one because of it. He got the most out of ev ery player, and it showed up when we Shadesplayed.”ValleyHigh School has always been a different school from other schools in that it has never truly had a home community. “One of the things that was so rewarding about coaching at Shades Val ley, and it was challenging too, was that we were so spread out,” Higginbotham said. “We were all the way from Besse mer to Irondale with our kids, and it was so rewarding to get them to play together when they sometimes didn’t really know each other when prac ticeDespitestarted.” the geographi cal challenges, the Mounties thrived, particularly from 1987 to 1998. One new trend in the high school scene seemed to benefit Shades Val ley more than others. While 7-on-7 is common for high school teams today, in the late 80s, it was not. Shades Valley was one of the early adopters in the state. “We were one of the few schools that really got into 7-on-7 early,” said Hig ginbotham. “I thought it was so great for the quarterbacks, wide receivers, and defensive backs. You could really get a lot of work done in the sum mer.”Higginbotham had expe rienced the thrill of winning state championships as an as sistant and head coach early on in his career. While the two close losses in the champion ship games at Legion Field were extremely disappointing to him, Higginbotham says, “just getting to the games were highlights for me at ShadesHigginbothamValley.” had numer ous assistant coaches over the years. “Owen Butts and Rob Crawford were with me a long time, and they were great assets,” Higginbotham said. “Owen was with me the lon gest, and we had some great games and great times togeth er.”Former Mountie quarter back Wes McDanal says he remembers that Higginboth am, “was extra gifted at tak ing a team with not a lot of numbers, no elite talent, and molding and shaping us into winners.”“Webeat some more tal ented, bigger, and faster op ponents because he made us disciplined, smart, and taught us to play together. We under stood playing as a team, and most of our guys played both ways,” he said. “He taught us to love Valley. We would have died for him and the red and black!”Asgood as Higginbotham was with the Xs and Os of the game, his true strength may have been in getting play ers to buy in and believe in themselves. Two-time Auburn All-American and NFL vet eran Ben Tamburello played for Higginbotham at Shades Valley in the early 80s. “As a young man standing at the threshold of my future, when people told me I couldn’t, he told me I could. He really opened the door and gave me the confidence and encour agement to even go and try to play at TMI (prep school),” Tamburello said. “He was the type of guy that you need in your life and in your corner.

By John Goolsby Special to The Tribune If anyone ever had the right pedigree to be a suc cessful high school coach, it was Robert Higginbotham, or Coach Higg, as he is known to many. Coach Higginboth am was born into a football family. His father, Morris, was a coaching legend in Al abama. The elder Higginboth am coached for 25 years and won multiple “mythical” state championships at West Bloc ton and Enterprise. “I was very blessed to learn from my dad,” Higginbotham said. “He taught me to work hard and pay attention to the little things.”Higginbotham was a star player at Hueytown for his father from 1963-1965. His play at quarterback for the Golden Gophers ultimately earned him a scholarship to the University of Alabama to play for the legendary Paul Bryant. Higginbotham played as a sophomore in 1966 and lettered for the Crimson Tide in 1967 and 1968. “For my first three years at Alabama, I was sure I wasn’t going to be a coach,” said Higginbotham. I was in the business school.” He had a change of heart, changed his major and was given the op portunity to be on Bryant’s staff as a graduate assistant for two years. “Coach Bry ant was the best coach ever, in my opinion, and was very good to me,” Higginbotham said. Learning coaching under Bryant was an excellent expe rience for Higginbotham and accelerated his learning curve. Higginbotham says of Bryant, “He was very char ismatic.” He recounted one particular instance in practice that showed Bryant’s, let’s say, charisma. “Coach Bryant always coached from his tow er. As a player and a coach, you always had one eye on him up there,” Higginbotham said. “He would be quiet until he saw“Well,something.”oneMonday night, the offensive line had a terri ble practice. Man, Coach Bry ant came flying down from the tower and got on them pretty good,” said Higgin botham. “He always coached in hunting boots. He kicked every one of the linemen in their tails with those boots. That got their attention!” After leaving The Cap stone, Higginbotham joined “another great coach” in Jim Glover at Etowah High out side of Gadsden for the 1971 season. Higginbotham left Etowah after one season to fulfill his military obligation. Higginbotham continued on the path to being a head coach by joining another fa mous Alabama high school coach. For the 1972 season, he would serve as an assistant coach on Shorty White’s staff at powerhouse Banks High School on the east side of Bir mingham. The Jets would go undefeated that season and win the state championship with sophomore quarterback, and future Alabama star, Jeff Rutledge running the offense.

Higginbotham’s final Shades Valley team in 1998 went 12-2, won the region title, and advanced to the semi-finals. The Mounties lost a heartbreaker in over time, 35-42, to state champion Vestavia.Achange in the school ad ministration at Shades Valley got Higginbotham thinking about exploring other coach ing opportunities. Tuscaloosa County High seemed like the perfect fit at that time for the veteran coach, and so for the first time in 23 years, Higgin botham would don colors oth er than red and black on the sideline.Thetransition to Tuscalo osa County was a good one for the long-time coach. “The kids were not spread out so much, and the community was great and really support ed us,” he said. “We had a lot of success, so it worked out.”

Higginbotham indeed had a great deal of success in Northport. His 10-year re cord at County was 89-30. His Wildcats won 7 region titles, made 10 playoff appearances, and advanced to the quarterfi nals three Ironically,times.the last game he coached in was against the school where his head coach ing career began. Tuscaloosa County lost to the Mountain Brook Spartans in the second round of the playoffs in 2008. Higginbotham ended his coaching career with a 270127-3 record. Only four teen coaches have won more games than him in Alabama. He ranks number two in the state, only behind Spence Mc Craken, with 19 region/area championships. His 25 play off appearances rank 20th on the state list (31 is the most by Vestavia’s Buddy Anderson). He was the first head coach of the Alabama team in the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star game and coached the team a second time as Higginbothamwell.was award ed the Alabama Football Coaches Association Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017. Higginbotham joined his fa ther in the Alabama High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame with his 2002 enshrinement. AHSAA Hall of Fame These days Higginboth am is enjoying retirement. His mind is sharp, and he still sounds like he has more wins in him. “I’m enjoying retire ment. I have a garden going, and my wife owns an embroi dery business (Magic City Stitches). I go down and help her once or twice a week,” he said. “She put me in charge of collecting the Higginbotham’smoney.”advice to the 2022 Mounties is the same message he gave to his previ ous 35 teams. “Get out there and work hard, and believe in yourself,” he said. “You have got to believe you can win.” Editor's note: This sto ry originally appeared at svmounties.com, and is re printed here with permission of the author. It has been lightly edited for style.

A look back at Coach Higg’s impact at Shades Valley

I look back at all the football and things I’ve experienced, and I always tip my hat to Coach Higginbotham. With out the confidence, encour agement, and letting me know about the TMI opportunity, none of the other things would havePatrickhappened.”Hampton, a stand out player on the 1987 team, said, “I have the utmost re spect for him; he was a great coach. I loved playing for him and all of the coaches and my teammates. I gave 100 percent for him every day.”

Looking back at Hewitt-Trussville’s inaugural flag football championship team

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Dorsett scored on the next play to win the game and the championship.Thewinwas the culmi nation of a dream that began in the spring of 2021, when it was announced that flag football would be played in the fall as a pilot program for Alabama high schools. “When coach (Taylor Burt) sat at a table back in April when we were asked to do it (coach), we first ar gued about who was going to be the head coach,” co-head coach Tonya Hunter said. “Not argue about who wanted to do it,” Burt said. “We were both trying to give it to the other person.” The pair settled on being co-coaches, with Hunter lead ing the defense and Burt lead ing the “Thisoffense.hasbeen the best experience I’ve ever had -- I love basketball, but this ex perience, just sharing it with Coach Taylor and those kids out there that battled, that was awesome for us. And not just for us but for girls’ flag foot ball.Repicky got the Panthers on the scoreboard first, mov ing Smiths Station down the field with timely passes to multiple wide receivers on the first drive of the game. One yard away from the end zone, Repicky called her own number, and after the PAT, Smiths Station led 7-0. But Powell and the Hus kies answered back imme diately, marching downfield until the quarterback danced along the western sideline and found the end zone on a nine-yard score. After a missed extra point, the score was 7-6, with Smiths Station in theTheylead.maintained that lead until Audre Benson broke free with 1:44 left in the half, finding the end zone to put the Huskies ahead 12-6. Avery Huffstutler scored the extra point, and Hewitt-Trussville was up “This13-7.isan amazing feel ing,” Powell said. “It feels great to be with my teammates and also my family from dif ferent sports. It’s amazing to be the first-ever champions.” Most of the second half was a defensive struggle, as both offenses were able to move the ball, but neither scored. The closest either team got was when a fourthdown pass went off the hands of Rubie Simon, and the Hus kies turned the ball over on the Panthers’ 9-yard line. “I’m telling you, that was a very (good game),” Hunter said. “If you watched the Iron Bowl, like, that was the girls’ Iron Bowl right there.” There were definite simi larities to the 2021 Iron Bowl: The last minute scoring drive, the multiple overtimes. But to win it, Hewitt-Trussville went back to the play they had called in the first over time -- the exact same play, according to Burt. And this time it worked. All photos by Jo Rudick

By Bobby Mathews Sports Editor BIRMINGHAM — Han nah Dorsett hit the equiva lent of a walk-off home run when she went into traffic and caught Deandrea Pow ell’s pass for a one-point conversion to take home the inaugural Alabama High School Athletic Association state flag football champi onship as Hewitt-Trussville beat Smiths Station 14-13 in double overtime at Protective Stadium.Thewin capped a perfect 12-0 season for the Huskies, but it wasn’t easy. After being stymied for most of the game, Smith Sta tion quarterback Brynn Re picky found Emily McGuire on a desperation heave into the end zone to tie the game with 12 seconds remaining to tie it at 13. The Panthers could have won it in overtime, but the Huskies’ D’Yona Jones closed on McGuire, who was open momentarily in the end zone, and batted the ball away to force overtime. For flag football, each team was awarded one pos session, and could go for one, two, or three points, depend ing on where they wanted the ball spotted for the play. Neither team scored in the first overtime, and then Mc Guire caught a ball on the eastern side of the field, but came down with her foot out of bounds.