Something old in the new First Baptist Church building

By CLIFF WILLIAMS News Editor

Four years ago parts of the First Baptist Church Wetumpka were left in ruins after a tornado.

The church has rebuilt its facilities and is welcoming the

Quarterback

Continued from B1 my after transferring from Canada for his senior season.

He has been playing for the BC Lions in the Canadian Football League and recently set a CFL record for the best completion percentage in a season.

Rourke said the decision was a challenging one, but said it has been a pleasure playing for his home province in the CFL in front of his family and

Continued from B1 community to a Thursday open house.

“This will be four years to the day of the tornado,” First Baptist’s Deborah Williford said. “We want to invite the community out to see how God has blessed us.”

The church’s main sanctuary friends.

“Ultimately my decision came down to my commitment to the pursuit of the dream I first had as a youngster watching Brett Favre win Super Bowls on NFL Films,” Rourke posted in a statement. “I am excited to announce that the realization of that dream starts today.”

At only 24 years old, Rourke had a stellar season this year with the BC Lions. He set a CFL record with a 78.7% completion percentage, and his came in and gave us a jolt of energy that we were lacking with our first group tonight,” Edgewood head coach Darryl Free said. “I thought we got a little bit winded and weren’t playing clean with our first group, but the second group came in and really ignited our team and got us back into the game with high energy.”

Thomas Justiss was one of the key components of starting the big run. After being held to only two points in the first quarter, the freshman took over in the second. He scored 10 points, all within the 19-0 run to end the half, and ended the first half with 12 points.

He was tied with Brody Whitt, who hit four 3-pointers, for the team-high in points at the half.

“Thomas is completely capable of being one of our primary scoring threats,” Free said. “Being a ninth grader, he’s still learning how to handle certain situations, but that was a big quarter for him. We pulled him to the side and told him he’s capable of scoring like that, and we’re starting to count on him for that.”

(GIRLS) Edgewood Academy 70, Hooper Academy 43

The Edgewood girls raced out to a big lead on Tuesday night and never looked back. The Wildcats, which are still undefeated on the year, move to 2-0 in division play. Lindsey Brown led all scorers with 19 points, but she had a little help from the team’s sharpshooters.

Lexie Smith and Aubrey Newton both hit three 3-pointers and scored in double digits to help pace the Wildcats. Smith, only an eighth grader, had 15 points on the night while Newton added 12 points.

“Lexie has been hurt, and we knew her coming back was going to be huge for us,” Free said. “She’s a scoring threat and a great defensive player, and her coming into the game really loosens up Aubrey and makes it where Aubrey doesn’t have to do as much. Them two coming together and working together at the same time has been huge for us. They give us that little bit extra that we need.” and other buildings were not destroyed, but Impact Center and the old historic sanctuary had to be replaced.

“It was destroyed,” Williford said. “The historic structure had to be removed because of severe weakness to the structure.”

Just because the church was

123.6 passer rating was second best in the history of the league.

He finished second in the league with 25 touchdown passes and sixth with 3,349 passing yards, despite only playing in 10 games and missing eight games with an injury.

He was named the Most Outstanding Canadian after last season, only the third quarterback to win the award.

Rourke’s name has been in the record books since he was a Wildcat in 2015. After rebuilt doesn’t mean everything is new.

“We were able to salvage some of the windows from the old sanctuary,” Williford said. “They are in the new building.” transferring to Edgewood as the top-rated quarterback from Canada in hopes of getting a college scholarship, he helped lead the Wildcats to their sixth-consecutive state championship.

The new construction includes the new youth center, a welcome center and a library.

In the process, he tied an Alabama state record with 59 passing touchdowns. That season, he also completed 75% of his passes for 3,768 yards and added seven rushing touchdowns while only throwing three interceptions.

Rourke initially signed with

The open house is from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday with a ribbon cutting and a more official service is later this week.

“Sunday we will have our normal service at 10:15 a.m.,” Williford said. “Following the service we will have the official dedication of the building.” a junior college, but only spent one season there before signing with Ohio University. There, he set program records for total touchdowns (111), total offensive yards (10,091), and rushing touchdowns (49).

After not hearing his name in the 2020 NFL Draft, he was selected by the BC Lions in the Canadian Football League Draft. He became the first quarterback drafted in the first 15 picks of the CFL Draft since Jesse Palmer was drafted in 2001.