While the calendar has slowly rolled to September, tonight”s high school football schedule finds several area teams from Alabama gearing up for region contests.
In Class 2A, Region 8, Lamar County will hit the road to take on Cherokee, while Sulligent will play host to Hatton. In Class 3A, Region 4, Aliceville will play host to Sipsey Valley. In Class 1A, Region 4, Pickens County will play at Shades Mountain, while South Lamar will play host to Hubbertville in Class 1A, Region 5.
In Alabama Independent School Association Class 2A, Region 1 action, Pickens Academy will play host to Springwood.
All games start at 7 p.m.
After beating South Lamar 6-0 last week, Lamar County feels battle-tested and ready to build on its defensive momentum in its region opener.
“The effort against South Lamar was really incredible,” Lamar County coach Ken Adams said. “We have to find more consistency on offense, but that will come with time. The attitude has been real good. For our team to experience some success early is a good thing.”
Lamar County and South Lamar staged a tug-of-war last week. Led by cornerback Eric Smith and linebacker Tyler Spruce, Lamar County held its arch-rival 98 yards offense.
“For a first game, our effort was good,” Adams said. “We have to improve our execution. We have to have better production on the offensive end. However, it is a starting point. I think the effort will carry over into (tonight).”
Tailback Alex Wheeler scored the game”s only points on a 1-yard run early fourth quarter.
Cherokee opened the season last week with a 30-28 home win against Vina.
At Sulligent, the Blue Devils will look to bounce back from a 24-12 loss to Hamilton in the season opener for both teams.
“We had stretches where we played well for our first game,” Sulligent coach Scott Marchant said. “We had a couple of defensive lapses that hurt us there in the end.”
Wingback Peter Swanigan and quarterback John Potmesil had touchdowns for the Blue Devils.
With Marchant in his first year as head coach at the school, the Blue Devils are easing into an up-tempo style of offense.
“We are making strides every day,” Marchant said. “I give credit to the kids. They are working hard and getting better at what we are trying to do every day.”
Hatton opened the season with a 6-0 loss to Hubbard.
At Aliceville, the game plan is simple for coach Charles Moody and the Yellow Jackets.
“We have to hang on to the football,” Moody said. “That sounds extremely simple. We showed it can be very hard.”
Aliceville lost to Greene County 28-20 last week in the season opener. The Yellow Jackets posted solid offensive numbers but committed eight turnovers.
“When you have mistakes like that you lose possession, you lose field position, you lose momentum,” Moody said. “It can make the going very tough. Defensively, we competed. Offensively, we moved the ball. The turnovers really hurt any type of momentum we could generate.”
Quarterback Christopher Crowell was 17 of 32 attempts for 185 yards and one touchdown. However, the Yellow Jackets threw five interceptions. Terry Mayhew added a pair of rushing touchdowns.
Defensive standouts in the opener were linemen Demetrius Williams and Darrius Hughes and senior safety Tremaine Jackson.
“This game represents a unique challenge,” Moody said. “Sipsey Valley is a new school, so we do not have a lot to go on. Since they are pulling players from Tuscaloosa County, we expect a very scrappy, competitive club. The key for us is to continue to grow and get better as a team.”
Sipsey County lost to Fayette County 28-20 last week.
Pickens County have played the wildest opener in the state last Friday night. A 2-yard touchdown run by De”Marko Hall lifted Pickens County to a 47-42 victory against American Christian Academy.
“It was a very wild game,” Pickens County coach Patrick Plott said. “Fortunately, we made enough plays there at the end. We run a two-minute offense every day in practice. The kids were determined to drive there at the end and get the win.”
Plott was proud of the poise displayed by sophomore quarterback Devonte Simon in his first start.
“He made some mistakes, but he also did much more good than bad,” Plott said. “You could sense he took on more of a leadership role there in that game.”
Hall had six touchdowns, including a 99-yard kick return for score, and had 383 all-purpose yards on offense, including 225 yards on three kickoff returns, 72 rushing yards, and 86 receiving yards.
This will be Shades Mountain”s first game of the season.
In Millport, South Lamar will continue to look for offensive answers following a 6-0 loss to Lamar County in its season opener. The loss came on the heels of a shutout in a preseason scrimmage against Pickens County.
“To the kids” credit, everybody is working hard,” South Lamar coach Josh Harper said. “We have a chance to be a good a football team. Now is the time to keep working hard to try to make that happen.”
South Lamar only had 98 yards of offense last week. Still, the Stallions had a couple of scoring chances, but were turned away on downs once in the red zone and missed a field goal on another.
“The attitude remains good,” Harper said. “We have a couple of pieces out right now and we know we will get them back. Hopefully, we have some good fortune Friday night and can build some momentum.”
South Lamar relied on its defense in its opener. The Stallions had a goal-line stand and only broke after a botched fourth down punt snap set Lamar County up for a 16-yard scoring march.
Linebackers Hank Parker and Zach Foster led the defense.
Hubbertville beat Phillips 50-24 last week.
Pickens Academy slipped to 0-2 last Friday with a 35-9 loss at Restoration Academy. Despite the setback, improvement continues to be made.
“We did a lot of things better than we did in the first week,” Pickens Academy coach John Gartman said. “They had us outmanned at some positions. However, I thought we played hard and really competed. That is the only way we are going to get better.”
Quarterback Josh Lewis paced the Pirates with 24 rushes for 143 yards, including a 66-yard touchdown run.
“We have to improve even more this week,” Gartman said. “A year ago, Springwood played in the state championship game. Essentially, everybody is back from that team. They have talent at the skill positions and good depth. This game will present quite the challenge.”
Springwood beat Lakewood 50-26 last week. Dylan Harper ran for 210 yards and three touchdowns in the victory.
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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