Florence assistant Scott Brown hired as Wilson football coach

The Lauderdale County school board approved the hiring of Scott Brown as Wilson’s new head football coach at Thursday’s meeting.

Brown, who currently is an assistant football coach at Florence, takes over for Cody Gross, who stepped down after one season at Wilson to become the offensive coordinator at the University of North Alabama earlier this month.

Brown had previously worked as a junior high coach at Wilson and then as an assistant at Colbert County with Gross and former Indians coach Steve Mask before going to Florence.

“He brings a wide range of knowledge because of his experience,” Wilson principal Gary Horton said. “I was looking for someone who had some experience, not necessarily as a head coach, but who had been in the business for a few years. I was looking for somebody who was familiar with our school. I was looking for someone who had good coach-player relationships.

“Coach Brown had been out here (at Wilson) several years ago, when he coached junior high. He’s familiar with the school. He’s familiar with the people. He just seemed to have all the qualities I was looking for. He’s seems to be a players’ coach. All the players respond to him. I’m just excited that we had the opportunity to hire somebody like that.”

Meanwhile, Florence is expected to name a new football coach Friday morning. There will be a special meeting of the city school board Friday at 11 a.m. in the high school auditorium.

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POLL: Will Florence’s boys beat top-ranked Bob Jones?

It hasn’t happened often this season — three times in all — but Class 6A No. 5 Florence will be at full-strength tonight when it travels to top-ranked Bob Jones.

The Falcons (12-3) will return leading scorer Chaunce Watkins (18 ppg) after he missed all of last week’s run to the Bracy Invitational championship. All three of Florence’s losses have come when at least one starter was absent from the lineup.

Tonight, Bob Jones (15-0) will be without big man Reggie Ragland, who is in Florida playing football in preparation for this week’s Under Armour All-America Game.

So will Florence be able to do what no other team has this season and knock off the Patriots?

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All-State football team includes 29 area high school players

Merry Christmas and happy holidays, everyone. It definitely was for the 29 area high school football players who were named to the Alabama Sports Writer’s Association’s All-State team, which was released today.

Of those 29 locals, 10 were selected to the first team in their respective classification. Here’s the complete All-State football list with area players in bold:

SUPER 12
Ryan Anderson, Daphne
Austin Grammer, American Christian
DeMarko Hall, Pickens County
Tyler Hayes, Thomasville
Dustyn Moseley, Jackson
Troymaine Pope, Anniston
Chris Rabb, Hueytown
Reggie Ragland, Bob Jones
Diamond Simmons, Hanceville
ArDarius Stewart, Fultondale
Jameis “Jaboo” Winston, Hueytown
T.J. Yeldon, Daphne

ASWA ALL-STATE TEAM  Continue reading

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Beniquez Brown favors same two, but will wait until Signing Day

One of the top undeclared high school seniors in the state, Florence’s Beniquez Brown will wait until National Signing Day on Feb. 1 to announce his college choice.

“I really wanted to get it over with earlier in the year, but I couldn’t do it,” Brown said. I just wasn’t comfortable with my decision. I wanted to be 110 percent sure about where I wanted to go. Now, I feel like I’m comfortable with my schools and don’t want to rush it now that I only have a month left. I’ll go ahead and make my decision on Signing Day, and, hopefully, it will be the right one for me.”

Brown rushed for 1,247 yards at running back this season while also playing safety and linebacker at Florence. He said Mississippi State and Tennessee remain his top two schools, but he also has official visits lined up at Ole Miss, Arkansas and N.C. State.

“I feel like I need to just settle down now and figure out what I really want,” Brown said. “It seems like every time a new school comes in, I really like that school. I think I should stop my recruiting and narrow it down to two schools or three so I can go ahead and make the best decision for me.”

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After JUCO detour, Deion Belue signs with Alabama, again

Deion Belue signs with Alabama out of high school at a National Signing Day ceremony at Deshler on Feb. 3, 2010.

Deion Belue said he never doubted that he would end up playing college football at Alabama, and the plan seems to have come together for the former Deshler standout.

The defensive back, who signed with Alabama out of high school but didn’t qualify academically, spent the last two seasons at Northeast Mississippi Community College. Belue has worked his way back to the Crimson Tide, signing a letter of intent with Alabama on Wednesday, the first day junior college transfers were allowed to do so.

“It’s been a long time coming, but going to Alabama was the plan the whole time,” Belue said. “I had to hold up my end of the bargain and they held up theirs. I always knew I was going there back when I signed the first time. But this signing day it’s real, it’s official.”

Belue, the 2009 TimesDaily Class 4A-6A Player of the Year his senior year at Deshler, was an NJCAA All-American at Northeast Mississippi this season, totaling 15 tackles, a sack, an interception, eight pass break-ups and returning two kickoffs and an interception for touchdowns.  Continue reading

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Florence boys, Russellville girls capture TD Classic titles

Florence’s boys and Russellville’s girls captured TimesDaily Classic championships Tuesday night at UNA’s Flowers Hall.

Florence dominated Russellville, 91-39, while Russellville edged Lauderdale County, 53-51.

Here’s the updated bracket and scores.

Boys

1st Round

2nd Round

Semifinals

Championship game

Friday, Dec. 9

Saturday, Dec. 10

Monday, Dec. 12

Tuesday, Dec. 13

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BYE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 FLORENCE 53

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FLORENCE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

at Colbert Co., 6 p.m.

FLORENCE 76

 

 

 

 

DESHLER 66

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

at Colbert Co., 4:30 p.m.

 DESHLER 29

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WATERLOO 46

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

at UNA, 6:30 p.m.

FLORENCE 91

 

 

MUSCLE SHOALS 34

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

at Colbert Co., 6 p.m.

 MARS HILL 57

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MARS HILL 36

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

at Colbert Co., 7:30 p.m.

 MARS HILL 50

 

 

 

 

CENTRAL 45

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

at Colbert Co., 7:30 p.m.

 COLBERT COUNTY 41

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

COLBERT COUNTY 64

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BYE

 

 

 

 

 

 

at UNA, 7:30 p.m.

 FLORENCE

 

 BROOKS 59

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BROOKS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

at Sheffield, 6 p.m.

RUSSELLVILLE 63

 

 

 

 

RUSSELLVILLE 57

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

at Sheffield, 4:30 p.m.

 RUSSELLVILLE 71

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LAUDERDALE CO. 45

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

at UNA, 8 p.m.

RUSSELLVILLE 39

 

 

WILSON 53

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

at Sheffield, 6 p.m.

 SHOALS CHRISTIAN 52

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SHOALS CHRISTIAN 67

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

at Sheffield, 7:30 p.m.

 R.A. HUBBARD 51

 

 

 

 

R.A. HUBBARD 61

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

at Sheffield, 7:30 p.m.

 R.A. HUBBARD 61

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SHEFFIELD 59

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Girls scores, schedule after the jump.)  Continue reading

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Super 25: The state’s best football teams regardless of class

Ever wonder how the state high school football rankings would look if there were one classification instead of six? Or how about how a certain team stacks up compared to another it never had the chance to play?

Well, the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s Super 25 poll could help answer those questions.

For the first time, the ASWA released a postseason poll that lumps together teams from all six classifications. No area teams made the top 25, but Muscle Shoals, Deshler and Rogers all received votes.

Such a poll raises questions about voting philosophies. How much should a playoff championship be valued? Should a state champion at a lower classification necessarily be ranked ahead of a team that didn’t win a title at a higher level? Do you simply approach it considering which team would win a head-to-head hypothetical match-up? Maybe it’s a balance of those things.

Anyway, here’s the complete poll. What do you think?  Continue reading

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TimesDaily Classic basketball tournament starts Friday

Basketball season will start in earnest with the upcoming holiday tournaments, beginning with the TimesDaily Classic this weekend.

Colbert County and Sheffield will serve as first- and second-round sites Friday and Saturday with the semifinals and championship game, as always, being played at UNA’s Flowers Hall on Monday and Tuesday.

The boys tournament includes a 14-team field, meaning two teams receive first-round byes. Brooks and defending champion Florence got that advantage by luck of a blind draw. There’s also a girls tournament this year with a different format, which we’ll discuss later.

As always, the blind draw also made for some tough early match-ups, including Muscle Shoals-Mars Hill and Russellville-Lauderdale County in the first round.

Here’s the complete bracket:  Continue reading

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Football state championship pairings, schedule

AHSAA
Super Six
At Bryant-Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa
Thursday
Class 3A
Handley (14-0) vs. Madison Academy (12-2), 11 a.m.

Class 1A
Linden (13-1) vs. Marion County (13-1), 3 p.m.

Class 5A
Vigor (12-2) vs. Hartselle (14-0), 7 p.m.

Friday
Class 4A
Jackson (14-0) vs. Oneonta (12-2), 11 a.m.

Class 2A
Elba (14-0) vs. Tanner (14-0), 3 p.m.

Class 6A
Prattville (11-2) vs. Hoover (13-1), 7 p.m.

Tennessee
At Tennessee Tech University, Cookeville
Friday
Class 1A
South Pittsburg (12-2) vs. Wayne County (13-0), noon 

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Friday’s football semifinals scores

AHSAA
Semifinals

Class 1A
Linden 40, Sweet Water 7
Marion County 35, Ragland 14

Class 2A
Elba 49, American Christian 41
Tanner 24, Lineville 14

Class 3A
Handley 13, Clay County 6
Madison Academy 34, Rogers7

Class 4A
Jackson 26, UMS-Wright 14
Oneonta 21, Anniston 14

Class 5A
Vigor 20, Hueytown 7
Hartselle 16, Briarwood Christian 14

Class 6A
Prattville 45, Central-Phenix City 12
Hoover 32, Oxford 22

Tennessee
Class 1A
South Pittsburg 32, Gordonsville 14
Wayne County 33, West Carroll 0

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