Russell Gunter's high school football record still holding strong 28 years later

The National Federation of State High School Association’s Web site, www.nfhs.org, posted an article last Thursday about a record that a Covington County football player set 28 years ago.

According to the article, which was written by John Gillis, it was on Oct. 31, 1986 that Straughn High School’s Russell Gunter, a senior tailback, carried the ball 72 times in a 22-21 loss to Coffee Springs High School. Gunter’s performance set a national record that still stands today.

Over the course of the 1986 season, Gunter carried the ball 426 times, an average of nearly 43 carries per game. He recorded carries of 50 or more three times that year. Straughn finished the 1986 season with a 5-5 overall record.

According to the NFHS article, Gunter went on to play football at Mississippi Delta Junior College and ended up graduating from Troy State University in 1992. He and his wife, Leigh Ann, have two children, Gabe, age 21, and Haley, 17. Gunter currently works at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, where he is a U.S. Air Force Acquisition Program Manager in charge of managing warhead and munitions development.

Gunter also served for 10 years as the president of the Tri-County Football League. Many in the reading audience will be familiar with this league because it’s the same league that includes the Evergreen Youth Jaguars. Next time you’re at a Jaguar-Straughn youth game, be sure to scan the Straughn sidelines because you might just catch sight of a national football record holder.

For more information about Gunter's recording setting performance, be sure to check out "Tales of Alabama High School Football" by Ron Ingram and Rubin Grant.

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The eleventh week of our local ESPN College Football Pick ‘Em contest has come and gone, and the standings Sunday morning showed that Glennis Curry remained in sole possession of first place for the sixth week in a row.

Steve Stacey remained in second place for the third straight week, and Mark Peacock went from fourth place to third place. Mike Dailey dropped from third place to fourth place, and Ricky Taylor went from ninth place to fifth place.

Sharon Peacock remained in sixth place, and Ricky Powell dropped from fifth place to seventh place. Rod Sims dropped from sixth place to eighth place, and Jeremy Matheny was in ninth place. Arthur Ingram III dropped from ninth place to tenth place.

With just three more weeks to go, the contest is moving into its final weeks, but a lot can changes when it comes to how the final standings are going to look. If you’re playing in the local contest and didn’t finish in the Top 10, don’t sweat it. Much can change over the course of the next 21 days or so.

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In the SEC this week, there are four head-to-head games between conference opponents on Saturday and two other games involving SEC schools. 

For what it’s worth, here’s how I see each of those games playing out. I like Alabama over Mississippi State, Georgia over Auburn, Florida over South Carolina, Tennessee over Kentucky, Texas A&M over Missouri and Arkansas over LSU. Vanderbilt and Ole Miss don’t play this week. 

Last week: 5-1. So far this season: 69-20.