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| Bob Ford at Memphis. |
High school basketball is in full swing in Conecuh County
and local fans have a lot of basketball action to look forward to as the young
season progresses.
Among Conecuh County’s four varsity teams, Sparta Academy’s
varsity girls currently have the best record. They’re 7-0 and will likely be
ranked in the Top 10 when the first statewide rankings come out in a week or
two. So far this season, their closest win has been a 10-point victory over
Fort Dale Academy.
Coming back off last year’s appearance in the 4A regional
tourney in Dothan, Hillcrest’s varsity boys are also looking strong. As of
Monday, they were 5-1 overall with their only loss coming on the road against
Paul Bryant High School in the AUM tournament before the Thanksgiving holidays.
They could also be ranked when the initial Class 3A rankings hit the streets in
another week or so.
Sparta’s varsity boys and Hillcrest’s varsity girls were
both sporting .500 records on Monday afternoon. The Warriors were 4-4 overall,
and the Lady Jags were 3-3. Both teams also have several impressive wins on
their resumes, so they may end up finishing the season strong. Only time will
tell.
Conecuh County is lucky to have such fine quality high
school basketball, and I’d like to encourage sports fans in the reading
audience to see a game or two in person when they get the chance. These
student-athletes are some of Conecuh County’s best ambassadors and they deserve
our support. Plus, they’re a lot of fun to watch.
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If you’ve already read this week’s Sports Flashback feature,
you saw where Alabama assistant football coach Bob Ford was the featured
speaker at Evergreen High School’s football banquet in 1959.
Ford graduated from Memphis State in 1955, and the 1959 season
at Alabama was Ford’s first season with the Crimson Tide. It was also Bear
Bryant’s second season as the head coach at Alabama. Another second-year
assistant coach on that team that some of you may have heard of was a young
coach named Gene Stallings.
When Ford came to Evergreen, No. 19-ranked Alabama was fresh
off a 10-0 win over No. 11 Auburn at Legion Field in Birmingham. The win over
Auburn moved Alabama to No. 10 in the polls, and nine days after his speech in
Evergreen, Alabama finished the season in the Liberty Bowl in Philadelphia.
In the Liberty Bowl, Alabama played No. 12 Penn State. Penn
State ended up winning, 7-0, before a crowd of just over 34,000. The game was
televised by NBC, and it was the only Alabama game televised that year.
Ford would go on to serve as an assistant coach at Georgia,
Kentucky, Mississippi State and Arkansas. While at Arkansas, he earned a law
degree and went on to practice law for over 44 years. During that time, he also
served as a pro football scout for the Dallas Cowboys for 25 years.
Sadly, he passed away earlier this year, on Feb. 8, in
Wynne, Ark.
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