Wilcox Academy won the AISA Class AAA state football title 21 years ago today

John Gartman and Robert Gartman at Morgan Academy in 2003.

This year’s Iron Bowl will be played on Saturday, and many readers will have football on their minds this week. Some in the reading audience might also remember that today – Nov. 22 – marks the 21^st anniversary of one of the most significant dates in Wilcox County football history. It was on this day in 1996 that Wilcox Academy captured its second of three all-time Alabama Independent School Association (AISA) football state titles.

Wilcox Academy’s 1996 team, led by AISA Hall of Fame head coach Robert Gartman, was one of the greatest football teams in Wilcox County history. The team went 11-2 overall, scoring an average of 28.2 points per game and posting a 10-game winning streak that ended with an epic road win over Mobile Christian in the state championship game.

Wilcox Academy opened the 1996 season on Aug. 30 with a 7-0 loss to longtime rival Morgan Academy, but the Wildcats bounced back the following week to beat Fort Dale Academy, 49-6. The following Friday night, Sept. 13, in Mobile, region opponent Mobile Christian handed Wilcox Academy what turned out to be its final loss of the season, 45-3.

That loss apparently set Wilcox Academy on fire as they proceeded to put together one of the most remarkable seasons in school history. The following week they beat Patrician Academy, 10-7, and followed that with a 42-20 win over Escambia Academy on Sept. 7 at Canoe. The next week, Wilcox Academy downed Lowndes Academy, 21-13, and the Wildcats followed that with a big 31-12 win over in-county rival Catherine Academy the following week.

Wilcox Academy picked up its sixth win of the season the following Friday, Oct. 18, when they beat long-running rival Monroe Academy, 54-13, in Camden. The next Friday, Oct. 25, the Wildcats beat region foe Faith Academy, 44-6, in Camden before wrapping up their regular season schedule the following Friday, Nov. 1, by blasting region opponent Marengo Academy, 44-7, in Linden.

Wilcox Academy finished its 1996 regular season schedule with only two early-season losses, and, as fortune would have it, the Wildcats got plenty of opportunity for revenge in the playoffs. In the opening round of the state playoffs on Nov. 8, Wilcox Academy faced Morgan, the team that beat Wilcox Academy in their season-opener, and the Wildcats handed the Senators a 24-14 loss. The following Friday, in the semi-final round of the playoffs, Wilcox Academy eliminated the Pike Liberal Arts Patriots, 28-12, setting up an epic rematch against Mobile Christian in Mobile.

Mobile Christian, led by veteran head coach Glenn Vickery, entered the Class AAA state title game with a 10-2 overall record and riding a six-game winning streak. Proving that old adage that it’s hard to beat a good team twice, the Wildcats captured the AISA’s Class AAA state title by defeating the Leopards, 17-13, in Mobile.

Wilcox Academy’s team that season featured a number of outstanding players, including junior quarterback John Gartman, senior defensive lineman Richard McDonald and senior running back Will Curl. McDonald was named as a first-team all-state defensive lineman by the Birmingham News and the Alabama Sports Writers Association (ASWA). John Gartman and Curl were also honorable mention all-state selections in the Birmingham News.

Wilcox head coach Robert Gartman, who played football under Bear Bryant at the University of Alabama, was named the ASWA’s AISA Coach of the Year. Robert Gartman, who was inducted into the AISA’s Hall of Fame in 2005, coached at Wilcox Academy for a total of five seasons, from 1996 through 2000, posting a 47-15 overall record at the school with each of his five teams qualifying for the playoffs. He retired from coaching in 2011 with seven state titles under his belt.

In the end, I want to mention that I serve on the board of directors for the Alabama High School Football Historical Society, which has a really nice website, www.ahsfhs.org. If you visit that website, you’ll notice that some information is missing regarding Wilcox Academy’s 1996 state championship team. With your assistance, I would like to try to fill in the blanks for that team and others from Wilcox County. Also, if anyone in the reading audience has a full roster and complete schedule for the 1996 Wilcox Academy team, I’d like to review copies of them, if possible. Thanks in advance for your help and enjoy your Thanksgiving (and the Iron Bowl).