Morgan, 76, graduated from Evergreen High School in 1952. After a tour in the Navy, he received bachelors and masters degrees in journalism from the University of Alabama. He then went on to teach at Auburn University for 23 years before retiring as an associate professor emeritus in journalism.
In a story by editor Jacque Kochak, The Auburn Villager recently reported that Morgan, who writes a column for The Villager, had been in a serious automobile accident that might have been deadly if not for his seatbelt.
Morgan, who was alone in his car, was on his way to lunch in Opelika and while driving down Shelton Mill Road, a woman in a mini-van pulled out into the street and struck the back passenger side of Morgan’s car. His car spun out of control and then flipped onto its side, The Villager reported.
Morgan’s car came to a stop against a large brick sign, and Morgan became trapped against the wall of the car. Morgan said that he never blacked out and wasn’t in any pain, but he was trapped inside the car for about 20 minutes.
Police arrived quickly, and Morgan, who has asthma and is diabetic, told police that he felt as if he was about to have an asthma attack. Rescue workers eventually made their way into Morgan’s car and put an oxygen mask on his face.
“At that point, I knew I was going to be all right,” Morgan said in The Villager story. “The seat belt, the police and the rescue squad saved my life.”
Rescue workers had to cut Morgan out of his car and despite his protests that he was OK, he was flown by medical helicopter to the trauma unit at Columbus (Ga.) Regional Hospital. Morgan was fine, after all, and the story goes on to end on a humorous note.
Morgan’s wife, Gerry, didn’t hear about the accident until a Columbus Hospital nurse called her to tell her that her husband was fine. She later learned more details about the accident from Auburn police.
Gerry began to try to arrange for transportation for her husband from the hospital back to their home, but by the time she got Columbus Hospital ER staff on the phone, she learned that her husband had already left the hospital.
About the time that she hung up the phone, her husband appeared on the front porch steps. The story says that he was wearing nothing but his blue, disposable hospital gown because after his wreck, rescue workers had to cut his clothes off to fully evaluate the extent of his injuries.
The Villager story ends with four words that can’t be repeated often enough: Thank heavens for seatbelts.
Those of you who remember Morgan will be interested to know that you can read his award-winning newspaper columns on The Auburn Villagers website, www.auburnvillager.com. Check them out when you get a chance. You won’t be disappointed.
Hats off this week to Hillcrest High School’s varsity boys basketball team as they prepare to enter the regional tournament in Mobile. The Jags play Headland tomorrow (Friday) at 10:30 a.m. at the Mitchell Center on the campus of the University of South Alabama in Mobile.
If the Jags win that game, they’ll play for the regional tournament title on Saturday at 5:20 p.m. at the Mitchell Center. If they win the regional title, they’ll earn a spot in “The Big Dance,” aka, the state tournament in Birmingham in early March.
The Jags have had a great season already and could be on the verge of so much more. Hillcrest has been ranked in the Alabama Sports Writers Association prep basketball poll all season, and the way they’ve played this season has backed up their ranking.
They posted a 7-1 regular season area record and won the regular season area title. They backed that up by winning the area tournament title and blasting B.C. Rain of Mobile in the sub-regionals Friday night in Evergreen.
It’s a big deal to earn your way into the regional tournament and with each passing round of games, the field gets narrower and narrower.
If Hillcrest makes it past Headland, the Jags will play either Escambia or Andalusia. Escambia, Andalusia and Hillcrest are no strangers this season, and regardless of who plays in the regional finals, they’ll have to bring their A-game to be successful.
Escambia finished the regular season ranked No. 8 in Class 4A, right behind Hillcrest, which finished No. 7. Hillcrest and Escambia played three times this season, and Hillcrest won two of those games. The only loss Hillcrest had to Escambia this season was a three-point loss to Escambia in Atmore. This game came just two days after a hard-fought, one-point Hillcrest win over Jackson in Jackson.
Andalusia and Hillcrest, who were in the same area a few years ago, met only once during the regular season this year. In what was arguably the biggest game in the state on that particular night, Andalusia eked out a two-point win, 49-47, on Dec. 17 in Evergreen, which was Hillcrest’s first loss of the season.
Again, this game followed another big game for the Jags, coming just one day after Hillcrest downed Central-Hayneville, the No. 4 team in Class 2A, by five points.
It’s interesting to note that Hillcrest has only lost six games this season. (They’ve won 22, as of Monday.) Of those games that they lost, four of them were by four points or less and four of them were to ranked opponents who are contenders for the state title in their respective classifications.
I think that Hillcrest definitely has what it takes to win the regional title. If they play up to their potential and take it one game at a time, then they’ll make us even more proud of them.
The Mitchell Center is a fine place to watch (and play) basketball, and I hope to see a lot of familiar faces in the stands on Friday morning, and hopefully again on Saturday night.
In the end, good luck to the Jags as they represent Conecuh County down in Mobile this week.
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