The final weekend of our local ESPN College Football Pick
‘Em Contest wrapped up on Saturday with unexpected results. For the first time
in the history of our local contest, we have a tie for the championship.
Entering Saturday’s slate of games, Hillcrest High School
assistant football coach Arthur Ingram III had been in the No. 1 spot for four
straight weeks, but past champion Hunter Norris came out of second place to tie
him in the final standings, leaving us with co-champions for the first time
ever. Ingram and Norris both finished the 14-week season with 592 total points.
Ricky Taylor finished third with 588 points, and I came in fourth
with 587 total points. Mike Dailey finished fifth with 580 points, and Casey
Grant followed closely with 579 points.
Clint Hyde finished in the No. 7 spot with 575 total points,
and Phig Newton was eighth with 573 points. Defending champion Drew Skipper
finished ninth with 569 points, and Travis Presley rounded out the Top 10 with
566 points.
In the end, big congratulations go out to Ingram and Norris,
who now have bragging rights throughout the next year. If you see them out on
the street, congratulate them on their football-picking abilities as our Co-Mr.
Football Award winners this year.
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Hillcrest High School’s varsity football team had the
opportunity to make even more county history yesterday (Thursday) when they played in
the state finals in Tuscaloosa.
In the modern playoff era of high school football in
Alabama, which began in 1966, no team from Conecuh County, public or private,
has ever won a state championship in football. Some have come very close, but
weren’t able to win the big game.
The only Conecuh County public school to ever play in a
state football championship game was the 1985 Repton Bulldogs, who were led by
head coach Hugh Wilson Jr. Competing in Class 1A, Repton went 8-2 during the
regular season, before beating Sweet Water, Frisco City, Dozier and Beulah in
the first four rounds of the playoffs. In the state championship game, which
was played in Repton, the Bulldogs came up short against Sand Rock, losing
14-6.
Sparta Academy has played in three state championship football
games in its history and came up short in all three. Sparta’s first state finals
appearance in football came in 1988, when the Warriors, under head coach Mike
Bledsoe, lost to Lee-Scott, 14-10, in Evergreen. Competing in Class A, Sparta
finished that season with a 12-1 overall record.
In 1991, Sparta, again under head coach Mike Bledsoe,
appeared in its second state championship game and suffered a 41-0 road loss to
Catherine Academy. Competing in Class A, the Warriors finished that season with
an 11-2 overall record.
In 1997, Sparta appeared in its third all-time state
championship game and suffered a 45-15 loss in Evergreen at the hands of
Crenshaw Christian. Bill McNair was Sparta’s head coach that season. Competing
in Class A, Sparta finished that season with 10-3 overall record.
In the end, Hillcrest has a golden opportunity today to
claim the title of the best football team in county history if they can defeat
Randolph County High School in Tuscaloosa. Opportunities like this don’t come
along every day, so I hope that the Jags can make the most of it. They’ve set
the bar pretty high already this season, but a win today in Tuscaloosa would
push it even higher.
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