George Singleton writes of Monroe County's many breathtaking views

George Buster Singleton

(For decades, local historian and paranormal investigator George “Buster” Singleton published a weekly newspaper column called “Somewhere in Time.” The column below, which was titled “Many breathtaking views are right here in county” was originally published in the June 19, 1975 edition of The Monroe Journal in Monroeville, Ala.)

Many of us spend a great deal of time running here and there searching for places to go and beautiful scenery to look at. We spend many hundreds of dollars of our money and countless hours of our time in this quest for picturesque surroundings.

Few of us have stopped to realize that at our own doorsteps is some of the most breathtaking scenery in the whole Southland.

As one leaves Monroeville traveling north on Alabama Highway 41, within a few short miles this beautiful phenomenon of nature begins to unfurl.

As you cross Flat Creek, you will begin to climb into the cool air that flows across these pine-studded hills. As you continue to climb, take a look to the southwest and see for yourself the colorful display that nature has provided for our eyes to look upon.

Continue northward and you will find that the highway clings to the high ridges as it winds its way onward through hills and valleys and across the small streams that hurriedly rush to join the waters of the mother river to the west.

Many times when I have become restless and tired of the problems of our society, I seek my favorite spot on the highest hill in the area, and I sit and watch the shadows creep across the glowing sky and listen while nature’s children prepare themselves for the hours of darkness that are soon to come.

If you have never witnessed the coming of night across the dark hills and having not heard the sighing winds through the swaying pines, you have missed one of life’s great moments.

Each time I pass through the hills of Franklin, and I see the majestic beauty before me, I’m reminded of a time not long ago when I stood beside a grave in a small cemetery nestled atop one of the highest hills in the area.

The father of this large family, who had lived in these hills all their lives, had passed away.

As the graveside services was brought to a close, I heard the oldest son of the deceased say: “This is where he would want to be. He loved these hills. He would not have traded these hills for all the oil in Texas.”

As I turned and looked to the west, it seemed that from the distance, the words “Amen, Amen” reached my ears.

[The column above came one week after the June 12, 1975 edition of The Journal, which carried a front-page story about the return of Singleton’s column after an absence of about two years. That story, which carried the headline “Singleton back next week,” read as follows.]

George B. Singleton’s historical column “Did You Know?” will resume next week in The Monroe Journal.

The column, which appeared in The Journal from 1971 to 1973, concerns historical events, legends and places in Monroe County. Singleton writes it and takes accompanying photographs.

Resumed because of interest expressed in the current “Reader Reaction” survey, the column will appear weekly.

Singleton, a chief warrant officer in the Army National Guard who is full-time technician for the Guard’s 778^th Maintenance Co. in Monroeville, is a history and archaeology buff.

Originally from Sweet Water, he has lived in Monroeville for 11 years. He is a member and former president of the Monroe County Museum and Historical Society, which he helped organize.

(Singleton, the author of the 1991 book “Of Foxfire and Phantom Soldiers,” passed away at the age of 79 on July 19, 2007. A longtime resident of Monroeville, he was born to Vincent William Singleton and Frances Cornelia Faile Singleton, during a late-night thunderstorm, on Dec. 14, 1927 in Marengo County, graduated from Sweet Water High School in 1946, served as a U.S. Marine paratrooper in the Korean War, worked as a riverboat deckhand, lived for a time among Apache Indians, moved to Monroe County on June 28, 1964 and served as the administrator of the Monroeville National Guard unit from June 28, 1964 to Dec. 14, 1987. He was promoted from the enlisted ranks to warrant officer in May 1972. For years, Singleton’s columns, titled “Monroe County history – Did you know?” and “Somewhere in Time” appeared in The Monroe Journal, and he wrote a lengthy series of articles about Monroe County that appeared in Alabama Life magazine. It’s believed that his first column appeared in the March 25, 1971 edition of The Monroe Journal. He also helped organize the Monroe County Museum and Historical Society and was also a past president of that organization. He is buried in Pineville Cemetery in Monroeville. The column above and all of Singleton’s other columns are available to the public through the microfilm records at the Monroe County Public Library in Monroeville. Singleton’s columns are presented here each week for research and scholarship purposes and as part of an effort to keep his work and memory alive.)

Wilcox bungalow named after longtime train dispatcher, telegraph operator, agent-operator

Railroad crossing in Wilcox community.

I always enjoy hearing from readers of The Courant, and subscriber Curtis Walker of Pensacola recently contacted the office to fill me in on some matters of local history. Walker grew up in Evergreen and has many fond memories of his early years in Conecuh County. He eventually entered the military and enjoyed a long career in the railroad industry.

Some of you may remember that back in September I wrote about the old Wilcox community, an old community that’s located near Owassa. This community, which also went by the names of Gregville and Peachbloom, was centered around a railroad crossing. If you go there today, you’ll find an up-to-date railroad crossing complete with modern drop arms and flashing lights.

A couple of weeks ago, Walker called me to ask if I paid any attention to the silver bungalow near the crossing when I visited it back in September. I vaguely recalled seeing the small building, but I had to admit that I hadn’t taken a very close look. I grew up in the railroad town of Frisco City and from a young age was instilled with a healthy respect of train tracks, so I tend to avoid railroad property that could be potentially dangerous.

Walker said that if I’d looked at the bungalow closely, I would have seen “S.E. LACHAUSSEE” stenciled on one side of it. The “S.E.” stands for “South End,” and the “LACHAUSSEE” is the last name of J.G. Lachaussee. Walker noted that Lachaussee was a longtime train dispatcher, who worked for many years on the Louisville & Nashville-Family Lines-Seaboard System-CSXT railroad.

Lachaussee began his career as a telegraph operator, was eventually promoted to agent-operator and later became a train dispatcher in 1965. He served on the New Orleans & Mobile Sub-Division for many years and retired in 2002 from the CSX Centralized Dispatching Center in Jacksonville, Fla. Three months later, CSXT Mobile Division officials held at ribbon-cutting at the sound end of the then-new 11,000-foot rail siding at Wilcox, where you’ll find the “S.E. LACHAUSSEE” bungalow today.

On Monday of last week, I received a nice packet of additional information sent to me by Walker. This packet included a wide variety of historical information about railroads in our area, including documents prepared by the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Historical Society. Not only did this information concern old railroads in Conecuh County, but also railroads in Monroe, Wilcox, Butler, Covington and Escambia counties.

During our talks on the phone, I told Walker that I remember railroad employees coming to our elementary school about once a year to talk with us about railroad safety. Walker said that he doesn’t think the railroads do this anymore, but that it would probably be a good idea. He said he was also pleased to hear that safety measures had been improved at King’s Crossing in Evergreen, which at one time was one of the deadliest crossings in America.

He noted that at most crossings now, you’ll find a small metal box that contains a telephone. If something goes wrong at one of these crossings – like a stalled vehicle or other emergency – all you have to do is pick up that phone and you’ll be directly connected with a dispatcher in Jacksonville. With a push of a few buttons, they can stop all trains headed towards that crossing.

In the end, I appreciate Mr. Walker taking the time to share this information with me and for going to the trouble of send me additional information by mail. He noted that he plans to donate some of his historical material to the library in Evergreen someday soon, and I look forward to meeting him in person. If anyone else in the reading audience has any additional information about railroads in Conecuh County they’d like to share, please let me know.

Wilcox County's Mathews Rangers served as special cavalry escorts during the Civil War

Major General Thomas C. Hindman

Tomorrow – Nov. 19 – marks 159 years since one of the most storied military units in Wilcox County history left home to take part in the War Between the States.

According to “Men of Wilcox: They Wore the Gray” by Ouida Starr Woodson, it was on Nov. 19 in 1861 that the Mathews Rangers departed by steamboat from Providence Landing in Wilcox County to enter military service in Mobile. The unit was formed earlier that month and had elected James Boykin to serve as the unit’s captain. After about three months of service at Mobile, Boykin resigned and was replaced by Capt. Augustine Tomlinson.

According to the unit’s official muster roll, other members of the unit included First Sgt. Fred Cooper, Second Sgt. G.R. Mason, Third Sgt. Wash Nettles and Fourth Sgt. John Finnegan. Privates on the roll included A.J. Bigger, Junious Cook, J.T. Dale, I.A. Felts, Josh Grace, Thorn Hickey, William Kennedy, Robert Longmire, Watson Miller, Ervin Newell, Pat O’Marrow, David Packer, A.E. Rivers, Josiah J. Stuart, William West, J.A. Young and others. No doubt many of their descendants still live in Wilcox County today.

As the war ramped up in February 1862, the unit was sent from Mobile to fight at Corinth, Mississippi. After squaring off against future U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant at the Battle of Shiloh two months later, the Mathew Rangers became Co. I of the 3^rd Alabama Cavalry Regiment. In addition to Wilcox County, other men in this regiment came from Monroe, Dallas, Autauga, Calhoun, Choctaw, Mobile and Perry counties.

As evidence of their prowess in the saddle, the men of Wilcox County in Co. I were assigned to serve as special escort for Major General Jones Mitchell Withers, who was later replaced by Major General Thomas C. Hindman after the Battle of Perryville in October 1862. For the next year and a half of the war, these cavalrymen from Wilcox County served as Hindman’s special escort, that is, until May 1864 when they requested to rejoin their old regiment, the war-ravaged 3^rd Alabama Cavalry.

As part of the Army of Tennessee, they took part in the Atlanta campaigns, the unsuccessful defense of Savannah, Georgia against Union General William T. Sherman and fighting at Aiken, Bentonville, Chapel Hill, Fayetteville and Raleigh in North Carolina. When the Army of Tennessee surrendered in April 1865, only a few members of the original Mathews Rangers remained alive. Among the dead was Capt. Augustine Tomlinson.

Like so many men during the Civil War, the 36-year-old Tomlinson was brought down not by bullets or cannonballs, but by sickness. Tomlinson became ill not long after the Mathews Rangers arrived in Corinth. He eventually died on June 2, 1862, and records reflect that he was buried in the historic Camden Cemetery.

Henry R. Gordon, who is also buried in the Camden Cemetery, was captain of Co. I when the unit officially surrendered in 1865. Gordon lived to the age of 48 before passing away in 1881. His grave bares the simple inscription of “God Is Love.”

In the end, if you’d like to read more about the Mathews Rangers and other Civil War units from Wilcox County, I highly recommend that you find a copy of Woodson’s “Men of Wilcox: They Wore the Gray.” Also let me hear from you if you have any additional information about the Mathews Rangers and their exploits. No doubt I have only scratched the surface of their wartime experiences, and it would be of value to fill in the gaps of the unit’s unique history.

The Evergreen Courant's News Flashback for Nov. 17, 2020

Dr. Barry Booth, left, speaks at monument.

EIGHT YEARS AGO
NOV. 15, 2012

Weather reporter Betty Ellis reported 0.12 inches of rain on Nov. 5. She reported a high of 77 degrees on Nov. 11 and a low of 35 on Nov. 8.

Veterans memorial true monument to Conecuh veterans: An estimated crowd of between 300 and 350 people were on hand Wednesday of last week for a special ceremony to dedicate the new Evergreen-Conecuh County Veterans Memorial in Evergreen.
The new memorial, which is located at the corner of Perryman Street and North Shipp Street, was built in memory of the county’s war dead and in honor of county veterans from all branches of the armed forces. Members of the Andrew G. Faulk Disabled American Veterans, Chapter 72, which serves Conecuh, Monroe and Escambia counties, spearheaded the memorial’s construction.
A host of local veterans and public officials participated in the dedication ceremony, including Dr. Barry Booth, a Vietnam veteran and the organizer of Honor Flight South Alabama.

A sizeable crowd was on hand Monday morning for an open house event at the newly opened Conecuh County Animal Shelter on Wild Avenue in Evergreen. Pictured at the open house, which marked the official opening of the facility, are County Commissioner Wendell Byrd, County Administrator Judy Covan, County Commissioner Leonard Millender, county animal control officers Terry Thomas Gray and Tess Windham and County Commissioner Jerold Dean.

33 YEARS AGO
NOV. 19, 1987

Weather reporter Earl Windham reported no rain between Nov. 10 and Nov. 16, 1987. He reported a high of 78 on Nov. 16 and a low of 29 on Nov. 13.

Groundbreaking new central high Tuesday morning: On Tues., Nov. 24, an official groundbreaking ceremony will be held for the New Central High School for Conecuh County.
On hand for the program will be State School Superintendent Dr. Wayne Teague and this district’s State School Board Member, Col. Willie Paul. Other state and local representatives will be present also. The program will start at 11 a.m. and begin at the Area Vocational Center and will culminate on the construction site.

Christmas Parade Saturday 2 p.m. – Evergreen’s Christmas parade will be held this Sat., Nov. 21, at 2 p.m.
This year’s parade promises to be one of the best yet with great prize money.
Spectators might want to be in town a little earlier than usual for the parade as there will be a special treat for the children. Mayor Pat Poole has kindly volunteered to fly to the North Pole and pick up Santa Claus and bring him to Evergreen by helicopter for the parade. They should fly over the downtown area around 1:30 p.m. Mayor Poole will land near City Hall for Santa to get off. The City police will drive him to the City School for the start of the parade.
The parade will once again take what has become known as the “Church’s Fried Chicken” route.

58 YEARS AGO
NOV. 22, 1962

In a surprise ceremony, John Jones of Troop 31 (St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Jersey City) has his Eagle Scout badge pinned on by his father while mother looks. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Jones, formerly of Evergreen and the grandson of Mr. and Mrs. John H. Jones of Evergreen.

Panhandling Dog Collects $40: Conecuh County’s “panhandling dog” has been at it again. “Bobbie,” who picks up her tin cup and begs from customers at Claud Murphy’s Store, made her first report on collections for the United Fund this week. She turned in $40.
Last year, the cute little dog beggar collected over $60 for the UF, TB drive and cancer drive, giving her a total of over $100 collected for charity.
Mr. and Mrs. Murphy trained the pet to do her trick and she is so persuasive that hardly ever can a customer turn her down. She picks the cup up in her mouth and offers it to you, waiting patiently. When you drop in a coin or two, she will turn it over to Mrs. Murphy. If Mrs. Murphy is not there, she will let Claud handle the money.

Ryals To Greenland: Army Spec. Four Aubrey H. Ryals, son of Mr. and Mrs. Jesse T. Ryals, who live on Rt. 1, Repton, Ala., recently was assigned to the 5^th Artillery in Thule, Greenland.
The 21-year-old soldier is a 1959 graduate of Repton High School and attended Auburn University.
Spec. Ryals, a missileman in Battery D of the artillery’s 4^th Missile Battalion, entered the Army in August 1960, completed basic training at Fort Jackson, S.C. and arrived overseas in October 1962.

83 YEARS AGO
NOV. 18, 1937

FULLY MATURED BANANAS GROWN IN CONECUH: A bunch of fully matured bananas was displayed here last week by Isaac Bradley, farmer living about five miles east of Evergreen. Isaac says that he has 14 trees at his place and that he had seven bunches of fruit to mature on these trees. He protected the trees from cold by wrapping them in sacks last winter and will do the same thing this winter.

Mr. and Mrs. R.G. Bozeman were weekend guests of Mr. and Mrs. F.L. Holt in Birmingham, where the former attended an executive meeting of the Alabama Press Association.

Boy Scout Bulletin: Our scout meeting last week opened with a tug of war, Emory Brassell and Raiford Key leading opposite sides. The former team emerged victorious.
The troop then got down to business, and the Patrol leveling off process took place. Ten Scouts were assigned to each of four patrols, totaling 40 scouts. James Tate was elected treasurer to succeed Knud Nielsen, who assumed the post of assistant. The meeting time was changed from 7:30 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. All Scouts please take note.
In the Troop Efficiency contest, the Golden Eagles strengthened their lead by 38 points, with a grand total of 4540 to lead the Beavers with 4293. The Silver Foxes with 3280 led the Pioneers with 3170. Deming Jones is Patrol leader of the Golden Eagles. The meeting was closed with the Scoutmaster’s benediction.

The Evergreen Courant's Sports Flashback for Nov. 17, 2020

EIGHT YEARS AGO
NOV. 15, 2012

Seven-year-old Jackson Sullivan, the son of Jeff and Rebekah Sullivan, bagged his first buck on the opening afternoon of the Alabama Youth Deer Season. Guided by his dad, Jackson brought down the eight-point buck with a New England youth model single shot .243 with a 3-9 variable scope. Jackson took his first doe on the opening day of the youth season last year.

Nared leads TU to SIAC title: Evergreen’s Justin Nared led the Tuskegee Golden Tigers in a 55-24 rout over Fort Valley State Saturday night in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title game in Atlanta.
Nared, a 6-1, 200-pound sophomore quarterback, scored two touchdowns in Saturday’s win as the Golden Tigers improved to 9-1 on the season. Nared scored Tuskegee’s first touchdown of the day on a 12-yard run.

Hillcrest High School’s varsity boys and girls basketball teams opened the 2012-2013 season with a pair of losses as they dropped games against Clarke County High School in the Clarke County Classic Tournament in Grove Hill.
(Players on Hillcrest’s boys team that season included Michael Bradley, Corey Cunningham, LaBarron Dees, Brandon Fair, Kyantrae Lewis, Matthew Likely, Kyante Maxwell, Will Nettles, Quentin North, Laquiention Prince, Keyshawn Roache, Christopher Salter, Raja Savage and Jaquan Straughn. Players on Hillcrest’s girls team included Deja Baker, Dezman Bradley, Rae’Jean Hammond, Jamika Holley, Briana Rudolph, Sierra Salter, Sequoya Stallworth and Shamiriam Thomas.)

33 YEARS AGO
NOV. 19, 1987

Katie Archer and Mandy Hutto, cheerleaders at Conecuh County High School in Castleberry, were among the over 4,000 girls who participated this past summer in the ICF Cheerleader Camp at Livingston University. They were two of the six girls selected to represent Alabama as National All Star Cheerleaders at the Hula Bowl in Honolulu, Hawaii in January.

Marion beats Sparta 69-48: Marion Military Institute beat the Sparta Academy Warriors 69-48 in a varsity basketball game here Thursday night.
Brad Watts, Lee Wild and Ebb Hagen had 10 points each to pace Sparta. Kenny Bledsoe and Jeff Carrier had four points each; Chris Davis, three; and Bobby Johnson, Craig Blackburn and Toby Baggett, two each.
Marion’s junior varsity downed Sparta, 39-25. Steven Gall had 15 points to lead Sparta. Wayne Cook had four points, and Mark Watts, Neil Sanford and Jeff Brundage, two each, according to Sparta Sports Information Director Byron Warren Jr.

Repton High School’s Bulldogs outscored G.W. Long, 40-28, at Skipperville Friday night to continue their march toward a Class 1A championship. The Bulldogs, now 9-3, host New Site, 10-2, Friday night in the quarterfinals. The kickoff at Repton will probably be at 7 p.m. and an overflow crowd is expected to be on hand.

58 YEARS AGO
NOV. 22, 1962

Barbara Stinson, Miss Homecoming, and Brenda Ellis, Miss Football, were the reigning royalty at Evergreen High School during the annual homecoming held recently. Barbara was chosen by the student body and Brenda by the football team. Both are members of the senior class and both are cheerleaders.

Miss Gayle Ryland was crowned queen at homecoming festivities recently at Repton High School. She and her attendants were featured in a parade during the afternoon when the high school band also participated.

Kindig Is Chosen “Back of Week” – Butch Kindig of Graceville was recently chosen as “Back of the Week” by the Pensacola News Journal. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Homer Kindig of Graceville and his father is a native of Evergreen.
Here is what the Pensacola newspaper had to say about young Kindig: “Kindig was picked for his work in leading the Graceville Tigers to a 19-6 triumph over Donalsonville, Ga.
“Though slight of build (5-10, 145 pounds), Kindig’s influence on the game was anything but slight.
“He ran the ball 15 times from scrimmage for 102 yards, scored one touchdown from four yards out after setting up with a 40-yard run and set up another on a 51-yard punt return.
“In nominating Kindig, Graceville Coach Homer Underwood wrote, ‘He sparked both touchdown drives in the last quarter after Donalsonville had tied the score, 6-6, in the third period.’
“Kindig contributed to the victory defensively, too, intercepting two passes. He returned one of them 26 yards.”

83 YEARS AGO
NOV. 18, 1937

Mr. and Mrs. William McGehee were weekend visitors to Birmingham, where they attended the Alabama-Georgia Tech game.

Miss Dorothy Kelly, student at the University of Alabama, was here during the weekend, accompanying her parents, Sen. and Mrs. J.L. Kelly home from Birmingham, where they attended the Alabama-Tech game.

Eleanor Jones and Frances Scott Key were weekend visitors to Birmingham, where they were among the spectators at the Alabama-Tech game.

GAME COMING BACK: Several species of wildlife that were on the downgrade in Alabama a few years ago are coming back satisfactorily, according to records of the Conservation Department. Outstanding are the wild turkey and white-tail deer, both of which are now more numerous than 25 years ago. Wild turkeys appear in 66 out of the 67 counties; in more than 20 counties the deer population is heavy. A deer survey in 1934 indicated this fine animal was in 42 counties. The beaver, on the decrease up until a few years ago, is now found in 23 counties, with some of the counties having one to a dozen colonies. A survey of Bob White quail, now being conducted, shows encouraging results. Out of 34 counties reporting, quail have been observed in 31 counties; and in 156 coveys seen in a 10-day period, the average covey had 14 birds. A preliminary survey of Alabama’s wild ducks also indicates an increase this year, both as to migratory flocks stopping off, and the nesting flocks.

Two UFO reports filed in Alabama during the month of October 2020

It’s the second Thursday of the month, so this week I’m giving you an update on UFO reports in Alabama from the previous month, courtesy of the Mutual UFO Network. A search for UFO reports in Alabama between Oct. 1 and Oct. 31 on MUFON’s website, www.mufon.com, resulted in two reports from within our state during that time.

The first incident occurred on Tues., Oct. 6, at 7:30 a.m. in Florence, which is in Lauderdale County in the northwest corner of the state near Alabama’s borders with Tennessee and Mississippi. The witness in this case runs the YouTube channel, Terry’s Theories UFO Sightings (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtPEOm9TEq05rnECm78fhMg), and used a Nikon P1000 camera to record a suspected UFO. This witness had a 3,000-mm zoom lens attached to his camera and was focused on the sun, looking for UFOs to put on his YouTube channel.

When he reviewed the footage, he saw that he recorded what looked like a diamond-shaped craft near the sun. “You can see when you view this object that the flow of the asteroids are going one way, and this object is traveling at a different speed and direction,” the witness said. “I was amazed when I saw this.”

If you’d like to see this video for yourself, just go to YouTube and look up Terry’s Theories UFO Sightings.

The second incident occurred on Sat., Oct. 17, at 7:25 p.m. in Troy, which is in Pike County, northeast of Conecuh County. The witness in this case reported seeing a tightly-packed cluster of 50 to 100 dimly lit objects flying southeast on a steady course and speed in a V-shaped formation. The witness said that the objects may have been illuminated by the rays of the setting sun.

The witness went on to say that this cluster of unknown objects crossed the entire sky in about two minutes. The witness said that this cluster was about twice as wide as the moon and appeared to be at a very high altitude. He noted that the cluster was too dim to record video of it on his cell phone.

According to the Farmer’s Almanac, except for Mercury in the predawn east, all of the planets will fade a bit during the month of November. Venus will sink lower each morning, but is still visible before dawn. The crescent moon will be visible between Mercury and Venus tomorrow (Friday) night and below those two planets on Saturday night.

For those of you with an unobstructed view of the eastern horizon, Venus will be visible above Mercury through next Wednesday, about 40 minutes before sunrise. When evening dusk fades, Jupiter continues its steady march towards Saturn, with the pair now visible only in the first few hours of each night. The moon floats new Jupiter and Saturn this coming Wednesday and Thursday, Nov. 18-19.

Before closing out this week, I just want to put it out there again that I would be very interested to hear from anyone who has witnessed a UFO, especially in Conecuh County. I think a lot of other people would be interested in hearing your story too, and I’m willing to accept your report anonymously. You can contact me by e-mail at courantnewsdesk@gmail.com.

Casey Grant remains in first place in local ESPN football pick 'em contest

Sparta Academy’s varsity football team will compete in the semifinal round of the Class A state playoffs tomorrow (Friday) night when they travel to Cougar Stadium in Luverne to face Crenshaw Christian. The Warriors advanced to the semifinals by beating Lowndes Academy last Friday night in Evergreen. Both of these games are historically significant.

Friday night’s win over Lowndes marked the first time that the Warriors have won a first-round playoff game since 1997. The 1997 season was the last time that the Warriors appeared in the semifinals. Interestingly, in 1997, Sparta also won in the semifinals and went on to face Crenshaw in the state championship game. Crenshaw beat Sparta, 45-15, in the state title game in 1997, so in my book it’s time for a little payback.

In addition to the 1997 season, Sparta has appeared in the semifinals on three other occasions: 1988, 1991 and 1996. Sparta advanced to the state title game in 1991 and 1998. In other words, Sparta is 3-1 all-time in semifinal round games, that is to say that when Sparta makes it to the semifinals, they usually win, which is what I look for them to do this coming Friday night.

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The seventh week of our local ESPN College Football Pick ‘Em contest closed out on Saturday and when the last game wrapped up on Saturday night we had another shake-up in the local standings.

Casey Grant remained in first place, and Justin Mixon moved into sole possession of second place. Steve Stacey, John Johnston, Robert Bozeman and I were tied for third place. Austin Weaver and Arthur Ingram III were tied for seventh place. Tristan McPhaul and Clint Hyde were tied for ninth place, and Brett Loftin was in 11^th place.

If you’re taking part in this local contest and didn’t do so well this past weekend, don’t sweat it. We have four more weeks left to go and much will change during the course of the next month. Like I always say, it’s a marathon, not a sprint.

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The seventh weekend of the SEC football season also closed out on Saturday, and college football fans enjoyed four conference games, even though Alabama and Auburn had the weekend off. This week, we’ve only got seven SEC games lined up for this Saturday: Alabama at LSU, Auburn at Mississippi State, Vanderbilt at Kentucky, Georgia at Missouri, Texas A&M at Tennessee, Arkansas at Florida and South Carolina at Ole Miss.

For what it’s worth, here are my predictions for that slate of games. I like Alabama over LSU, Auburn over MSU, Kentucky over Vandy, Georgia over Missouri, Texas A&M over Tennessee, Florida over Arkansas and Ole Miss over South Carolina. (Last week: 2-2. So far this season: 25-12)

The Alabama-LSU game is scheduled to kick off at 5 p.m. and will be broadcast by CBS. The Auburn-Mississippi State game is set for 3 p.m. and will be shown on the SEC Network. There were rumblings late Monday afternoon, when this column was written, that both of these games could possibly be postponed due to the Coronavirus. Let’s hope not.