Sports

Winfield Encore Athlete of the Month, Braden Pyron.

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Congratulations to the Winfield Encore Athlete of the Month, Braden Pyron! Braden is a sophomore, multi-sport athlete at Marion County High School. He has been a member of the varsity Football, Basketball, Baseball and Track teams for 4 years now and wears jersey #2, #5, and #25. During his 4 year athletic career, Braden has wracked up quite an impressive amount of awards:

Football: 2x All State Football, 2x All-Conference, 2x All-State 2x All-County

Basketball: NW Region All Tournament, All-County, 2x All Conference, Final Four

Baseball: 3x All-County Honorary Mention

Track: All-County track, 2x All-Conference, 2x All-Sectional, 2x All-State, and a State Championship.

Braden will graduate in the class of 2019 and has a 4.0 GPA. He is the son of Blaine and Valarie Pyron.

Arab Encore Athlete of the Month, Kailyn Childress.

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Congratulations to the Arab Encore Athlete of the Month, Kailyn Childress! Kailyn is in 7th grade and is a multi-sport athlete at Brindlee Mountain Middle School. She is on the Cross Country, Basketball, and Track teams. Kailyn has been on the varsity teams for a year now and wears jersey #1. She has won an All State XC title and Overall 1st Place at Sectionals. Kailyn is the daughter of Steven and Traci Childress.

Eufaula Encore Athlete of the Month, Dortaveon Turner.

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Congratulations to the Eufaula Encore Athlete of the Month, Dortaveon Turner! Dortaveon is a freshman athlete at Eufaula High School. He is a member of the Tigers Football team and wears jersey #72. Dortaveon has a 3.0 GPA and plans to attend the University of Alabama after graduation to major in Business. He is the son of LaToya Posey.

Tuscaloosa Encore Athlete of the Month, Colin Taylor.

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Congratulations to the Tuscaloosa Encore Athlete of the Month, Colin Taylor! Colin is a Junior Football player at Hillcrest High School. He has played on the Patriots football team for 3 years now and wears jersey #70. In his 3 years, he has worked up to a starting position as Offensive Guard. As a sophomore, Colin was named Most Improved Offensive Player of the Year. He is the son of Jamie and Bronwyn Taylor.

Foley Encore Athlete of the Month, Anna Langston.

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Congratulations to the Foley Encore Athlete of the Month, Anna Langston! Anna is a freshman multi-sport athlete at Foley High School. She has been a member of the Swimming and Soccer teams for a year now and will graduate in 2020. She is the daughter of Adam and Diesje Langston.

Alabama Squad Adds 2 Players to the All-Star Team via the AHSAA

MONTGOMERY – Alabama and Mississippi all-star teams reported Monday afternoon for Saturday’s 30^th annual Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Football Game at Montgomery’s Cramton Bowl. Alabama’s squad added two players Monday with one replacement reporting Tuesday.
Kickoff is set for noon Saturday with Raycom Media televising the game live over its Raycom affiliate stations in both states as well as in Memphis and Columbus (GA). The AHSAA Radio Network will also broadcast the game live over its radio network Saturday.
Spain Park 6-foot-2, 275-pound defensive end Douglas Henze replaced LaBryan Ray of James Clemens. Henze reported Monday. Jaylond Adams of Minor, who was added last week, dropped off the team due Monday and was replaced by Opelika’s Craig Lawrence. The 6-foot-2, 240-pound Florence played fullback for the Class 6A state runner-up Bulldogs but will be likely used some at tight end as well.
St. Paul’s Episcopal defensive lineman Ryan Johnson is also expected to play some tight and for the Alabama squad this week.
UMS-Wright Coach Terry Curtis is serving as the Alabama head coach. Quarterbacking the squad will Daulton Hyatt of Etowah and Bubba Thompson of McGill-Toolen Catholic with Blount’s multi-talented Kadarius Toney listed on the team as “athlete.” Toney, a Florida commit, combined for almost 4,000 total yards as the Leopards’ quarterback in 2016. Hyatt, heading to Arkansas, finished the 2016 121-of-184 passing for 2,240 yards and 25 touchdowns with only five interceptions. Thompson led McGill-Toolen (13-1) to the 7A state finals – completing 26-of-39 passes for 280 yards in the 17-7 loss to Hoover. He finished 2016 with 211-of-387 passes completed for 2,984 yards and 38 touchdowns.
Head coach for Mississippi is Todd Mangum of Wayne County.
Mississippi snapped a seven-game Alabama winning streak in the series last year with a 28-21 win at Hattiesburg (MS). Alabama holds a 21-8 edged in the series, however, dating back to 1988. The game was played in Mobile from 1988-2011 before moving to Cramton Bowl from 2011-15. The game was played at Southern Miss last year – the first time the game has been hosted in that state. Honorary captains include Kenny King for Alabama and Marcus DuPree for Mississippi.
MISSISSIPPI SUPER RECRUIT: Among the top players on the Mississippi squad is 6-foot, 215-pound Clinton quarterback Cam Akers, who did not report with the team Monday but was expected to join the squad Monday night. He led Clinton to the MHSAA Class 6A state championship last weekend – finishing the season 173-of-280 passing for 3,128 yards and 31 touchdowns.
Clinton beat Pearl 49-35 to finish the season 14-1. Also on the Mississippi squad from Clinton are running back Darius Maberry, a Southern Miss commitment, and defensive back Kam White, who has Iowa State at the top of his list.
West Point’s Everitt Cunningham, a 6-3, 240-pound defensive end, helped his team beat Laurel 29-8 to win the MHSAA Class 5A state crown.
TEAMS VISIT HYUNDAI PLANT: Both squads visited the Montgomery Hyundai automotive plant Monday night before settling in. The teams will conduct two practices Tuesday with the morning practice from 9 to 11 a.m., and the afternoon practice from 2 to 4 p.m.

Diamondhead Athlete of the Month, Brooke Fagan.

Congratulations to the Diamondhead Athlete of the Month, Brooke Fagan! Brooke is a junior multi-sport athlete at Hancock High School in Kiln, MS. She has been a member of the Lady Hawks Softball and Volleyball teams for 5 years now and wears jersey #9 and #10 respectively. Brooke has quite a few impressive awards from her 5 year sports career- the 2015 South State MVP in volleyball and was a member of the 2015 All-State Volleyball team. She also has a 3.5 GPA and plans to play softball in college and major in sports medicine. She is the daughter of John and Jennifer Fagan.

Fayette Encore Athlete of the Month, Nick Holmes.

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Congratulations to the Fayette Encore Athlete of the Month, Nick Holmes! Nick is a sophomore athlete at Fayette County High School. He has played on the Varsity Tigers Football team for a year now and wears jersey #61. Nick was referred to our clinic after he broke his ankle during football season. He has received physical therapy for all little over a month now and has been progressing greatly.

Nick is the son of Amber Holmes. Keep up the good work, Nick!

CLASS 7A CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: Hoover 17, McGill-Toolen Catholic 7.

AUBURN – Hoover High School’s last defensive series of the Super 7 Class 7A state championship game Wednesday night was perhaps the best series of the 2016 season.
Three straight sacks on second, third and fourth down left defending state champion McGill-Toolen Catholic (13-1) some 36 yards shy of a first down and closed the final chapter on the Bucs’ 17-7 victory and the 12^th state title in school history.
The Super 7 Championships continue Thursday at Jordan-Hare Stadium with defending state champion Piedmont (14-0) facing Mobile Christian (13-1) in the 3A title game at 11 a.m., followed by defending state champion Maplesville (13-0) vs. Pickens County (11-3) in the 1A finals at 3 p.m. Beauregard (12-1) and Wenonah (11-2) close out Thursday’s schedule with the 5A finals at 7 p.m. All games are being televised live over the Raycom Media Network. Go towww.pathtotheplayoffs.com for more details. Tickets are also available at www.preptix.com.
Led by 2016 7A Championship Game MVP Kholbe Coleman, Hoover (12-2) finished the night with nine sacks and 82 lost yards for the Yellow Jackets’ talented offense. Coleman finished with eight tackles, one sack for a 15-yard loss and 3.5 tackles resulting in 23 negative McGill-Toolen yards. Coach Caleb Ross’s Jackets finished with minus-43 yards rushing on the night. Quarterback Bubba Thompson was 26-of-39 passing for 280 yards but finished with a negative 58 yards rushing on 16 carries.
The Hoover offense was solid – building a first-half 10-0 lead on junior place-kicker Barret Pickering’s 42-yard field goal late in the first quarter and C.J. Sturdivant’s 2-yard TD run midway through the second period. The kick was the 19^th field goal of the season for Pickering, a Hoover school record.
Sturdivant, who finished with a game-high 96 yards rushing on 16 carries, dashed 37 yards with 8:50 left in the third quarter for his second touchdown of the night to give Hoover a 17-0 lead.
McGill-Toolen clawed back, however. Thompson connected with Jalen Tolbert with 4:13 remaining for a 30-yard TD pass to cap a 10-play, 80-yard march. Tolbert finished with four catches for 60 yards. Hoover got the onside kick, and then turned to its defense to seal the win.
Hoover defensive end Christon Taylor added three sacks and six tackles and Ben Abercrombie had nine stops. Jayden Jordan also had a key interception.
McGill-Toolen, which saw its 22-game winning streak come to an end, got a strong defensive effort Carlton Martial. The linebacker had 11 solo tackles and six assists for 17 total stops. Receiver Trey Roberson also had six catches for 78 yards, and Larry Rembert, five catches for 51 yards.
Hoover has won 10 state titles in the last 16 seasons.

Alabama All-Star Team Adds 2 players

MONTGOMERY – Jackson-Olin High School senior linebacker T.D. Moultry and Minor receiver Jaylond Adams have been added to the Alabama All-Star Team roster for the 30^th annual Alabama-Mississippi All-Star football game.
Alabama and Mississippi will square off Saturday, Dec. 10 at Cramton Bowl. Kickoff is set for noon with the game set to be televised live over the Raycom Network over its network in Alabama and Mississippi.
The 6-foot-3, 225-pound Moultry, an Auburn commitment, led Jackson-Olin to the Class 6A state playoffs in 2016 averaging more than 10 tackles per game. He had 13 stops and two sacks in the final regular season game versus Fairfield. He has also been selected to play in the U.S. Army All-America Game in San Antonio, Texas, Jan. 7. He replaces Central-Phenix City’s Markail Benton.
Adams was a standout running back, wide receiver and kick returner while leading Minor (11-2) to the Class 6A, Region 6 championship and its best season since 2000. The Tigers scored a school record 631 points.
Adams had over 1,500 yards rushing and went over 2,000 yards including receiving and kick returns. He replaced Zech Byrd of Stanhope Elmore.
UMS-Wright Coach Terry Curtis is serving as head coach for this year’s game. Alabama holds a 21-8 edge in the series. Mississippi won last year 28-21 at Hattiesburg, MS. It was the first time the game had been played outside Alabama and snapped a seven-game winning streak for the Alabama All-Stars.