friday night life 2012
DESCRIPTION
Published by Neighborhood Publishing Friday Night Life is a High School Football preview for Clay & Randolph Counties in Eastern Alabama.TRANSCRIPT
Table of Contents
In Each School Section
Season Preview
Team Roster
Academic Athletes
Cheerleaders
Band Preview
7 Letter from the Editor
19 Life of a Football Mom 73 The Friday Night Changeup...From Football to Cheerleading 76 Factors Impacting Today’s Athlete
78 ASWA Preseason Poll
82 Charley’s Treasures
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28
52
42
60
Contributing Writers JOANNE BOZEMAN, LEISEL CALDWELL, CHARLEY NORTON
Neighborhood Publishing
877.959.5253 18285 Highway 431 Wedowee, AL 36278
www.FridayNightLife.com
Friday Night Life, produced by Neighborhood Publishing, is published once a year and available for sale through different organizations associ-ated with each of the schools in Clay and Randolph counties. All content is protected by United States copyright law and may not be repro-
duced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, or otherwise published without the prior written permission of Neighborhood Publishing. © 2008-2012 Neighborhood Publishing
General Manager LEISEL CALDWELL
Editor KELLY CALDWELL
Writer/Photographer AMANDA CAUSEY
Advertising Sales LAVOY CALDWELL
Football is in the air The state of Alabama loves its football, and we love winners. You just have to look at the
last three college football national champions to see that. It doesn’t matter if you bleed orange and blue or crimson and white, football is the heartbeat of this state. While college football has
the reputation of dividing not only this state but households as well, Friday night high school football has the power to unite entire commu-nities. That was evident when the Handley Tigers won the Class 3A State Championship last season. The community not only celebrated the win with the team, the people of the area raised more than $30,000 in a matter of weeks to ensure the young men received Championship Rings. The sense of community pride still rings true this season as the Central High School of Clay County Volunteers embark on a new journey. The communities of Ashland and Lineville have rallied behind this new team with as much enthusiasm as ever before. And, they are beyond excited for that first game at Volunteer Stadium. At this point, all five teams in the area are on equal footing and have a fighting chance at accomplishing something extraordinary this season. As one ole’ ball coach use to say “Winning a state championship
comes down to three things...Players, Coaches and A Little Bit of Luck. You can’t do it without all three!” So here is wishing each team the best of luck in the 2012 season!
Kelly Caldwell Enjoy Friday Night Life!
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HANDLEY FOOTBALL 2012 Aug. 31 BEAUREGARD Sept. 7 @Holtville Sept. 14 CHILDERSBURG Sept. 21 @ Dallas County Sept. 28 @ Anniston Oct. 5 ELMORE COUNTY Oct. 12 CENTRAL CLAY CO. Oct. 19 @ Dadeville Oct. 26 BEULAH Nov. 1 @ Dora All games start at 7 p.m. Home games in all caps.
Jersey # Name Height 1 Coby Floyd 5'10" 2 Trae Kyles 5"10" 3 Duran Zachery 5"10 4 Rashad Trammell 5'11" 5 Sedric Tucker 6'2" 6 Tevin Morgan 5'8" 8 Tevin Cook 6'3" 9 Jerrod Tucker 5'11" 10 Marcellous Floyd 6'0" 11 Kelvin Kelley 6'0" 12 Logan Taylor 5'10" 14 Mikeia Trammell 5'11" 15 Toddrick Burton 5'6" 17 Kevin Morgan 5'8" 18 Damien Ware 5'10" 19 Cody Foster 5'11" 22 Bran Trammell 5'10" 23 Dakelton Daniel 5'8" 25 Damien Harris 5'7" 27 Jarreion Williams 5'8" 28 Eli Taylor 5'8" 29 Trent Wilkerson 5'9" 30 Quincy Morris 6'0" 33 John David Fordham 5'10" 34 Tez Watts 5'9" 39 Connor Smith 6'4" 40 A.J. Reed 5'8" 42 Kenny Seiffert 5'9" 50 John Simon 5'10" 52 Connor Boyd 5'11" 53 Andrew Owens 5'8" 58 Colton Murphy 5'11" 60 Luis Velazquez 5'10" 62 Quandale Trammell 5'9" 63 Timmy Yarbough 5'5" 64 Seth May 6'0" 65 Jacob Seiffert 5'9" 66 Hunter Fulghum 5'11" 70 Beau Robinson 6'1" 71 Skylar Bladwin 6'0" 72 Allen Kelley 6'4" 73 Shane Adams 6'1' 74 Steven Adams 5'10" 75 Shaquan Glass 6'0" 76 Will Tennent 5'11" 77 Erik Velazquez 5'11" 78 Bradley Bozeman 6'4" 80 Clay Burks 5'10" 81 Daniel Folds 6'0"
Weight Grade 170 Sr 175 Sr 200 Sr 175 Sr 185 Sr 165 Sr 190 Sr 200 Sr 170 Jr 160 So 165 So 160 Fr 140 So 150 Sr 180 So 165 Jr 170 Sr 180 So 150 Jr 190 So 170 Sr 140 So 175 Jr 160 So 185 So 230 Jr 140 Fr 175 Sr 170 Fr 205 Sr 170 Jr 210 Jr 250 So 180 Jr 165 Fr 230 Fr 200 So 210 Sr 225 Jr 230 Fr 210 Jr 270 So 215 So 300 Sr 260 Sr 320 Sr 320 Sr 160 So 180 So
2012 HANDLEY TIGER FOOTBALL ROSTER
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While the 2011 Handley Tigers achieved the ultimate in high school football, it's not something head coach Mike Battles likes to talk about now. "Last year doesn't matter. We
don't talk about last year," Battles said. "It takes a long time to get that out of our players but spring and this summer helped. In the spring game, Pinson Val-
ley defeated the Tigers 28-17 which Battles believes will help his team this season. "Pinson Valley was one point
away from being in the 5A title game last season. Them coming down here and beating our butts takes a lot of that state champion-ship out of you." The Tigers also return to famil-
iar territory with the move back to Class 4A. "We are back to where we came
from, playing opponents we are used to seeing," Battles said. "But, there is nothing special about us right now. Special comes during the season." However, this year's Tigers are
a little more than just ordinary. "We lost a core group of players
to graduation, but we have a lot of players returning that played in the state championship game," Bat-
tles said. Handley returns more than a
handful of players on both sides of the ball including quarterback Trae Kyles and the majority of the offen-sive line.
“We have the nucleus to have a good football team," Battles said. “We have our entire offensive line back with exception of one. We are replacing right guard Doug Tucker
with Will Tennant." Tennant returns for his senior
season after being sidelined in 2011 for injuries sustained in a car acci-dent. “No one is more surprised than
we are that Will is back," Battles said. “I didn't think he would ever play football again after his wreck. “Football is not like riding a bi-
cycle and he still has a long way to go. But, I have every confidence he can get to where we need him to be, and I know for a fact he will work. He just has to persevere. He has to get out there and do it until
Tigers Returns to Familiar Territory
Season Preview By Kelly Caldwell
Photo by Kelly Caldwell
Friday night life 15
he can't do it wrong."
The offensive line includes starters Univer-sity of Alabama recruit Bradley Bozeman, Shaq-uan Glass, Con-nor Boyd, Will Tennant and Erik Velazquez.
"They were all together last year with the excep-tion of Will, and they are bigger and stronger than ever," Battles said. "And, we have a good sec-ond bunch behind them and I think we can really push on offense."
The second string offensive line includes Shane Adams, Colton
Murphy, Beau Robinson, Allen Kelley and Hunter Fulghum.
"They got to play a lot last year, and they will continue to contrib-
ute this season," Bat-tles said. "I want to be able to put our second offensive line in the game, without blinking." As far as skill people on offense, the Tigers will look to Kyles at quarterback with Kenny Seiffert re-turning at fullback with RaShad Trammell and Tez Watts being worked into the mix as well. The Tigers also have Duran Zachery, the state championship game Most Valuable Player, returning for
his senior campaign. Joining him at tailback position are Colby Floyd and Jarreion Williams.
"We have got some people that can play different positions in the
Photo by Kelly Caldwell
backfield," Battles said. "Connor Smith and Cedric Tucker will be tight ends then we have Tevin Cook and Cody Foster at X and then Marcellous Floyd can be an X or a Z. "We feel good about our
offense with the depth we have," Battles said. Special teams also has some
veteran returners with Kyles continuing his punting duties, and Boyd handling extra points and field goals. "He outkicks our coverage
a lot of times because he can really bust the football," Bat-tles said. "But, on the other hand, in the championship his punts were turning points in the game because they flipped the field. We are working with him on getting his punts higher in the air and less down field." If there were questions marks
on the Tiger roster it would be on
defense. "We lost our four defensive
backs to graduation," Battles said. "And, it takes time to develop backs."
Kyles, Cook, Floyd and Logan Taylor are working at the posi-tion currently, and Battles is impressed with their progress so far. "They have come a long way, and the more they understand their role, the further we will go, Battles said. "They have gotten better as we have practiced against other teams. The coach-ing staff has done a great job with our kids teaching our de-fense and being able to play more than one position. "Instead of being defensive ends or tackles our players are defen-sive lineman," he said. "They can play either one. Our line-backers can flip and play either side and so can our backs." Other than the four backs, the
rest of the defense will consist of Bozeman, Glass, Williams, Boyd, Trammell, Watts, Smith and Jerod Tucker. Seiffert also returns at out-
Photo by Christy Fordham
side linebacker. "Our goal is always to have the best athletes on
the field at any given time," Battles said. "We proba-bly have 18 or 19 guys that play right now, and we are trying to find more personnel to back those guys up. We are young in the middle and the backs need more experience.
"We are going to rely on the offense to control the game until our defense catches up," he said. "We have good football players on defense, but they have to get up to speed and that crucial on the job training."
Photo by Christy Fordham
2012 Handley Varsity Cheerleaders Seated: Selena Cot-tle, Caitlin Neighbors, Co-Captain Anna Bon-ner, Regan Self; kneeling: Madeline Farmer, Abbie Bai-ley, Captain Kiera Staples, Sydney Bai-ley, Keoshane Allen. Standing: Coach Bronwyn Rampy, Ashley Yarbrough, Monica Roundtree, Chelsea Brown, LaRavian Atkinson, Hannah Kirby, Madeline Traylor, Coach Jennifer Kirby. Not pictured Kieauna Strickland.
There are so many things I could write about when it comes to my experiences with my son Bradley on a Friday night. But, starting on Fri-day mornings this I how my football game day goes. Friday mornings as I wake up with the ex-
citement of watching Bradley play another game that night, I say a prayer that he will play a good game and not get injured.
I go to the stereo, put on some pump up foot-ball music and head to his room to wake him up. As I open his door, he can hear the beating of the music as I wake him up. For some reason I always get choked up and teary eyed as I enter his room. I know just from the spring game that this
year is going to be a very emotional year consid-
Football 2012 by JoAnne Bozeman
The Life of a Football Mom
ering this is his senior year and last year to play as a Handley Tiger. I know he will continue his football career at Alabama, but he won’t be under his mama’s roof anymore, and things will be so different. As he gets up and heads out the door I am always there to take my before the game pic-tures, kiss him goodbye and send him out the door with the music pumping him up.
I then wait very patiently for the day to pass by, so I can watch him
and the Tigers play. I always get to the field early so
I can watch warm ups and once again take my pictures.
As kickoff approaches, the play-
ers come down the steps from the field house, the music is pumping at the field and they are all standing be-hind the ban-ner. Bradley is usually the first to punch out a hole in the banner, so he can see out. Shortly after that “Eye of the Tiger” be-gins, the smoke starts,
and Bradley is leading the team, tearing through the banner. I am standing there (hoping I don’t get run over) as I take his picture run-ning to the sideline. I can always
JoAnne and Barry Bozeman celebrate with their son Bradley last season after the Tigers won the state championship.
see Bradley’s eyes looking at me like, “move out of the way or we are going to trample you!” Of course, I’m not the only mama out there taking pictures. Running back to my seat, I say another prayer
that there are no injuries during the game. As the game starts, the excitement continues to
build while cheering and yelling for the Tigers, I have my eyes on Bradley just making sure after every play he gets up with no injuries. Most of the time I don’t know a lot about the
game, just that he’s playing and getting up after every play. I guess the only time I really know what’s going on is when we are winning and the first string is sitting on the sidelines while the others play. Of course, the best part of the game is when it’s over and I get to go on the field and hug his neck, sweaty and all. Bradley’s love for the game of football and his
team is so strong. I will always worry about him playing football, but he loves it and will continue after he graduates, so all I can do is say a prayer and leave it in the Lords hands to watch over him. As long as he can do something that he loves and
be happy, that’s all I can ask for. Everything else will fall into place.
Ft. McClellan
The fans are in for a fun, high energy show this season from the Handley High School Marching Band. The show, entitled “Rock Of Ages,” is full of rock and roll oldies from the 50s through the 80s which are easily recognized and sure to be crowd pleasers.
The show will start of with a mash-up of two Elvis Presley songs, “All Shook Up” and “I Can't Help Falling In Love” with a trumpet duet by Justin Pike and Erica Barber, featuring the dance line. The second song, “California Dreamin” features the color guard and majorettes with a flute solo by Ali Pike. The third selection on the hit parade is a mash-up of “All Out Of Love” by Air Supply and “Hot
Stuff” by Donna Summer with solos by Clay Fetner on trumpet and Aaliyah Magby on saxo-phone.
“The finale is “Joy To The World” with a football field full of color,” Band Director Jesse Tiner said.
Leading the Handley band for the 2012 season is Drum Major Katie Vollenweider, Flag Captain Carissa Anglin, Co-Captain Shanna Weaver; Dance Line Cap-tain Leslie Guizar and Majorette Captain Jasmine Burton.
Jesse Tiner the “not so new”
band director is glad to be back with the Handley High School Marching Band this year. Mr. Tiner had previously been with Handley from 2005 through 2007. After his stint at Handley the first time, Mr. Tiner was called to the mission fields in Honduras for four years. There he worked with different Christian outreach groups to teach and work at im-proving the living conditions for families in poverty stricken areas.
“I would not take anything for that experience,” Tiner said .
Samford Watson, assistant band director, is working side by side with Tiner to bring unity and a great band (music) experi-ence to the students in seventh through twelfth grades.
Band Preview by Leisel Caldwell
Rocking the Fans on Friday Nights
2012 Handley Tiger Marching Band
Photo By Christy Fordham
26 Friday night life
Handley Senior Kenny Seiffert is not afraid of hard work, espe-cially consider-ing he has been playing for the State Champion Handley Tigers since he was a sophomore.
"Football has taught me the value of hard work," Seiffert said. "One of the coaches told me that we practice for 22 straight weeks, and I have had no choice but to work hard. To get the things that I want, I have to work hard for them. It has taught me that if I work hard, it will pay off."
Seiffert excels in the classroom as well with the highest grade point average on the team at 4.02 as he enters his senior year. After graduation, he plans to attend West Point Academy or Georgia Tech and pursue a degree in aero-space engineering. However, be-fore that happens, Seiffert is look-ing forward to playing one last sea-son in cardinal and white.
"When this is all done, I will
miss my teammates more than anything," Seiffert said. "We have been playing together since sev-enth grade, and have been starting for Handley since we were sopho-mores.
"We have a tremendous coach-ing staff. They have taught me so much about not just football, but life as well. I will be able to share so many stories with my children when they decide to pick up the
game." As a junior, Seiffert played his part in help-ing the Tigers win the state title, and it’s a memory that he will take with him for the rest of his life. "My greatest moment as a Handley Ti-ger was when the time ran out in the state champi-
onship game. It went down to the final whistle but our team came out on top," Seiffert said. "But it's not just about that game. It's about every Friday night and looking into the home stands before the game, it's a sea of cardinal and white. There are schools with more money, but they don't have the excitement that we do.
" For a small town, its packed. When the band starts playing and we are standing behind the banner, the hair stands up on your neck and the adrenaline starts pumping.
"I never want to play anywhere other than WRIGHT field."
Academic Athlete by Kelly Caldwell
Seiffert excels on and off field for Tigers
Photo By Christy Fordham
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Randolph County 2012 Football
Aug. 31 GASTON Sept.7 ISABELLA Sept. 14 LAFAYETTE Sept. 21 @ Reeltown Sept.28 WOODLAND Oct. 5 @Montgomery Aca. Oct. 12 LANETT Oct.19 HORSESHOE BEND Oct. 26 @Prattville Christian Nov. 1 OPEN All games start at 7 p.m. Home games in all caps.
No. Name Grade 1 Cortavious Childs 12 2 Brad Benefield 12 4 Alex Sanchez 11 5 Lane Henderson 10 6 Latavious Poole 9 8 Dontay Bell 10 10 Levi Scarbary 9 12 Ty Sparks 11 13 Josh Lee 10 14 Braxton Lackey 10 16 Kylan Sims 12 17 Dustin Farrow 10 18 John Mark Prestridge 9 21 Lance Daniel 12 22 Colton Lovvorn 12 24 J.R. Roundtree 9 25 Dontae Barrett 12 26 Zack Baker 11 27 Willis Knight 11 30 Steven Buchanan 9 32 Josh Smith 12 33 Reco Hannah 9
No. Name Grade 35 Jonah Bailey 10 37 Rico Nelson 11 40 Russell Whaley 10 42 Christian Benefield 9 50 Timothy Nelson 12 51 Patrick Johnson 12 52 Tyler Harper 9 53 Jessie Parker 10 54 Levi Phillips 10 58 Caleb Bain 10 59 Ethan Heard 9 60 Colton Cooper 9 61 George Moore 12 64 Eric Henderson 9 71 Keith Clark 11 72 Spencer McCain 9 76 Chris Morris 9 77 Melvin Sims 10 80 Will Sledge 9 81 Trevor Harmon 10 88 Tanner Cross 12 97 Deonta Freeman 8
2012 Randolph County Tigers Varsity Football
Tigers Searching for Depth, Leaders The Randolph
County Tigers hope to build on the success of the 2011 season this year, however, graduation took its toll and it will not be an easy task.
"Losing the amount of seniors that we did is never an easy thing," Coach Randy Sparks said. "They were an exceptional bunch that had played together for years."
While its not going to be an easy road for the Tigers, Sparks is optimistic about building on the foundation the 2011 team built.
"We can't be satisfied that we had a good season last year," he said. "It was the first good season in several years here."
On the field, the Tigers posted a 7-3 record, but due to a rule infrac-tion, had to forfeit the 30-29 win against LaFayette.
"We have faced about every type of adversity imaginable," Sparks said. "And last year our team grew stronger from it, but we can't con-tinue to overcome adversity day after day. We have to limit it where we can."
The biggest win of last season came against Lineville. On the road and in the final meeting between the two schools, Randolph County came out on top 28-21 in overtime.
"Wins like the one we had over Lineville last year will help sustain the progress we have made," Sparks said. "Our players have to experi-ence those big wins to get to the top. I hope we can take the positives we gained last year to be able to com-pete and beat some of the top teams in the region."
Due to realignment and the opening of Central High School of Clay County, the Tigers region (Class 2A Region 5) looks dramati-cally different than in years past.
"We liked to play Lineville," Sparks said. "Our kids really got
pumped to play them." The region also lost Ranburne and the Tigers' cross-county rival Woodland. "Last year the Woodland game was for a playoff berth, and it went down to a 31-28 overtime win for them. Would it have been that exciting if it didn't mean anything... I don't know. "We still have them on our schedule because they are a great rival, but now its a non-region game, and some of the excitement will be gone." Region 5, how-ever, will not be a
cakewalk with the additions of Montgomery Academy, Isabella and AHSAA newcomer Prattville Christian.
"It will be different, but I would-n't say that it will be easier," Sparks said. "We don't know a lot about Prattville Christian, but we under-stand Montgomery Academy is loaded with talent. And, Isabella Coach Scott Booth does a phe-nomenal job with the talent he has."
The familiar teams of the region are expected to be stiff competition for the Tigers as well.
"We beat Lafayette by a slim margin on the field last year, and they return 18 starters while Lanett returns 40 of 44 players," Sparks
Photo by Ellen Sims
Season Preview By Kelly Caldwell
said. "And, of course Reel-town is always loaded.
"As far as the pieces of the puz-zle being here to compete in this region they are there," Sparks said. "It's possible to compete, but if we don't take care of all our situations day to day it won't be possible. Everything has to fall in to place."
Lack of depth is a concern for
the Tigers this season but fortu-nately the team returns its offen-sive weapons and field general.
" We have some really good ex-perience returning on offense ex-cept for the offensive line," Sparks
said. "All of our skill posi-tion people return." Randolph County will be led on the field by junior quar-terback Ty Sparks. "Ty had a phe-nomenal year as a sopho-more," Sparks said. "He passed for al-most 1700 yards and had
29 touchdowns." Making his job
look easier will be receivers Willis Knight, Dontae Barrett and three-year starter Brad Benefield.
"They are all extremely talented," Sparks said. "They are legit."
Lance Daniel, Braxton Lackey
34 Friday night life
Photo by Ellen Sims
and Zack Baker will also contribute at receiver.
The Tigers also return three run-ning backs in Rico Nelson, Colton Lovvorn and Cortavious Childs.
"We return three extremely good running backs," Sparks said. "Their numbers might not be as high as others, but they are very steady."
The offensive line, however, con-tinues to be a competition for start-ing positions.
"We return two part-time start-ers on the offensive line in George Moore and Timothy Nelson," Sparks said. "We really have six players vying for five spots on the line. And, it will become clearer once we get the pads on."
Others working for position in-clude Melvin Sims at center, Keith Clark at guard and then Levi Phil-lips and Patrick Johnson.
"We are actually moving John-son from fullback to tackle," Sparks said.
The Tigers have more questions than answers on defense as well.
"We have some holes to fill for sure," Sparks said. "We have to have some people step up and some of those questions can't be answered until we get in pads."
The Tigers return four starters on the defensive front line. Daniel and Tanner Cross line up at defen-sive end while Moore and Clark play at tackle.
"I don't think that will change but because of other situations we might have to move some of them around," Sparks said.
Johnson, Nelson and Lovvorn return at linebacker while Sparks believes Baker, Jonah Bailey and Josh Smith have shown promise at
the position. He also mentioned Jason Davenport could split time at linebacker or on the line.
"In the secondary, it depends on who has to play where," Sparks said. "Knight focuses on receiver but is a good cover guy at corner.
"Childs also returns at corner-back while Benefield has experience at safety," he said.
Barrett will fill in gaps where the Tigers need him.
"Dontae can play anywhere," Sparks said. "He can play strong safety, free safety and linebacker. He will have to play where ever we are missing that link.
"Beyond that I am just not sure. We are a little bit thin the in secon-dary and it depends on how the whole scheme of things plays out."
The Tigers open the season at home August 31 against Gaston.
www.fridaynightlife.com
2012 Randolph County Varsity Cheerleaders
Front Row: Mollie Heard, CeCe Garrett, Ceara Cooper & Chasity Marable; Second Row: Caroline Sikes, Valerie Wat-kins & Katie Ben-nett; Third Row: Dakota Hen-derson, Courtney Cooper, Tillie Lang-ford & the Mascot is P.J. King.
The Randolph County Golden Tiger Marching Band has doubled in size since last year's season, and they are ready to take the crowd on a thrilling ride with this year's music. The theme for 2012 is “Lights Camera Action!,” while the thrill comes from their music selections from the movies and television shows: James Bond, Ha-waii Five-o and Mission Impossible.
The band has been in camp for over a week. For band camp, band
director, Adrian Peters brought in help with percussion and march-ing technique from Steve Ellison
who teaches in Calhoun County and Aaron Thompson from Jack-sonville who helped with the mu-sic and marching technique as well.
Leading the band on the field this year is Drum Major Marleigh Bradley, Percussion Section Leader Robert Tittle and Brass Sec-tion Leader Breanna Nicholson.
Adrian Peters, the band direc-tor in his fourth year at RCHS is excited about the band doubling in size since last year.
“We are planning on attending three competitions this year,” Pe-ters said. “We are really looking forward to the upcoming season.”
Marching Tigers Halftime Show Thrills
Band Preview by Leisel Caldwell
2012 Randolph County Tiger Marching Band
38 Friday night life
In this day and time three-sport ath-letes are not as com-mon as they once were, but for Lance Daniel its never been an option. "It keeps me busy
all year," he said. "But, I like it and wouldn't have it any other way." He excels in ath-
letics, but with a 4.0 grade point average, he excels in the class-room as well. "I have always
been told to work hard at everything I do and be the best I can be," Daniel said. "I take that to heart." The senior athlete
will play defensive end and receiver for the Randolph County Tigers this fall and credits football for teaching him lessons that he will take with him beyond the walls and fields of Randolph County High School. " Football has taught me class
and respect," Daniel said. "We have responsibility, too. I have to be responsible for my position on defense, and I have responsibility
in life as well." As he enters his fi-nal season for the Tigers, Daniel has goals for his team. " Our team has to work hard, work together and stay out of trouble," he said. "And, I want us to make the play-offs and go as far as we can." When the last whis-tle is blown on his final game, Daniel will know he has given the RCHS Tigers all that he can. “I know I am going to miss it,” he said. “Its hard to describe a Friday night. After you make a good play, knowing that all the fans in the stands are cheering for you… It’s awe-some.” Daniel's college
plans include going to the Uni-versity of Alabama and majoring in sports medicine. "I want to be an athletic trainer
and then go on to be a physical therapist," he said.
Daniel hopes to lead team to playoffs in 2012
Academic Athlete by Kelly Caldwell
Photo by Kelly Caldwell
42 Friday night life
Friday night life 43
WOODLAND BOBCATS 2012 FOOTBALL
Aug. 31 Bowdon Sept. 7 VICTORY CHRISTIAN Sept.14 @Fultondale Sept. 21 OHATCHEE Sept. 28 @ Randolph Co. Oct. 5 @Ranburne Oct. 12 WALTER WELLBORN Oct. 19 @Pleasant Valley Oct. 26 VINCENT Nov. 1 @ CLEBURNE CO. All games start at 7 p.m. Home games in all caps.
VARSITY ROSTER
1 Lakeland Phillips 2 Colby Spears 3 Jay Yates 4 Chris Israel 5 Tyler Rollins 6 Clay Gay 7 Bradley Rainwater 8 Justus Herring 9 Trae Messer 11 John Wes Adcock 12 Tyler Gay 15 Hunter Baldwin 16 Jordan Hopkins 17 Elijah Phillips 20 Trey Bradford 21 John David Jacobs 22 Kendall Hudson 23 Michael Howard 24 Jared Walker 30 Axson Gay 31 Kyle Keith 32 Austin Crenshaw 38 Josh Brown 39 Matt Stapler 41 Levi Arrington 45 Nathan Parker 50 Aaron Buttrill 51 Luke Rice 52 Jake Gay 54 Austin Mitchell 55 Nick Phillips 56 Dusty McClurg 57 Parker Ratzlaff 58 Jarod Lewis 60 Hunter Henry 62 Chris Langley 63 Alonzo Cummings 64 Bobby Taylor 65 Austin Meadows 67 Al Davis 68 Chadarius Parker 70 Alex Jackson 71 Levi Noles 72 Kyle Strain 74 Landon Herring 75 Kison Strain 77 Christian Burroughs 78 Tyler Davidson 79 Marcus Purvine 80 Calvin New
No. Name
Bobcats leave region, old foes behind in 2012 The Woodland Bobcats are in fa-
miliar territory as they prepare for the 2012 football season. This time last year, the Bobcats were breaking in a new quarterback and only had the leadership of seven seniors to guide the team.
This time around, Woodland has six seniors and guided by a quarter-back that sat out last season due to injury.
"We have really been the under-dog since 2004, but we have been successful because of our players," Strain said. "They know how to work and aren't scared of it."
Woodland finished last season with a 8-5 record which included an appearance in the third round of the AHSAA Class 2A State Playoffs.
"To be honest, if Zach Barron did-n't break his collarbone on the fifth play of the game, we could have been playing for the state champion-ship. We had a good chance to beat Tanner that night. At halftime, it was 10-0, but we couldn't move the foot-ball because we were down to an eighth grade quarterback."
The Bobcats are looking for more this season, but they know it won't be an easy road.
"We lost some very valuable posi-tions from last season," Strain said. "I lost my quarterback and go-to re-ceivers, and then those same three kids, I lost one of my defensive sec-
ondary guys and both inside line-backers."
Replacing Zach Barron at quarter-back is John Wes Adcock, a rising junior, that could have been the starting quarterback last season if it had not been for a pre-season knee injury.
"We are expecting big things out of John Wes," Strain said. " He has had a year off and in football that can be difficult to overcome. Every game was tough for him last year. He was actually dressed out for that last game, but we didn't put him. It was an important year to miss, but I think he is going to rebound well.
Adcock and Barron are different style quarterbacks, but it will give the Bobcats a different weapon than
Season Preview by Kelly Caldwell
Photo by Phillip Heard
46 Friday night life
they have had. "He gives us more ability to do
the option and do things with quar-terback runs," Strain said. "John Wes has a heck of an arm, too. I think he is going to do well. He had a 58-yard touchdown pass in the spring game."
Woodland is also fortunate to welcome their leading rusher back for his senior season.
"We are tickled to death to have Mikey Howard back this year," Strain said. "He was one of the cata-lyst that changed us last year."
Howard finished his junior sea-son with 1602 yards rushing with 19 touchdowns. Rounding out the backfield for the Bobcats are Colby Spears, Lakeland Phillips, Justus Herring and Kendal Hudson.
"We have more running backs than we have had since the 2006 season," Strain said.
The offensive line returns intact for the most part and is being led by
senior Al Davis. "Al plays the blindside and is
being looked at by a number of Div-I schools," Strain said. "To be hon-est we had college coaches on our field about half the time during spring practice. That's a good thing."
Christian Burroughs is also a three-year starter at center while Alonzo Cummings and Austin Meadows are the two guards on the line.
"They are strong, thick and able to move,” Strain said.
The only hole to fill on the line is the right tackle position.
"Last year Devontae Maffett and Andrew Burroughs played in that spot," Strain said. "We have about four or five guys competing for it now."
As far as receivers, it depends on who is running the ball.
"When not in at running back, Kendal Hudson will play Z, Tyler Rollins will probably play Y," Strain said. "H will be Colby Spears when he is not running the ball. Trey Messer, John David Jacobs and Kip Sims are all competing for X."
The defense, however, is not as secure.
"The offensive picture is a lot
Photo by Phillip Heard
Friday night life 47
clearer than defense is at this point," Strain said. "We lost two defensive coaches in the off season and they haven't been replaced, yet." Stephen Bailey, the
Bobcats defensive coor-dinator for 9 seasons, left for a position at an-other school and volun-teer coach Billy Lake was killed in a motorcy-cle wreck in the spring. "Billy Lake is going
to be sorely missed," Strain said. "He coached our outside linebackers and the players loved him. I am not sure who is going to fill that posi-tion. "As far as players,
we didn't really lose anyone but the two inside lineback-ers,” he said. “But those are tough people to replace.” At the Class 2A level, it is typi-
cal for numerous players to play on both sides of the football and at Woodland, it’s especially true. "We are small school football
and we want to put our best play-ers on the field at all times," Strain said. Special teams is another concern
for the Bobcats. "We lost a very valuable player
on special teams in Colton McManus," Strain said. He had
some big field goals for us. He missed one PAT last year, and the one he missed was because some-one else missed their assignment. "We have got to find a kicker
and a punter. We may have to be like some of those teams that go for it on every fourth down," Strain said. Woodland also changes regions
this year and will face some differ-ent competition than in years past. "Basically the strong hold of Re-
gion 5 is now destroyed. I think it has been like 17 of the 19 years a team from Region 5 has played for
the 2A title," Strain said. "It had started to change a few years back when Clay County moved to 3A, but now because of the region alignment, Ranburne and Woodland have moved north and then Lineville is no more. " The Bobcats will be com-peting in Class 2A Region 6 while county rival Randolph County will be in Class 2A Region 5. "We are in a good region and there are some quality opponents, but there is no way to compare the region we are in now to the region we left," Strain said. "Why? Because every single week the bottom team could real-istically knock off the top team. We saw it last year.
Every week had upset potential.” To combat the possibility of a
weaker region schedule, the Bob-cats beefed up their non-region schedule. "Bowdon has always been a
good game for us, both on the field and at the gate," Strain said. "But, we added Cleburne County for the last game of the season because it should be a good test for us. "I have to make decisions on
what is best for our football team and it came down to boosting up our non-region games to help us in the playoffs."
Photo by Phillip Heard
2012 Woodland Varsity Cheerleaders
Front row left to right Sophomores: Meagan Jackson, Jaycee Carter; Middle row Juniors: Alexis Young, Macie Edwards, Zoe Arrington, Leah Strain, Tansy Parmer, Cody Yeargan Back row Seniors: Amy Strain, Abby Cook-Captain, Jordan Williamson -Co-Captain, Anna Glaze.
With approximately 60 members taking the field on Friday nights, the Woodland Bobcat Marching Band is pumped and ready to go for the 2012 season. The band has settled in nicely with their new band director, Dilmos Hamilton, who joined them after school began last year.
“The show was already in place when I got here last year so this is my first halftime show as a band director,” he said.
This years show has a fun and funky vibe with a theme called “Bird Is The Word.” The common element to all the music selections is obviously “birds.”
The birds are definitely flying high in the show with the opening
number of “Surfin' Robin” a mash-up of “Surfin' Bird” and “Rockin' Robin” featuring the flag line; the second selection is“Chicken Fried” and features the dance line The band will close the show with “Freebird” featuring the drum line and according to Hamilton a lot of surprises.
The band is lead by Drum Ma-jor, Tobie Harris; Dance Line Cap-tain, Madison Brown; Flag Captain, Melissa Nobley and Percussion Sec-tion Leader, Wayne Mitchell.
Hamilton is not your typical
newbie even though this is his first band directing/teaching position. Taking a break after high school he traveled far from his home of Boaz, Alabama and delved into several different occupations before coming back home and entering college at Jacksonville State University.
Hamilton holds the distinct honor of being the oldest student to march with the JSU Southerners. He graduated in the Summer of 2011 and feels very fortunate in finding a home with the Woodland Bobcat Marching Band. Mr. Hamil-ton has quite a few surprises up his sleeve and said “we will not be playing traditional band music, but music that will promote and pump up the team and our school”.
Halftime Show Promises Lots of Surprises
2012 Woodland Bobcats Marching Band
Photo by Lisa Cummings
Friday night life 49
Band Preview by Leisel Caldwell
50 Friday night life
Combined with size and skill, Wood-land's Al Davis is getting the attention of nu-merous col-leges around the country.
"I wouldn't be where I am without our coaches," Davis said. "They have taught me how to take advice and con-structive criti-cism. And, be-cause of them, I know how to work with a team and be a leader of some sort."
With scholarship offers from Cornell, Alabama State and West Alabama, Davis has the opportu-nity few high school athletes have which is to play football past high school.
"There are more colleges that are interested in him," Coach Larry Strain said. "He has gotten looks from Mississippi State, Ten-nessee, Memphis , South Alabama and Idaho State. To be honest we had college coaches on our field
about half the time during spring practice."
The three-year starter works hard in the classroom as well with a 3.97 grade point average, and while he navigates the recruiting process, he knows to enjoy what he has in his hometown.
" I am going to miss the broth-erhood aspect of around here,"
Davis said. "I went to Samford and one of their play-ers said at a bunch of colleges it was more of this group and that group instead of the whole team to-gether like it is here. " I am also going to miss this
town where everyone knows each other," he said. "The teachers know me here and depending on which college I go to, I could just be a number on a piece of paper."
While all the attention is flatter-ing to Davis, he enjoys his team-mates and knows he will be only part of the reason if the Bobcats are successful this season.
" It's not all about me. The suc-cess we have on the field is about how well we work together as a team. I am only one part of it," he said.
Davis looking to play at next level
Academic Athlete by Kelly Caldwell
Photo by Phillip Heard
52 Friday night life
54 Friday night life
WADLEY FOOTBALL Aug. 30 @ Horseshoe Bend Sept.7 @Verbena SEPT. 14 FAYETTEVILLE Sept. 21 @ Talladega Co. Cen Sept.28 GASTON OCT. 5 ST. JUDE Oct. 12 @Winterboro Oct.19 LOACHAPOKA OCT. 26 NOTASULGA Nov. 1 @ Beulah All games start at 7 p.m. Home games in all caps.
Number Name Yr
Trevor Windsor 10
1 Devin Freeman 10
5 T L Heard 12
7 Adrian Marable 12
9 Dakota Caldwell 11
10 Caleb Calhoun 10
12 John Lacy 12
15 Chandler McLain 11
20 Dakota Brown 9
22 Dalton Welch 10
27 Ridge Dobson 12
33 Devarsie Greathouse 11
34 Kamaury Avery 9
40 Brandon Norris 11
44 Triston Blackmon 11
50 Bradley Melton 11
52 Glenn Depriest 11
55 Daniel Green 12
58 Cale Mitcham 11
64 Arin Howell 12
65 Tristan Coker 11
66 Ethan Howard 9
68 Hunter Lingerfelt 11
70 Jerry Dye 10
71 Corey Ray McGill 12
72 Keshawn Daniels 10
85 Johnathon Clark 11
VARSITY ROSTER
Friday night life 55
Bulldogs gear up for 2012 campaign The Wadley
Bulldogs are in a better position this season con-sidering head coach Darrel Roach has been at the helm for a full year now.
"It's daylight and dark from last year to this season," Roach said. "It was two weeks into the season last year, and I still had tape on the play-ers helmets be-cause I didn't know their names. "
Roach was hired as Wadley's football coach the Thursday before practice began last season and while the Bulldogs struggled to a 3-7 re-cord, he saw some bright spots dur-ing the year.
"We had a couple of games (that we lost) where we played really well but kinda let them slip away," he said. "It was like we gave up in the third and fourth quarter because of conditioning. This year we are definitely in better shape."
Roach implemented his offsea-son routine and the results are pay-ing off.
"We have really been working this offseason," he said. "The guys have really bought into what we are doing and we will be better, faster and stronger this season."
The Bulldogs lost four players to graduation from last season includ-ing quarterback Ryan Siskey.
"My biggest thing right now is building a quarterback," Roach said.
"Ryan did a good job for us and its going to be hard to replace him."
Sophomore Caleb Calhoun and Senior TL Heard are two players competing for the role of field gen-eral.
"Caleb was a utility man for us that was all over the field last year," Roach said. "While TL did a good job for us in the spring game."
While the Bulldogs lost four players to graduation, they have been able to pick up a few players that will be able to make an imme-diate impact.
"We have John Lacy and Chan-dler McLain that have transferred to Wadley and then we have Corey Ray McGill's brother Glenn De-preist that will be playing for us this
year," Roach said. "Chandler is definitely go-ing to help us. He is an ath-lete," he said. Depriest came to the Bulldogs weighing in at 210 pounds and will be the starting left tackle for Wadley. "He has been working with us and shred-ded about 15 pounds," Roach said. The rest of the offensive line
is intact led by seniors McGill, Arin Howell and Daniel Green.
"Some of our seniors have really stepped into leadership roles this year," Roach said. "Corey Ray and Arin, Daniel are the three that are really on top of things."
Rounding out the line is Cale Mitcham, Jerry Dye and possibly Bradley Melton.
"We are averaging 240 pounds across the board on the offensive line and that's great for 1A football," Roach said.
The offensive weapon the Bull-dogs will be wide receiver Adrian Marable and running back Ka-maury Avery.
"These guys are both pure ath-letes," Roach said. "Adrian was a playmaker for us last year with 750 yards in only seven games. He missed three due to injury.
"Then Kamaury is 5'11", 220 lbs and is only a freshmen. He was in-
Season Preview by Kelly Caldwell
Photo by Ellen Sims
vited to Auburn University for a camp this summer." Avery also scored three touchdowns in the spring
game. "He's only a freshman, but we are expecting big
things from Kamaury," Roach said. Roach wants more for his team in 2012 and will not
settle for a mediocre finish. "Our goal is to make the playoffs this year," he
said. "And, get Wadley football back to what our fans expect. We like our chances in the region, but it all de-pends on how healthy we stay." The Bulldogs open the season on the road against
Horseshoe Bend on August 30.
Photo by Ellen Sims
Find us on facebook Facebook.com/fridaynightlife.al
2012 Wadley Varsity Cheerleaders
Front Row: Cap-tain Jordan Shaver, Co-Captain Lesli Padgett Mid-dle Row: Megan Costley, Kelli Las-ter, La'Tia William-son, Katelyn Schriefer; Back Row: Hannah Phil-lips, Danlee Shaver, Madison McGill, Cassie Mulkey, Makayla Wilkins Not Pic-tured: Lauren Hughes and Coach Katie McElvy.
Friday night life 59
Football has taught Wadley's Arin Howell many things over the course of his high school career, but none more relevant than the impor-tance of hard work.
"We have been faced with a lot of adversity over the last four years here at Wad-ley," Howell said. "Last year it was two weeks before school started when we found out who our coach was going to be."
Howell and the Bulldogs have had three head football coaches in the last four years and with Coach Darrel Roach returning for his sec-ond season, it’s the first time the Bulldogs have had consisitency in the last four years.
"It has definitely made for smoother practices so far this sum-mer," Howell said. "This is the first time since I was a freshmen that we
don't have to learn a whole new of-fense."
Howell, a four-year starter at de-fensive end, had an amusing start to his high school career against Lo-chapoka his freshmen year.
" When it rains down there the field is like a swamp," He said. "Well, we were down in the end zone and it had been pouring rain. I
remember getting set and when we hiked the ball, I couldn't move... The field was just mud and I was stuck. I tried to get free but I couldn't move." On offense, Howell is the first in con-trol on offense lin-ing up at center. "I am the head of the line," he said. "If I don't do my job right, nothing else matters.” Howell also excels off the field with a 4.0 grade point av-
erage and in his role as Student Government Association President.
"Hard work pays off on the field and off," he said. "I want to go to Auburn for college and keeping my grades up is the first step in making that happen."
Howell also wants to accomplish more for the Wadley Bulldogs this season.
"We want to win," he said. "We want to come closer together as a team because it's not about individ-ual achievements. We want to win as a team."
Filler
Academic Athlete by Kelly Caldwell
Howell leads Bulldogs on, off field
Photo By Kelly Caldwell
60 Friday night life
CENTRAL VOLUNTEERS 2012 Football
Aug. 31 TRINITY PRES Sept.7 @Dallas Co. Sept. 14 ELMORE CO. Sept. 21 @Holtville Sept.28 @Munford Oct. 5 CHILDERSBURG Oct. 12 @Handley Oct.19 BEULAH Oct. 26 DADEVILLE Nov. 1 @Madison Aca. All games start at 7 p.m. Home games in all caps.
Halls
Jersey Num Name Grade
0 Robqreus Smith 11
1 Jamari Staples 12 2 Randall Brown 12
3 Patrick Hardy 11
4 Jodarius Staples 10
5 Devin Gaddis 12 6 Chris Brisky 11
7 Tyrone Cosby 12
8 Justin Cosby 10
9 Jamario Lyles 12 10 Curtis Hunter 12
11 Anthony Wood 11
12 Kenneth Lacy 12
14 Deidric Rutledge 11 15 Marcus Sandlin 11
16 Jaylon Lyles 10
17 Evan Whitehead 10
18 Kyle Nelson 10 19 DeAndre Wills 11
20 Deon Drummonds 10
21 Tyrese Henderson 11
23 Tim Ellis 12 24 Andrew Robinson 12
25 Adarius Scott 12
26 Spencer Thomas 10
27 Jaylon Greathouse 10
28 Kwasi Jennings 10 29 Logan Cooper 9
30 Aaron Boyd 11
31 Marcus Heflin 9
32 Bobby Carter 9 33 Jonathan Wycoff 11
34 Dawson Taylor 9
35 Ryan James 11
36 Daylan Buchanan 11 37 Issac Andrews 9
39 Malik Dark 10
40 Dennis Towns 9
41 Tyler Smith 9 42 Travis Smith 12
43 Clay Tuck 9
44 Justin Bass 9
45 Kaleb Bryant 9 46 Payton Reynolds 10
47 Hunter Flowers 10
48 Lance Hubbard 9
Jersey Num Name Grade
49 Timothy Henry 10
50 Neal Anderson 9 51 Jacob Brown 9
52 Daniel Henry 12
53 Lane Browning 10
54 James Milstead 11 55 Noah Leary 10
56 Christopher Smith 9
57 Debontae Caldwell 10
58 Colby Robinson 10 59 Adam Brown 9
60 Jared Street 9
61 Nicholas New 12
62 Eli Johnson 10 63 Billy Ray Hamlin 11
64 Hunter Nelson 12
65 Brady Allen 10
66 Cal Riley 10 67 Shahiem Ackles 11
68 Logan Camp 9
69 Dakota Jones 9
70 Justin Denney 10 71 Blake Jackson 12
72 Dylan Ragsdale 11
73 Travarius Kidd 10
74 Juawon Vaughn 12
75 Devin Denny 10 76 Shuntavious Hardy 12
77 Nicholas Lett 11
78 JaQuan Ross 12
80 Ladarius Zackery 9 81 Dion Thomas 10
82 Jeremy Thompson 9
83 Andrew Milstead 9
84 Dexter Scales 11 85 Joe Burns 9
86 Damion Ford 9
87 Blair Lacy 9
88 Tristen Taylor 10 89 Jacob Williams 10
90 Casey Jones 9
91 Kyle Hallman 10
92 Adam Milam 9 94 Cody Jones 12
98 Hunter Bickerstaff 10
99 Kevin Heard 9
2012 Central Volunteer Football Roster
Friday night life 67
Volunteers prepare for inaugural season
The 2011 football season was bittersweet for the people of Clay County, the communities of Ash-land and Lineville celebrated last events almost every week as they said goodbye to their beloved Pan-thers and Aggies. And, as their re-spective seasons came to a close on the same Friday night of Thanks-giving weekend, it was evident the offseason would be an interesting one.
In the months following the end of the 2011 season, the once bitter rivals became teammates thanks to the pending opening of Central High School of Clay County.
"Ashland and Lineville are gone as far as the coaches and players are
concerned," Clay Central Head Coach Steve Giddens said. "That's the common feeling on this team. We are all Volunteers and we are Red, White and Blue."
The excitement in Clay County is infectious and evident as you drive through and see signs of sup-port in the yards and businesses that are scattered throughout the county.
"Our goal is to take the best from Lineville and the best from Ashland (mix it together) and make it better for Clay County," Giddens said. "I
will say it's been a learning experi-ence from day one, but I can say there is a lot of excitement and pride both here on campus and in the county."
When spring practice came around an unexpected surprise greeted the Clay Central coaching staff.
"We actually started spring training with 106 players," Giddens said. "That really surprised us to have that many players nine through 12.
"We lost a couple due to grades and then some didn't come back for summer workouts," he said. "But now we are solid with 94 players including 21 seniors."
Season Preview by Kelly Caldwell
Photo by Kelly Caldwell
68 Friday night life
The blessing and curse of having such a large roster is the ability to put the absolute best players on the field at any given time.
" The good thing we have discovered is that we will not have very many athletes that have to play full time on both sides of the ball," Gid-dens said. "That's the benefit of having so many athletes on this team.
" Going into some-thing like this we are fortunate to have a large senior class with ample playing experience," Giddens said. "The junior class also has a lot of players with a couple of years under their belts."
However, the challenge comes into play when deciding exactly who will play where and when.
"We want our best people on the field at all times," Giddens said. "But, it's hard for me to tell you they are going to start here, here and here because we have enough talent that we can't say for certainty who is go-ing to start on offense and defense. If we run the spread we will have cer-tain players in position and then we
will have different per-sonnel if we run the wishbone. Same thing is true on defense depend-ing on the different for-mations." One position that is fairly certain is quarterback. "Mario Lyles looks like he will be the starting quar-terback," Giddens said. "He started three or four games for Lineville last year and then the rest of the time played a good bit for us at that position when we needed it. He
has some experience under his belt." Other skill people on offense will
include Jamari Staples, Tyrone Crosby, Dedric Rutledge, Devin Gaddis, Curtis Hunter, Anthony Wood, Brandon Brown, Andrew Robinson.
The offensive line will also be varied with Shahiem Ackles at cen-
Photo by Ray Mansfield
City Autoparts
Planters hardware
Perry land
ter, Hunter Nelson will be guard along Nick Lett and Nick New. Tackles will be JaQuan Ross and Shuntavius Hardy, tight ends when we have those will be a rotation of DeAndre Wills, Andrew Robinson and Randall Brown. "That will be who you
are looking at the first game," Giddens said. " Defensively the front
will consist of Rob Smith, DeAndre Wills, Daniel Henry linebackers will be Travis Smith and either Payton Reynolds, or Ryan James or Aaron Boyd. Secondary will be Jamari Staples, Devin Gaddis, Rutledge and Anthony Wood. Curtis Hunter and Chris Briskey will rotate in. Special teams will also
have a different look due to the size of the roster. "Mario will handle place kicking
and Jamari will be the punter," Gid-dens said. "The guys that I have al-ready mentioned will do the bulk of offensive and defensive work, but we have a lot of kids that we have confidence in to play on special teams. "We are looking at playing about
30 to 35 kids in the average course
of a football game which is some-thing we haven't been doing," Gid-dens said. If last year was the season of end-
ings for the people of Clay County, the 2012 campaign is the season of beginnings. The first opportunity for the communities to watch the Clay Central Volunteers will be on Au-gust 25 in Montgomery during the al.com Champions’ Challenge. "The Alabama High School Ath-
letic Association called us a few months ago and asked if we would be in-terested in playing in the al.com champions chal-lenge," Giddens said. "They thought it would be a good idea to let the state see what we are doing. We talked about it and felt like it would be a positive thing for our team." The Volunteers will face Beauregard during the preseason opener at the Crampton Bowl in Mont-gomery. " Everyone here is ex-cited for the season to start this way," Giddens said. "The selling point for most people here was that this is the first tangi-ble thing we can say we have received because of the consolidation of the
two schools. If we had still been Lineville and Clay County, neither team would have gotten that call." The event is considered a jambo-
ree but will have the look and feel of a regular season game. "There will be four 12-minute
quarters and we will have special teams," Giddens said. "It will feel like a real game, it just won't count on our record. " We are going to carry the
Photo by Kelly Caldwell
Friday night life 71
whole shebang with us.. band cheerleaders everybody," he said. It's also cool that it's on a Saturday, so all of Clay County can load up and experience this with us." The Volunteers will host Trinity for their home
opener the following week. "Coach Ragsdale at Trinity had a talk with his sen-
iors and they decided it would be something special for them as well," Giddens said. "Not too many teams can say they were the first opponent ever for another team. It will be a special night for all involved. Again we are glad to get a quality opponent and the fact they were willing to come here so we can play our first game at home is something special.”
Photo by Kelly Caldwell
Front Row: Left to Right, Becky Harris, Alexis Ford, Marina Sud-duth, Molly Barton, Al-issa Mayer, Madison Varnadore, Danielle Walker & Summer Sher-ard Middle Row: Haley Bos-well, Holly Smith, Taylor Nappier & Madison Wil-liams Back Row: Brent Cole-man, Savannah Harris, Molly Barton, Paige Moore, Emily Lett & Robert McNatt. Photo by Heart’s Desire Photography.
2012 Central High School of Clay County Varsity Cheerleaders
For most Central High School of Clay County stu-dents, this year has brought many changes but for one student, it's proba-bly more drastic than most. One young man from Clay County has gone from playing on the football team on Friday nights to now cheering for the Central Volunteers
In the 2011 season, Robert McNatt played for the Clay County Panthers football team but in this new year he is one of the two male cheerleaders you will see on the sidelines cheering for the Central High School Volunteers.
Robert's reason, for changing was pretty sim-ple... he loves gymnastics more than football and he is look-ing for college scholarship oppor-tunities. Most kids his age don't think that far in the future, but Robert is not like most kids. His plans are already set and include studying veterinarian medicine at Auburn University. Cheerleading, he hopes, will be one of the ways on paying for that college educa-tion.
Robert has been around cheer-ing and gymnastics for many years. His mother was the cheer-leader sponsor for Clay County High School and his sister cheered for the Panthers. His sister re-ceived a cheering scholarship for the upcoming year at Southern Union State Community College. Robert has extensive training in gymnastic as well. His best friend
Fortune Worthey, also a big sup-porter of him trying out for cheer-leader, told him he would have many scholarship opportunities and would be great at it.
“Football has more physical contact and a player needs to have a sharp focus on each indi-vidual play, McNatt said when asked what are the main differ-ences from playing football to being a cheerleader. “Cheering is not as intense, but the stunts and gymnastics require more preci-sion and practice to be per-fected.”
He agreed that cheerleaders can be a little more emo-tional and dramatic than football players, but for those who do not think of cheerleading as a sport, Robert will be quick to say competitive cheering re-quires as much training as it does to be a football player and to be successful in either of these sports re-quires intensive training and dedication. Robert is very excited about the new school and said that, many of the students from both schools were re-luctant about moving to the new school. “We are coming to terms with going to school with what we once perceived as our “arch enemies”, he
laughed. “Yes there was a strong competition between the schools, but the students who have worked together this summer in football, band and cheering, got a head start and have already started to bond and come to-gether with a strong school spirit and pride for Central High School of Clay County.”
This year the season is made up of 18 cheerleaders, with two of them being male. The other male cheerleader is Brent Coleman. The guys have brought stability to the squad and allowed for a lot more lifts and complicated stunts to be put into their cheering rou-tines. As one of the cheerleaders said “ I don't how we would be doing the stunts we are doing without the guys!”
Friday Night Change Up... Central Athlete Trades Cleats for Megaphone
Football 2012 Story and Photo by Leisel Caldwell
74 Friday night life
When Central High School of Clay County opens its doors Aug. 20, the stu-dents will experience something few others have in Clay County.
"It's pretty exciting to get to be the first senior class at this awesome school," An-drew Robin-son said. "As seniors we set the pace for everything and the underclass-men are looking to us not just on the football team but in the class-room as well."
Shuntavius Hardy echoes his teammate's excitement.
"We get to come out and be the leaders for this team and school," he said. "We have a bigger team, nicer facilities, and it's something we are very proud to experience."
With the combination of the two schools, the football team for the Central Volunteers is loaded with talent and the roster reflects it con-sidering 94 players made it through summer workouts.
"It has been hard," Robinson said. "Working hard, running hard, practicing hard...With a lot more players comes a lot more expecta-tions. Everyone is watching us, and
the coaches are making sure we are prepared. We are going 110 percent in all that we do, so we can deliver what people are expecting out of us."
"I agree with Andrew... We have been working hard all summer," Hardy said. "And, because of all the talent we have now, the compe-tition level is higher than we have ever experienced from the weight room to the practice field, we are pushing to be the best in all that we are doing."
Considering the Central Volun-teers are the combination of two perennial powerhouse football
teams, it's un-derstandable the commu-nity and play-ers want a great first sea-son. "I want a state champion-ship," Hardy said when asked what he wants out of this season. "I will have to copy his an-swer," Robin-son said. "In order to achieve our goal, we have to practice like we play. The coaches
tell us to practice at game speed every day."
"We have to work hard, prepare for it and win every game we play," Hardy added.
The community will have to travel to Montgomery if they want to catch the first action from the Central Volunteers on Aug. 25 for the al.com Champions Challenge. The squad will play a scrimmage against Beauregard at the Cramp-ton Bowl and the anticipation con-tinues to grow with every practice.
"I think its a great way to bring our school to the state level," Rob-inson said. "If we show up and play like I know we can, we will come out with a band and people will take notice. Then the next week, we get to start the season at home."
Photo by Kelly Caldwell
Hardy, Robinson excited to be part of first team
Academic Athlete by Kelly Caldwell
www.fridaynightlife.com
2012 Central Volunteers Marching Band
The new Central High School of Clay County Marching Band members are ready to take the field in a new stadium and with new uniforms for the 2012 season. “The kids, band parents and the community have worked very hard to make this a smooth transi-tion and to provide everything we need for our new band,” Band Director Russell Hathcock said.
“We are very fortunate, the new school administration saw the importance of keeping both band directors from Clay County and Lineville High Schools,” he said.
Bucky Aleman, the junior high band director and Hathcock have formed a great partnership and are excited about working to-gether and growing an impressive music department for Clay Cen-
tral. With the new colors of red,
white and blue and Volunteers as its mascot” it was only natural for the halftime show to be a tribute to America.
Leading the band on the field
is drum major, Ricardo Moreno. The band's opening number will be “Battle Hymn of The Repub-lic” and followed by “We Are An American Band.” The third song of the show will be “America The Beautiful” with a trumpet solo by Taylor Chappell. The band will then perform “Simple Gifts” be-fore ending with a repeat of the “Battle Hymn Of The Republic”.
Other leaders bringing the
show to life at halftime include: Jatori Simmons, Color Guard Captain; Sylina Hallman, Dance Line Captain and Jillian Hensleigh, Majorette Captain.
The band would like to thank all those that contributed to the purchase of their new uniforms especially Representative Richard Laird and Senator Gerald Dial for their generous donations. The band would also like to recog-nize, Brad Wolf and the band booster organization for all their hard work and dedication to the band program.
It is easy to see that the half-time show is not only a tribute to the United States of America, but a tribute to the Clay County com-munity for its perseverance and commitment to building a better future for its children.
Proudly marching in Red, White & Blue
Band Preview by Leisel Caldwell
www.fridaynightlife.com
76 Friday night life
In small towns high school foot-ball can be everything to a commu-nity, but getting to Friday nights in the fall can be difficult for a team.
"Today's players are bigger, faster and stronger than ever be-fore," Wadley Bulldogs Coach Dar-rel Roach said. "But, we are in a dif-ferent environment than when I was playing."
Each of the coaches in the Friday Night Life coverage area weighed in on what impacts the high school football player today and the an-swers were as varied as the coach-ing styles they exhibit on Friday nights.
"Kids today are not outside as much," Central High School of Clay County's Steve Giddens said. ". To me the thing that impacts the athlete the most is they are not as physi-
cally active as they used to be. Most kids today are riding around in cars or playing video games for enter-tainment. When I was growing up we were outside in the heat play-ing."
With temperatures in the 90s for
most of the summer, not being accli-mated to the heat does have an im-pact so much that the Alabama High School Athletic Association introduced new rules for sports practice this year.
"In all sports, two-a-day practices may not be conducted on consecu-tive days. When two-a-day practices are conducted, a four-hour break is required between the end of the first
practice and the beginning of the second practice. In football, only one practice per day may be in full pads. The other practice that day can be only in helmets and shoulder pads."
The rule change is to combat heat-related illnesses like heat stroke, heat exhaustion and heat cramps.
"We take the heat very seri-ously," Roach said. "We check the heat index and adapt our practices accordingly. We want to push them as hard to prepare for the season, but nothing is more important than the health of our players."
Heat related illnesses are com-pletely preventable with minimal precautions like frequent water breaks and monitoring the players.
Another outside influence that has changed the game especially in
Many factors influence today’s game
Today’s Athlete by Kelly Caldwell
Friday night life 77
small towns is specializing in only one sport.
"It use to be very common to see three-sport athletes," Handley Coach Mike Battles said. "But, there are so many outside things to do now and so many athletes are be-ing pulled to play just one sport."
With the advancement of "travel ball" in other sports, many talented athletes that would have once played football and the other sports available are choosing to channel their talents into one sport often times playing the sport year round.
"You didn't have travel ball and AAU a few years ago," Battles said. "It puts a bind on a good athlete at a small school.
"But, we can't combat it," he said. "If an athlete chooses to play one sport, we kind of treat them like its an injury. We need them and would love to have them, but we can't have them so we move on."
However, when it comes to foot-ball, travel ball is not an option.
"We really have the last pure sport in high school football," Woodland Coach Larry Strain said. " If you take basketball for example, its controlled now by the AAU pro-grams. There are other feeder pro-grams that help the high school athlete get to the next level. With football that's not the case, there isn't travel football. There are no agents between high school and the college ranks. The high school
coaches have more direct control." And, some high school coaches
would argue that there are not as many regulations on volunteer coaches.
" I am not on par with AAU coaches and travel ball coaches be-cause they don't fire them... As long as they are not fireable, we have nothing in common," Battles said.
Another factor immediately im-pacting the high school athlete es-pecially in small towns is the con-tinued down economy.
"As far as the overall high school athletic program, financial times are terrible," Strain said. "It is effecting the high school athlete because they are not able to get the quality equipment they need. Equipment is more expensive than it used to be and couple that with the lower gates we have been ex-periencing... it hurts. Woodland has always had a strong fan base but if you think about it, it's not cheap for a family of five to go to a football game. After you buy tickets, pay for parking and visit the concession stand, it's easy to drop $100 at a football game. In these tough eco-nomic times, that can be hard. The average family can't afford it every Friday night like they used to do.
"Its not like we are broke, but we have to watch what we spend," Strain said. "Everything you do in high school football is technology driven from your laptop to your armbands to the way you trade
films. And, all of that cost money." While technology does make it
easier to do some things in the foot-ball world, it is a blessing and a curse for the high school athlete. For every highlight film that circu-lates on the internet and may get looked at by a college recruiter, there is a social media site that can potentially harm the athlete.
"I hate social media when it comes to my players," Randolph County Tigers Coach Randy Sparks said. "It just adds to the pressure our athletes experience.
"People become very brazen when they are sitting behind a key-board. It has also taken taunting to a new level," he said. "Ty got a text the other day from a player at an-other school talking trash. He asked what he should do and I told him not to respond because he has more respect than that."
While a little trash talk is ex-pected and deemed good natured fun for the most part, it can get out of hand in a hurry on the internet.
"I know I can't control it, but I would like for my players to ignore it," Sparks said. "It's a whole new world we live in because of sites like facebook and Twitter. Use to we just had to worry about 'bulletin board material' coming from the newspaper...But now, everyone can offer their praise and criticism in a matter of seconds. And, that can be tough for a high school student to understand."
The complete poll, including all schools receiving votes and the panel of voters is listed below, with first-place votes and the 2011 record in parenthe-ses.
Class 6A 1. Hoover (31) (13-2) 372 2. Clay-Chalkville-& (1-9) 247 3. Auburn (8-2) 189 4. McGill-Toolen (11-2) 181 5. SpainPark (5-6) 155 6. Daphne (10-2) 102 7. Oxford (12-2) 82 8. Carver-Montgomery (7-4) 80 9t. Vestavia Hills (7-5) 77 9t. Northridge (10-2) 77
Others receiving votes: Prattville (12-2) 47, Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa (12-1) 41, Gadsden City (6-5) 33, Hueytown-* (13-1) 24, Mountain Brook (12-1) 21, Austin (7-4) 15, Fairhope (10-3) 8, Bob Jones (10-2) 7, Davidson (7-4) 4, Central-Phenix City (11-3) 2, Huntsville (8-4) 2, Florence (7-3) 1.
*-Class 5A in 2011; &-Forfeited nine games in 2011 due to an ineligible player.
Class 5A 1. Hartselle (19) (15-0) 316 2. Muscle Shoals (5) (11-2) 262 3. PinsonValley (3) (9-3) 245 4. St. Paul’s (2) (11-2) 217 5. Homewood-* (1) (5-5) 194 6. Jackson-** (15-0) 188 7. Vigor (1) (12-3) 70 8. Eufaula (10-2) 60 9. Briarwood Chr. (12-2) 46 10. Center Point (11-2) 44
Others receiving votes: Cullman (8-4) 34, Spanish Fort (9-4) 24, FortPayne (10-2) 24, Demopolis (6-5) 16, Etowah (10-2) 9, Valley (9-3) 7, Athens (4-7) 6, Walker (6-5) 3, Greenville (11-1) 1, Rus-sellville (5-6) 1.
*-Class 6A in 2011; **-Class 4A in 2011
Class 4A 1. Oneonta (20) (12-3) 327
2. Handley-** (5) (15-0) 250 3. Dadeville (2) (12-1) 234 4. UMS-Wright (1) (9-5) 184 5. N. Jackson (1) (11-1) 174 6. Thomasville (2) (10-2) 173 7. Bibb Co. (12-1) 84
8. Central-Clay Co.-*** 74
9. Anniston (9-5) 73 10. Beauregard (10-2) 42
Others receiving votes: Andalusia (10-1) 33, Sardis-** (9-2) 24, Brooks (8-3) 20, Rogers-** (11-3) 16, Fairview (7-4) 10, Madison Co.-* (4-6) 10, Charles Hen-derson-* (6-6) 9, Calera (4-6) 8, Tallas-see-* (4-7) 6, Guntersville (8-3) 5, J.O. Johnson-&* (0-10) 5, Hillcrest-Evergreen (5-5) 4, St. James (8-3) 2.
*-Class 5A in 2011; **-Class 3A in 2011; ***-New school; &-Forfeited five games in 2011 due to ineligible player.
Class 3A 1. Leeds-& (11) (0-13) 297 2. Deshler-* (13) (11-2) 293 3. Piedmont (1) (12-1) 242 4. Madison Acad. (6) (12-3) 233
5. Bayside Acad. (11-1) 129 6. Abbeville (9-2) 121 7. Midfield-* (6-5) 112 8. Lauderdale Co. (11-2) 105 9. T.R. Miller (9-3) 78 10. Hamilton (8-3) 37
Others receiving votes: Fayette Co.-* (9-4) 25, Gordo (9-3) 25, Hanceville (10-1) 23, American Chr.-** (12-2) 16, Elkmont (7-5) 8, Straughn-* (6-5) 7, Trinity (6-5) 5, Excel (3-7) 3, Greene Co.-* (7-4) 3, Geraldine (5-6) 2, Montevallo (4-6) 2, Opp (6-5) 1.
*-Class 4A in 2011; **-Class 2A in 2011; &-Forfeited 10 wins after the 2011 season due to ineligible player.
Class 2A 1. Elba (22) (15-0) 339 2. Fultondale (4) (10-3) 272 3. Tanner (1) (14-1) 252 4. Sweet Water-** (2) (10-4) 196 5. Washington Co.-* (2) (9-3) 188 6. Reeltown (8-4) 123 7. Fyffe (11-1) 105 8. Vincent (9-3) 56 9. Sheffield-* (9-3) 55 10. G.W. Long (9-2) 48
Others receiving votes: Oakman (8-4) 39, N. Sand Mountain (9-2) 32, Flomaton (11-2) 18, Woodland (8-5) 13, Walter Wellborn-* (9-3) 9, LaFayette (7-
4) 6, Sand Rock (6-5) 6, Leroy (8-5) 4, Montgomery Acad.-* (3-7) 3, Southern Choctaw (8-3) 2, Luverne-* (7-4) 1.
*-Class 3A in 2011; **-Class 1A in 2011.
Class 1A 1. Marion Co. (19) (14-1) 297 2. Linden (6) (13-2) 285 3. Maplesville (2) (12-1) 219 4. Ragland (1) (13-1) 213 5. Brantley (1) (10-2) 192 6. Pickens Co. (11-2) 179 7. R.A. Hubbard (2) (7-4) 121 8. Cedar Bluff (6-6) 106 9. Lynn (9-3) 38 10. Berry (10-2) 28
Others receiving votes: Addison (9-2) 27, Collinsville (11-2) 17, GenevaCo. (6-6) 15, St. Jude (9-2) 7, Pleasant Home (8-4) 6, Winterboro (10-2) 6, Parrish (4-6) 5, Hackleburg (7-4) 3, McKenzie (6-4) 3.
The Alabama Sports Writers Asso-ciation prep committee members are: Paul Beaudry, Chairman, Alabama Me-dia Group; Andrew Garner, Andalusia Star-News; Johnathan Deal, Athens News Courier; Nick Birdsong, Annis-ton Star; Jeff Sentell, Birmingham News; Adam Robinson, Brewton Stan-dard; Rob Rice, Blount Countian; Shan-non Fagan, Cherokee Herald; Ross Wood, Clarke Co. Democrat; Rob Ketcham, Cullman Times; Jonathon Bentley, Daily Mountain Eagle; Jason Bowen, Daily Sentinel; Justin Graves, Decatur Daily; David Mundee, Dothan Eagle; Lee Peacock, Evergreen Courant; Newton Peters, Florala News; Gregg Dewalt, Florence TimesDaily; Lew Gilliland, Fort Payne Times-Journal; Dennis Victory, Freelance (Birmingham); Chris McCarthy, Gads-den Messenger; Kim Craft, Gadsden Times; Davis Potter, Hamilton Record; Mike Easterling, Huntsville Times; Josh Bean, Mobile Press-Register; Stacy Long, Montgomery Advertiser; Robert Carter, North Jefferson News; Jason Galloway, Opelika-Auburn News; Shannon Allen, Sand Mountain Re-porter; Lavonte Young, Talladega Daily Home; Andrew Carroll, Tusca-loosa News; Griffin Pritchard, We-tumpka Herald
Preseason Top 10 by Alabama Sports Writers Association
Handley, Clay Central make AWSA Preseason Poll
Friday night life 79
80 Friday night life
A&E Heating & Air 27
Affordable Tire & Repair 45
Air Control 21
Alabama 100.7 71
Ashland Pharmacy 72
Bank of Wedowee 3
BB&T 25
Benefield Funeral Home (Clay County) 62
Benefield Funeral Home (Randolph County) 79
Benefield Momument Company 70
Brian Morris Fishing 79
Carquest 13
Central Family Care 65
Chad Lee, Attorney at Law 35
Charles Thompson Construction 55
Cheaha Realty 68
Chester Wortham Construction 34
Circuit Clerk Chris May 14
City Auto Parts & Electronics 68
City of Ashland 63
City of Lineville 71
Clay Automotive 84
Clay County Tire and Retreading 62
Corner One 10
Cornerstone Church 17
Corson Tree Service 6
D&S Marine 35
Dixie Heating & Air Conditioning 13
Docks Plus More 37
Dr. Michael Edwards 30
Duke's Jewelry 62
Eagle Drugs 18
Emergency Medical Transport (Handley) 24
Emergency Medical Transport (Wadley) 58
Emerging Home Care 15
Farmers Insurance, Laraine Anglin 25
Fiberglass Unlimited 11
First Baptist Church Roanoke 25
First Capital Insurance 69
First State Bank 66
Ft. McLellan Credit Union 21
Hall's Propane (Central) 62
Hall's Propane (Handley) 27
Hall's Propane (Randolph County) 30
Hall's Propane (Wadley) 57
Hall's Propane (Woodland) 50
Jackson Bonner for Probate Judge 65
Jeff Colburn for Circuit Clerk 67
Jeff Fetner for Mayor of Roanoke 23
La Herradura 24
Lake Wedowee Auto Parts (NAPA) 39
Lake Wedowee Bait and Tackle 39
Lakeside Market and Grill 2
Lakeside Pharmacy 32
Lakeview Auto Service 30
Lineville Clinic Pharmacy 69
Mainstreet Animal Hospital 10
Mayor Mike Fisher 27
Friday Night Life Advertisers
Friday night life 81
Friday Night Life Advertisers Mayor Tim Coe 30
Megan Miller Yates, Attorney at Law 69
Mike Fields Body Shop 50
Modern Woodmen, Stephen Dedman 48
Nationwide Insurance 44
Newman's Accounting 54
New's Tree Service 65
Norton's Flooring 27
Perryland (Central) 69
Perryland (RCHS) 39
Piggly Wiggly 14
Planters Hardware 69
Prestridge Ford 19
Randolph County COOP 32
Randolph County Insurance 17
Randolph County Sheriff David Cofield 20
RE/MAX Lakefront, Caldwell Team 21
RE/MAX Lakefront, Linda & Grady Stone 36
Re-Elect Diane Branch Probate Judge 69
Re-Elect Probate Judge George Diamond 39
Revenue Commissioner Josh Burns 32
Roanoke Ace Hardware 16
Roanoke City Schools 13
Roanoke Quarterback Club 10
Robertson's Garage 67
Scott Hewitt, Attorney at Law 18
Sheppard's Jewelry 13
Small Town Bank 76
Southern Home Comfort 25
Southern Restoration 23
Southern Union State Community College 57
State Representative Richard Laird 77
State Senator Gerald Dial 77
Statefarm, Ken Seiffert 19
Statefarm, Mike Coleman 70
Steele Chiropractic Life Center 65
Stephens' Station 59
Strain Electric 51
Superior Gas (Central) 71
Superior Gas (Handley) 10
Superior Gas (Randolph County) 39
Superior Gas (Wadley) 54
Superior Gas (Woodland) 47
Tallapoosa River Electric Cooperative 58
TEC 26
Tennant Construction 27
Tommy Friddel 71
Traylor's Retirement 24
W&M Grocery 83
Waste Solutions 47
Wedowee Building Supplies 79
Wedowee Landscape 36
Wedowee Marine 31
Woodland Pharmacy 46
Young's Drug Store 65
If you are interested in advertising in next year’s Fri-
day Night Life edition, please call 877.959.5253
In the Seventh grade (which was many a year ago), I had to make a choice. Continue to play football and the other sports I was involved with or stay in the band. Up to then, I could do both. It wasn’t a difficult decision. I chose band, of course. It wasn’t that I didn’t enjoy hitting other kids without getting in trouble with my parents. It was the fact that drums had a cool fac-tor and there were a lot of pretty girls in the band where the football guys had a few cheerleaders they weren’t allowed to talk to during the game and rode in separate bus-ses.
From that year on I went to every game with the band. But truth be known, I don’t think I spent more than 5 minutes actually watching any given event. That was simply because my time was spent cutting up with my friends, showing off and putting my pat-ented and largely ineffective moves on any female that made the mis-take of giving me a second glance.
Not long after school, I joined the Air Force and went to England for a couple years. There wasn’t much football there other than a few Dallas Cowboy games the BBC would televise, mostly so they could spout insults about Ameri-can Football. They called American football players pansies because they wore pads and had so many rules limiting what damage they could inflict on another player. This went on for a while until a savvy American promoter sug-
gested they arrange an exhibition game between an American foot-ball team and Britons best football team (totally different game) which I think was in Liverpool at the time. It was much anticipated.
The Dallas Cowboys, which was a fascination to the Brits, probably because of the cheerleaders, were invited to the match. They had heard what the British television had said about them and were more than willing to come. The game was sold out instantly so we
watched the game on the TV in the day room in our barracks.
The English team came out wearing American style uniforms with pads. It was obvious they were making fun of the American attire, both on the field and through narration. They were hav-ing a great time prancing around until the Cowboys came on to the field and then it went very silent. After a few seconds past we heard the announcer say under his breath, “oh my god”.
Only then did they realize why we wear pads. On the field, the British team looked like 6 graders next to the giant Texas Mancows and at that very moment and from then on, nary a word was ever said about pansy American football other than “Bloody el’ them boys are huge”! The game went on and
in the end, the score represented them to be closely matched but it was obvious that the game was rigged like a pro wrestling event which was good because there was only one team being represented in the stands and it would probably have gotten pretty ugly if they watched their favorite team leave the game in ambulances.
It’s only now that I’ve come to appreciate the game and feel the excitement of watching these young men do battle on the field. In a small town, there aren’t many big things that happen where so many people can congregate and have fun. Football as well as all the other sports fill that need. I admit that I still only know enough about the game to make me look stupid when talking about it (I’ve learned to limit what I say), but I still cheer them on. I love the banter between sides and I still laugh when I hear the parents yell to their son on the field to kill someone. And when the coach grabs a players facemask so he will focus on what he’s telling him, I think how effective that would be on my daughter. But it will never happen because there are things they can do on the field that would put you in jail if you tried it at home or at work. Still, it’s fun to think about it.
Charley Norton is the co-owner of Norton’s Flooring with his brother Tom. The company was
founded by his parents more than 35 years ago.
Ode to the Texas Mancows
Charley’s Treasures by Charley Norton
82 Friday night life
www.fridaynightlife.com
