By Blake EllsBefore the 7A state championship is played Dec. 6 at Bryant-Denny Stadium, Vestavia Hills will meet Baldwin County in hopes of capturing its first Unified football state championship.The Unified State Championships are a partnership between the Alabama High School Athletic Association and Special Olympics Alabama. This is the fourth year the championship … [Read more...]
Spain Reign: Hawkins, Widra, Tedder Lead All-OTM Team
By Lee Davis Spain Park may have fallen short of its goal to win the Class 7A softball championship, but in every other way, 2017 was the year of the Jaguars. Coach C.J. Hawkins’ team compiled a 48-9 record, won its region and spent much of the season in the top three of Class 7A ranking. Spain Park also earned recognition as one of the nation’s best high school … [Read more...]
Golden Age: Champion Bucs And Rebels Lead All-OTM Team
By Lee Davis By any measure, 2017 was a golden season for Over the Mountain baseball. Briarwood, Homewood and Oak Mountain produced outstanding seasons. Vestavia Hills had a strong April-May push that nearly put it in the Class 7A championship finals, and Hoover brought home the big blue trophy, emblematic of the 2017 state title. As a result, the 2017 All-Over the Mountain … [Read more...]
The Island of the Blue Trophies: Area Teams Dominated Sports in 2016-17
By Lee Davis This story has been written so many times that it’s almost become a cliché, and here it is again: Over the Mountain schools dominated statewide athletic competition in the 2016-17 academic year. But that’s just the hometown sportswriter building up the hometown teams, isn’t it? Actually, it’s just the fact. Area schools earned championships in 2016-17 in sports … [Read more...]
Some Kind of Comeback: Hoover Rallies to Win 7A Baseball Crown
By Lee Davis After the first game of the Class 7A baseball championship at Montgomery’s Paterson Field, the Hoover Bucs looked finished. They had fallen to a strong Auburn team 9-6 in the first game and had to sweep Saturday’s series against the Tigers to claim the title, and everyone knows that beating a good team twice in one day is a difficult task. One positive for … [Read more...]