By Lee Davis When Sara Chandler Mitchell meets someone for the first time, she has only one request. Please don’t call her Sara. “It’s Sara Chandler,” she said, when contacted last week. “I know it’s a little unique for a double name, but I like to use them both.” Mitchell’s first name combination may be unusual, but she and her teammates became household names in the … [Read more...]
Lightning Bolts: Rebel Offense, Defense Overwhelm Homewood
By Lee Davis Lightning was plentiful at Vestavia Hills’ football opener against Homewood on Aug. 28. Some of the bolts came from the sky, which resulted in a 62-minute delay at halftime. The other lightning strikes came on the field, as the Rebels overwhelmed the Patriots 41-7 at Waldrop Stadium. Vestavia exploded on the second play from scrimmage when quarterback Brett … [Read more...]
Green and Golden: Spartans Climb to Top in 1975
By Lee Davis More than 40 years later, Mat Whatley vividly remembers the first time he met Robert Higginbotham. Whatley, a rising sophomore tackle at Mountain Brook, was attending the initial team meeting with Higginbotham, who had just been named the Spartans’ new head coach. “I didn’t know what to expect,” Whatley recalled. “He was all business and didn’t smile a lot. We … [Read more...]
Carson Late-Nights
By Lee Davis Carson Griffis can’t believe his senior year at Homewood has finally arrived. “We had a senior meeting yesterday,” Griffis said, when contacted just days before the Patriots’ opener against Decatur. “I think that’s when it hit me for the first time that this will be my final year to play quarterback at Homewood.” Even with his final year ahead of him, Griffis … [Read more...]
Early to Rise: More Experienced Lions Look for Improvement in 2015
By Lee Davis Some high school football coaches have decided the way to beat the intense heat of August is to get ahead of it. Briarwood’s Fred Yancey is one of those coaches. The Lions opened their fall two-a-days with morning practices beginning at 6 a.m. “Normally kids don’t like to get up early, but in this case they were OK with it,” Yancey said. “We did most of our … [Read more...]