By Rubin E. GrantJohn David Smelser took the Vestavia Hills girls basketball team to the brink of the Final Four in his first two seasons as head coach only to see the Lady Rebels come up short in the regional finals.This year, Smelser believes the Lady Rebels will finally break through and earn a berth in the Class 7A state tournament. He is counting on a … [Read more...]

Last year, Vestavia’s Zach Flurry became only the third Rebels wrestler to finish undefeated, posting a 21-0 record while capturing the Class 7A 113-pound title. Flurry has been wrestling for 10 years, starting when he was 8 years old because a neighborhood buddy was a wrestler. Journal photo by Jordan Wald.By Rubin E. GrantVestavia Hills senior Zach Flurry was … [Read more...]

By Rubin E. Grant Coming into the 2021 high school football season, Mountain Brook head coach Chris Yeager wasn’t sure what kind of team the Spartans would field. Mountain Brook had graduated 40-plus seniors off its 2020 team that reached the Class 6A semifinals. “We’re going to have some guys who have to step up,” Yeager said before the season. Well, those new guys stepped … [Read more...]

By Rubin E. Grant The first time John McMillan played in a varsity football game for Mountain Brook he didn’t exactly know what to do. The Spartans’ starting linebacker had gotten injured and McMillan, an untested sophomore, replaced him against Vestavia Hills, Mountain Brook’s biggest rival. “He didn’t know up from down,” Mountain Brook head coach Chris Yeager said. “He … [Read more...]

By Rubin E. Grant When Tyler Crane was named Oak Mountain’s new head football coach in the spring, no one had to tell him what kind of quarterback he was inheriting. Crane was an Eagles assistant coach in 2016 and 2017 and was aware of Evan Smith, a dynamic, dual-threat quarterback. “He was an incoming freshman the year I left, so I knew who he was,” said Crane, who was an … [Read more...]