Calhoun County, AL – Jacksonville wins thriller over rival Anniston. Oxford, Piedmont, Spring Garden finish regular season unbeaten. Donoho runs winning streak to four games. White Plains, Hokes Bluff, Westbrook Christian victorious.
This week’s area scoreboard
THURSDAY, Oct. 31
Alexandria 28, Munford 21
FRIDAY, Nov. 1
Jacksonville 28, Anniston 24, FINAL
White Plains 42, Cleburne County 13, FINAL
Donoho 28, Cedar Bluff 21, FINAL
Piedmont 48, Glencoe 10, FINAL
Hokes Bluff 44, Randolph County 12, FINAL
Jacksonville Christian 37, Russell (Miss.) 26, FINAL
Etowah 57, Lincoln 32, FINAL
Oxford 34, Florence 10, FINAL
Spring Garden 40, Ranburne 7, FINAL
Locust Fork 54, Saks 32, FINAL
Pell City 45, Southside 7, FINAL
Weaver 54, J.B. Pennington 21, FINAL
Westbrook Christian 47, Wellborn 24, FINAL
Horseshoe Bend 48, Woodland 28, FINAL
Open: Central-Clay, Cherokee County, Handley, Ohatchee, Pleasant Valley, Talladega, Wadley.
Playoff pairings
First-round pairings for coverage-area teams. All games Nov. 8:
CLASS 6A
Buckhorn at Oxford
Mountain Brook at Southside
CLASS 5A
Greenville at Central-Clay
Jacksonville at Scottsboro
CLASS 4A
Westminster Christian at Cherokee County
Madison Academy at Hokes Bluff
Anniston at Randolph
Alexandria at North Jackson
Handley at St. Michael
CLASS 3A
Collinsville at Piedmont
Weaver at Sylvania
Ohatchee at Fyffe
Trinity at Randolph County
CLASS 2A
Sulligent at Pleasant Valley
CLASS 1A
Valley Head at Wadley
Victory Christian at Spring Garden
Donoho at Appalachian
Editor’s note: WEIS sports director Shannon Fagan contributed to this report.
By East Alabama Sports Today
ANNISTON — They’re no longer region rivals, but the Jacksonville-Anniston rivalry can still produce a great football game.
Zae English rushed for 172 yards and amassed 267 total yards and four total touchdowns, and Jacksonville finished the regular season with a 28-24 victory at Lott-Mosby Stadium on Friday.
The Golden Eagles finished the regular season with four consecutive victories. They’re 6-4 in their first season in Class 5A since 2001 and will open the playoffs at Scottsboro on Nov. 8.
Anniston finished the regular season 5-5 and will open the Class 4A playoffs at Randolph on Nov. 8.
Anniston and Jacksonville played in the same Class 4A region from 2016-2023 and played in a Class 4A semifinal game in 2019. Jacksonville moved up to Class 5A before this season, but the teams scheduled each other in a non-region game to cap the regular season.
English’s 6-yard touchdown run in the third quarter put Jacksonville up 28-24, but the Golden Eagles and Bulldogs played a back-and-forth game.
Damon Pope’s 1-year sneak plus a conversion made it 8-0, Bulldogs, but English answered with a 10-yard touchdown run to cut the lead to 8-7.
Jabari Williams’ 28-yard touchdown run plus Jamorris Young’s conversion gave Anniston a 16-7 cushion, but English added a 20-yard touchdown run to cut the margin to 16-14.
Jackson Bonner’s 34-yard touchdown pass to English gave Jacksonville its first lead, but Pope’s 5-yard touchdown run and Williams’ conversion run reclaimed a 24-22 lead for Anniston at halftime.
English’s 6-yard touchdown run was the second half’s lone score.
Bonner hit on six of 13 passes for 131 yards and a touchdown, with English catching three passes for 95 of those yards.
OXFORD 34, FLORENCE 10: Mason Mims threw three touchdown passes, and Oxford finished the regular season 10-0.
The Yellow Jackets, champions of Class 6A, Region 6, will open the playoffs Nov. 8 against Buckhorn at home.
Oxford achieved its first undefeated regular season since 2017. The 2019 state championship team finished 14-1, losing to Clay-Chalkville during the regular season but beating the Cougars in the Class 6A quarterfinals.
Mims hit on touchdown passes of 18 yards to Nick Richardson, 13 yards to Jaylin Taylor and 15 yards to D.K. Wilson.
Caleb Wynn added touchdown runs of one and two yards.
PIEDMONT 48, GLENCOE 10: Cole Wilson completed 14 of 19 passes for 215 yards and three touchdowns, and Piedmont finished its first undefeated regular season since 2016.
The Bulldogs finished 10-0, 8-0 in Class 3A, Region 6, and will play host to Collinsville on Nov. 8 to open the Class 3A playoffs.
Wilson completed touchdown passes of 26 and 12 yards to Ishmael Bethel, 61 yards to Rollie Pinto. Wilson also had a 46-yard touchdown run.
Pinto caught six passes for 130 yards, and Bethel had four catches for 61 yards,
Jaxon Howard led Piedmont rushers with 72 yards on seven carries, including a 24-yard touchdown run. Brodie Homesley added 62 yards rushing, and Hayes Gunn had touchdown runs of one and six yards.
Jake Boggs and Bronner McMurry led Glencoe with 94 rushing yards apiece, and Boggs had a 34-yard touchdown run.
Glencoe’s Connor Montgomery hit a 35-yard field goal in the second quarter.
SPRING GARDEN 40, RANBURNE 7: On Thursday afternoon, Spring Garden’s volleyball team
won its second straight Class 1A state title in Birmingham. It was the first time in the
school’s volleyball history they had ever won back-to-back state titles.
On Friday, it was the Panther football team’s turn to make history.
Behind a four-touchdown performance from senior tailback Connor Bates, Spring Garden blew past Ranburne 40-7 to earn its first outright 10-0 regular season.
The Panthers also went 10-0 in 2021, but one of those victories came from a Cleveland forfeit.
“For the school and the community, it’s been a huge week,” said Bates, who ran for 86 yards on 15 carries. He also caught a pair of passes for 41 yards and had an interception on defense. “Our volleyball team goes
down there (to Birmingham) and wins it again. The community came out and supported us tonight and we got the ‘W’. That’s a big achievement for us as a team, going undefeated. I’m sure the community’s proud of us too.”
It was the final regular-season contest for 12 Panther football seniors, including Bates.
DONOHO 28, CEDAR BLUFF 21: Kai Cleckler’s 34-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Cameron with 1:04 left made the difference, and Donoho (5-5) finished the regular season with a four-game winning streak.
The Falcons will open the Class 1A playoffs on Nov. 8 at Appalachian. Their five wins under first-year coach Bill Smith mark the most for the Falcons since 2019.
Cleckler’s 32-yard touchdown pass to Hayes Farrell put Donoho up 7-0, but Cedar Bluff mounted three unanswered touchdowns to take a 21-7 lead.
Donoho’s rally started with Cleckler’s 10-yard touchdown pass to James Benkwith, and Farrell’s 10-yard touchdown run tied the game at 21-21.
WHITE PLAINS 42, CLEBURNE COUNTY 13: P.J. Holloway rushed for 150 yards and three touchdowns, and White Plains finished its season with a Class 4A, Region 6 victory.
The Wildcats finished the season 4-6, making their most wins since 2020.
Quarterback Crew Martin added 61 yards rushing and one touchdown run, and he completed all three of his passes for 80 yards, including a 65-yard touchdown hookup with Holloway.
HOKES BLUFF 44, RANDOLPH COUNTY 12: Quarterback Bryce Whitaker accounted for 319 total yards and four touchdowns, and Hokes Bluff finished the regular season with a non-region victory.
The Eagles (8-2) will open the Class 4A playoffs Nov. 8 against Madison Academy at home.
Whitker rushed for 258 yards, with touchdown runs of 78, 10 and 79 yards. He also completed six of eight passes for 61 yards, with a 21-yard touchdown pass to Anderson Morgan.
Blaine Barron added 66 yards rushing on seven carries.
Brayden Terrell paced Randolph County with 113 yards rushing, and Ryder Pinson’s 73-yards rushing included touchdown runs of three and five yards. Mo Winston added 79 on six carries.
Randolph County (7-3) will open the Class 3A playoffs against Trinity at home on Nov. 8.
WESTBROOK CHRISTIAN 47, WELLBORN 24: Quarterback Brody Blevins rushed for 152 yards and three touchdowns and completed 12 of 14 passes for 175 yards and a touchdown as Westbrook Christian finished 6-4 overall, 4–4 in Class 3A, Region 6.
The Warriors finished in a five-way tie for third place in the region but didn’t gain one of the region’s four playoff spots. It marks the first time in Steve Smith’s 30-yard coaching career that his teams missed the playoffs two years in a row.
His Piedmont teams made the playoffs all 17 years he coached there, and his Cedar Bluff teams missed the playoffs in the first of his 11 seasons there.
Wellborn (5-4, 4-4) also finished out of the playoffs after a 5-0 first half of the season, missing the playoffs for the first time since 2018.
Westbrook Christian’s Brodie Johnson caught seven passes for 166 yards and a touchdown, and Brodey Wood rushed for 47 yards and two scores.
The Warriors finished with 291 yards rushing and 197 passing yards.
