AHSAA Spotlight for Week 8

Andrews' 7 Touchdown Performance Grabs AHSAA Spotlight For Week 9

MONTGOMERY, Al - Fairhope High School head football coach Adam Winegarden says he has seen a lot of outstanding individual performances in his prep coaching career. However, he said Nate Andrews topped them all Friday night.
   Andrews, the Pirates' quarterback, rushed for 268 yards in a key 58-23 Class 6A, Region 2 win over Northview to seal a playoff berth for Fairhope. More importantly, he scored seven touchdowns - five coming in a 188-yard second half effort. His touchdown runs covered 4, 42, 53, 4, 1, 2 and 30 yards.
   "I have never had a player score seven touchdowns in one game," said Winegarden. "Nate actually had an eighth touchdown called back. It was just a phenomenal performance."
    Fairhope wound up in a tie for second place behind region champion Daphne in Class 6A, Region 2 with a 6-2 region record. Foley came out of the tie as the second seed and Fairhope captured the third seed. Enterprise is the fourth qualifier from Region 6.
    Andrews' effort grabbed the AHSAA Prep Spotlight for Week 9 of the 2012 football season. It also edged out some special-team dazzlers, including Austin Dempsey  of Hazel Green and John Hawkins of St. Jude and a super team effort by Hewitt-Trussville..
   Dempsey scored on a 70-yard punt return and a 61-yard kickoff return, intercepted a pass and knocked down a pass in the end zone in the final minute of a 26-21 win over Buckhorn.
    Hawkins returned a kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown and had punt returns of 85 and 70 yards for two more scores in a 46-6 win over Fayetteville.
    Coach Hal Riddle's Hewitt-Trussville Huskies intercepted seven Woodlawn passes in a 31-6 win over the Colonels. Deontay Wilson had two, Luke Davis returned one for a TD while Griffin Pair, Brandon Woods, Luc Riddle and Bailey Cash also had one pick each. Eli Ashley recovered a fumble and Devante Dawson blocked a punt for a total of nine turnovers forced by the Huskies' defense.
   A total of 188 of the 192 first-round playoff berths were settled after last week's final round of region play. In Class 1A, Region 4, Wadley, Winterboro and Talladega County Central are tied for fourth seed and will resolve the tie after this week's non-region games. In Class 5A, Region 8, Muscle Shoals (9-0) won the region title with its win over Cullman, but Russellville's 6-3 win over defending 5A state champion Hartselle forced a three-way for second, third and fourth place. Cullman, Russellville and Hartselle are in, but the order won't be determined until this week's non-region games are concluded.

  Other top performances included:

R.J. DEDRICK, FAIRFIELD: Had 33 carries for 324 rushing yards and had five tackles on defense in a 16-14 loss to Central Tuscaloosa.

TANNER IVEY, HALEYVILLE: Passed for 305 yards and a touchdown in the Lions' 29-7 win over West Limestone. His TD pass to Matt Smith covered 60 yards. Ivey, who is 130-of-218 passing for 2,083 yards and 19 touchdowns on the year, also ran for one score.

BRANDON BUTTS, SUSAN MOORE: Was 21-of-33 passing for 269 yards and four touchdowns and rushed 20 times for 112 yards and a fifth TD in a 35-26 win over New Hope. The win clinched the school's first playoff appearance in five years.

CEDRIX REED, FOLEY: Rushed for 211 yards and four touchdowns, including a go-head 65-yard  TD run with 2:51 left to play to give the Lions a 34-29 win.

JONATHAN PITTMAN, DALEVILLE: The Warhawks' quarterback rushed for 175 yards and a touchdown and completed 5-of-8 passes for 106 yards with a 35-yard TD pass in a 21-18 win over Barbour County.

XAVIER McCOLLUM, WINFIELD: Ran for 195 yards on 23 carries and scored three touchdowns as the Pirates beat Good Hope 33-6. McCollum now has 1,875 yards rushing in nine games.

BRYANT HORN, BENJAMIN RUSSELL:  The Wildcats' quarterback was 5-for-5 passing in a five-play, 62-yard drive over 53 seconds, capping the game-winning drive with a 16-yard TD pass with 8.3 seconds left to give Benjamin Russell (9-0) a 28-24 win over Eufaula and the Class 5A, Region 2 title. Horn also had a 1-yard TD run in the game, which was set up by his 65-yard pass completion.

AARON DILLARD, HUBBERTVILLE: Rushed for 265 yards and scored on runs of 5, 16 and 47 yards in a 33-18 win over Lynn.

DYLAN MACKEY, SAND ROCK: Rushed for 197 yards on 13 carries and scored four touchdowns (4, 63, 39, 41 yards). He also completed 11-of-24 pass attempts for 117 yards and a 35-yard touchdown as the Wildcats clinched the final playoff spot from Class 2A, Region 7 with a 35-14 victory over Ider.

LEVI MINTZ, CEDAR BLUFF: Completed 17-of-27 pass attempts for 320 yards and four touchdowns (51, 26, 17, 54 yards). He also rushed for a 1-yard touchdown in the unbeaten Tigers' 41-14 victory at Spring Garden. DeAngelo Hardy also caught six passes for 154 yards and two touchdowns (51, 26 yards).

C.J. JONES, COLLINSVILLE: Completed 15-of-18 pass attempts for 250 yards and three touchdowns (2, 24 and 48 yards). He also had a 9-yard rushing touchdown in the Panthers' 43-33 victory over Valley Head, rallying Collinsville from a 20-16 halftime deficit.

BLAKE DEVINE, SOUTHSIDE-GADSDEN: The junior running back had 137 yards rushing with a 75-yard TD run, caught one pass for 25 yards and returned two kickoffs for 116 yards in a 63-20 win over Brewer. His 94-yard kickoff return for a TD was the longest in school history and sealed the Panthers' first winning regular season since 1993.

SEAN WALLACE, MARION COUNTY: Led the Red Raiders to a 57-0 win over Brilliant with 252 total yards. The quarterback was 3-of-6 passing for 117 yards with TD passes of 74 and 13 yards to DeShawn Reibesehl and rushed five times for 135 yards with two more ascores. He had a 78-yard non-scoring run as well.

JORDAN BISHOP, CALERA: Hauled in seven receptions for 176 yards and two TDs as Calera beat Jemison 35-14. His TD receptions covered 45 and 82 yards as the Eagles clinched a home berth in the Class 4A state playoffs.

TYLER JACKSON, MUSCLE SHOALS: Ran for 229 yards on 13 carries, including touchdown runs of 49, 60 and 62 yards, in a 35-19 Class 5A, Region 8 title-clinching road victory over Cullman.

DALE JACKSON, FORT PAYNE: The senior quarterback completed 18-of-21 passes for 282 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions in a 45-7 victory at Scottsboro. Jackson's TD passes covered 37, 9, 40 and 8 yards.

CODY O'TOOLE, ONEONTA: Was 8-of-12 passing for 148 yards and four touchdowns in the Redskins' 49-0 win over Sardis. The victory clinched the Class 4A, Region 6 title for unbeaten Oneonta. Alvin Scott had five catches for 93 yards to give him 200 career receptions.

BERRON TYSON, BAKER: Rushed 48 times for 237 yards and a TD as Baker beat Blount 21-7 to make the playoffs for the first time since 1990.

JASON SMITH, McGILL-TOOLEN: Rushed for 120 yards and four TDs and threw for 153 yards and three touchdowns in the Yellow Jackets' 50-21 win over rival Murphy.

JACKSON RICHARD, MADISON COUNTY: Completed 11-of-12 passes for 204 yards and four touchdowns in a 66-0 victory over Butler.

TORREN HALEY, EAST LIMESTONE: Ran for 200 yards and four touchdowns (2, 18, 2, 18) on 27 carries in a 41-6 win over West Point

JERMARCUS BROWN, PICKENS COUNTY: Rushed for 252 yards and scored five touchdowns in a 49-22 win over Berry. Brown scored on runs of 22, 10 and 94 yards, returned the second-half kickoff 88 yards for a score and caught a 50-yard touchdown pass from Devonte Simon.

TY JONES, VINEMONT: Ran for 192 yards and five touchdowns on 25 carries to lead the Eagles to a 47-20 win over Winston County. He scored on runs of 61, 15, 8, 2 and 3 yards.

ARDARIUS STEWART, FULTONDALE: Ran 15 times for 137 yards with five touchdowns and tallied his sixth score on an 80-yard kickoff return to lead the Wildcats past Ranburne 48-21.

STEWART WILKINS, BRIARWOOD CHRISTIAN: Completed 17-of-25 passes for 235 yards and three touchdowns (23, 5 and 18 yards) and added 30 yards rushing in a 32-13 win over John Carroll.

LUKE BAILEY, FAIRVIEW: Despite playing in only the first half of the Aggies' 47-6 home victory over Crossville, the quarterback was 8-of-11 passing for 202 yards and three touchdowns. His trio of scores - a 63-yarder to Trent Shoemaker, a 13-yarder to Bryant Powers and a 67-yarder to Jake Chandler - all came during a five-minute span in the second quarter.

BLAKE BYRD, CORNER: The Yellow Jackets' dual-threat quarterback ran 26 times for 130 yards and three touchdowns (9, 2 and 2 yards) and was 16-of-27 passing for 132 yards and another score in a 39-25 win over Bibb County.

MARLON PAGE, NOTASULGA: Ran for 203 yards and five touchdowns on 15 carries and returned a kickoff for another score in the Blue Devils' 48-38 win over Wadley.

GARRET LEWIS, SIPSEY VALLEY: Threw four touchdown passes in a 47-27 win over American Christian Academy. Lewis' performance helped the Bears qualify for the AHSAA Class 3A playoffs for the first time in its three-year history.

COURTNEY FOY, MIDFIELD: Ran 15 times for 208 yards and three touchdowns, adding 64 yards passing and a touchdown in the 50-0 win against Tarrant.

JORDAN HOWARD, GARDENDALE: Scored five first half touchdowns - runs of 4, 6, 9 and 4 yards and an 87-yard reception - in a 43-16 win over Carver. He finished with 77 yards rushing on just eight carries.

KYLE ERIKSEN, PROVIDENCE CHRISTIAN: Finished with 110 yards on 12 carries, including an 80-yard TD run, and caught four passes for 91 yards in a 30-16 win over Houston Academy. He had a back-breaking 80-yard TD run in the fourth quarter and also had eight tackles on defense.

NICK McCALLISTER, PROVIDENCE CHRISTIAN: The linebacker had 22 tackles and defensive back Andrew Osborne added 14 stops Providence's 30-16 win over Houston Academy.

ROD ROBERSON, CARROLL: Returned a kickoff 70 yards for a touchdown and had an interception on defense, his seventh of the year, in a 35-19 win over Rehobeth that clinched a playoff berth for the Eagles.

JYWON MOSS, LOACHAPOKA: Threw touchdown passes of 44 and 47 yards, scored two more touchdowns rushing and intercepted two passes on defense in the Indians' 33-6 win over Talladega County Central.

REUBEN FOSTER, AUBURN: Recorded 13 tackles with four resulting in lost yardage and also had two sacks as the Tigers beat Opelika 32-23. He added 77 yards rushing and three touchdowns on 11 carries on offense.

DEE LINER, MUSCLE SHOALS: Tipped and intercepted a pass behind the line of scrimmage, deflected a punt and had at least a handful of touchbacks as a kickoff specialist in the unbeaten Trojans' 35-19 win versus Cullman.

JORDAN CARROLL, BRIARWOOD: Totaled seven tackles - including four tackles for losses - recovered three fumbles, blocked a punt and returned for a touchdown in a 32-13 win over John Carroll.

JOSH FREEMAN, McADORY: Totaled 13 tackles and three sacks, forced a fumble that was returned for a touchdown and added two quarterback pressures in a 13-0 win over previously unbeaten Wenonah to clinch the Class 5A, Regioni 5 title. Teammate Darius Jackson added  15 tackles and two interceptions.

ZACH CUNNINGHAM, PINSON VALLEY: Had 23 tackles, including two sacks, had five total tackles for losses and returned an interception for a touchdown as the Indians beat Moody 40-14.

JE'NIAH JACKSON, SPAIN PARK: Led the Jaguars with a game-high 14 tackles in a 42-17 loss to Pelham.

SHELDON NIXON, CALERA: Recorded 19 tackles, four sacks and six tackles for losses in the Eagles' 35-14 win against Jemison.

GREG MACLIN, TANNER:  Returned an interception 100 yards for a TD in a 67-12 win over Phil Campbell and also caught a TD pass.

T.J. DIXON, UMS-WRIGHT: Caught TD passes of 15 and 55 yards, scored on a 13-yard run and recovered a punt snap in the end zone for a fourth TD in the Bulldogs' 49-8 win over Wilcox Central.

 /  ALABAMA HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION 
Ron Ingram / Director of Communications / 334-263-6994