Calhoun County Prep Football – Calhoun Journal

Calhoun County, AL – Jacksonville wins thriller over rival Anniston. Oxford, Piedmont and Spring Garden finished the regular season undefeated. Donoho is on a four-game winning streak. White Plains, Hokes Bluff, Westbrook Christian victorious.

This week's area scoreboard

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31
Alexandria 28, Munford 21

FRIDAY, November 1st
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, JB 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 teams from the coverage area. All games on November 8th:

CLASS 6A
Buckhorn at Oxford
Mountain Brook near Southside
CLASS 5A
Greenville near Central Clay
Jacksonville near Scottsboro
CLASS 4A
Westminster Christian in Cherokee County
Madison Academy in Hokes Bluff
Anniston near Randolph
Alexandria in North Jackson
Handley in St. Michael
CLASS 3A
Collinsville in Piedmont
Weber at Sylvania
Ohatchee near Fyffe
Trinity in Randolph County
CLASS 2A
Sulligent in Pleasant Valley
CLASS 1A
Valley Head near Wadley
Victory Christian at Spring Garden
Donoho in Appalachian

Editor's note: WEIS athletic director Shannon Fagan contributed to this report.

From East Alabama Sports Today

ANNISTON – They are no longer regional rivals, but the Jacksonville-Anniston rivalry can still produce a great football game.

Zae English rushed for 172 yards and collected 267 total yards and four touchdowns, and Jacksonville closed the regular season with a 28-24 win at Lott-Mosby Stadium on Friday.

The Golden Eagles finished the regular season with four straight wins. They are 6-4 in their first season in Class 5A since 2001 and will open the playoffs Nov. 8 in Scottsboro.

Anniston finished the regular season 5-5 and will open the Class 4A playoffs on Nov. 8 at Randolph.

Anniston and Jacksonville played in the same Class 4A region from 2016 to 2023 and played in a Class 4A semifinal game in 2019. Jacksonville moved up to Class 5A before this season, but the teams fielded each other in a non-region game to cap the regular season.

England's 6-yard touchdown run in the third quarter gave Jacksonville a 28-24 lead, but the Golden Eagles and Bulldogs played a back-and-forth game.

Damon Pope's 1-yard sneak and 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 and Jamorris Young's conversion gave Anniston a 16-7 lead, but English added a 20-yard touchdown run to cut the lead 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 gave Anniston a 24-22 halftime lead.

English's 6-yard touchdown run was the only score of the second half.

Bonner completed six of 13 passes for 131 yards and a touchdown, with English catching three passes for 95 yards.

OXFORD 34, FLORENCE 10: Mason Mims threw three touchdown passes and Oxford finished the regular season 10-0.

The Yellow Jackets, Class 6A, Region 6 champions, will open the playoffs Nov. 8 at home against Buckhorn.

Oxford achieved its first undefeated regular season since 2017. The 2019 state championship team finished 14-1, losing to Clay-Chalkville in the regular season but defeating the Cougars in the Class 6A quarterfinals.

Mims connected on touchdown passes of 18 yards to Nick Richardson, 13 yards to Jaylin Taylor and 15 yards to DK 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 completed its first undefeated regular season since 2016.

The Bulldogs finished 10-0, 8-0 in Class 3A, Region 6 and will host Collinsville on Nov. 8 to open the Class 3A playoffs.

Wilson completed touchdown passes of 26 and 12 yards to Ishmael Bethel and 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 the 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 each, 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, the Spring Garden volleyball team
won its second straight Class 1A state title in Birmingham. It was the first time in the
They had never won back-to-back state titles in the school's volleyball history.

On Friday, it was the Panthers football team's turn to make history.

After a four-touchdown performance from senior tailback Connor Bates, Spring Garden routed Ranburne 40-7 to secure its first full 10-0 regular season.

The Panthers were 10-0 again in 2021, but one of those wins came on a loss at Cleveland.

“It was a great week for the school and the community,” said Bates, who ran for 86 yards on 15 carries. He also caught two passes for 41 yards and intercepted the defense. “Our volleyball team is leaving
down there (to Birmingham) and win it again. The community came out and supported us tonight and we got the “W.” It is a great success for us as a team to remain undefeated. I’m sure the community is 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 Nov. 8 at Appalachian. Their five wins under first-year coach Bill Smith are the most for the Falcons since 2019.

Cleckler's 32-yard touchdown pass to Hayes Farrell gave Donoho a 7-0 lead, but Cedar Bluff scored three unanswered touchdowns to take a 21-7 lead.

Donoho's rally began 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: PJ Holloway rushed for 150 yards and three touchdowns and White Plains finished its season with a win in Class 4A, Region 6.

The Wildcats finished the season 4-6, their most wins since 2020.

Quarterback Crew Martin added 61 yards rushing and a touchdown run and 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 totaled 319 yards and four touchdowns, and Hokes Bluff ended the regular season with a non-region win.

The Eagles (8-2) will open the Class 4A playoffs Nov. 8 at home against Madison Academy.

Whitker rushed for 258 yards, with touchdown runs of 78, 10 and 79 yards. He also completed six of eight passes for 61 yards, including a 21-yard touchdown pass to Anderson Morgan.

Blaine Barron added 66 yards on seven carries.

Brayden Terrell led 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 with six runs.

Randolph County (7-3) will open the Class 3A playoffs at home against Trinity 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 and 4-4 in Class 3A, Region 6.

The Warriors finished in a five-way tie for third place in the region, but did not secure any 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 in 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) was also eliminated from the playoffs after going 5-0 in the 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.