Brooks honors first team

By Bryan App

Staff Writer

Former player Steve Harrison remembers well the infancy of Brooks’ football program.

He and some of his teammates from Brooks’ first varsity football team will have the chance to reflect on just how far the program has come when members of that 1969 team are honored during the Lions’ Friday night game against R.A. Hubbard.

Going 0-9-1 at the junior high level the program’s first two years of competition under coach Alton Ledlow, who bought the players’ uniforms and drove the team bus, Harrison recalls dressing in the neighboring

Methodist church and practicing in a cow pasture in

Killen.

“We came out for our first game against Rogers and my friend said, ‘They’re booing us.’ I said, ‘No, they’re mooing us,’ ” Harrison said.

Three years later, in 1969, a team of 21 players and two coaches, including head coach E.D. Redding, led Brooks to a 5-5 record in its first full season of varsity-level competition against more established teams.

Today, Brooks annually competes for region championships and makes deep playoff runs, while players dress in a top-notch field house and play in their own stadium with an adjoining practice field.

Harrison said he expects eight to 10 members from the 1969 team to attend Friday’s game, set to kick off at 7 p.m. And though humbled by the gesture, he’s not sure how great a role that first team had in making Brooks football what it is today.

“I don’t know if we helped pave the way,” Harrison said. “I’m extremely proud of what Brooks has become. I’m proud my son had the chance to play on playoff team at my school. I’m proud of the level of football Brooks has come to. But we weren’t thinking about building the future back then wearing those high top cleats.”

Region run amok

How’s this for parity? Five, yes, five football teams are currently tied atop the standings in the Mobile area’s Class 5A, Region 1.

Sporting identical 5-2 region records, Vigor, Gulf Shores, LeFlore, St. Paul’s and Spanish Fort are all tied for first place and have all completed region play heading into this final week of the regular season.

That means one team will be the odd one out come Friday night, missing out on one of the region’s four playoff berths.

According to the Press-Register, Friday’s game between Vigor and Blount will settle the region’s playoff outlook. In this tiebreaker situation, according to AHSAA rules, the region champion will be determined by “tiebreaker L,” which says the team whose defeated opponents in the same classification or higher have the most wins will be declared the winner.

If Vigor wins, it would be that team.

Interestingly, a game in northwest Alabama could become a factor in the tiebreaker. Since St. Paul’s defeated Russellville in Week 5, the Golden Tigers’ Friday meeting with Class 3A Colbert County could play a role.

In one scenario, a Colbert County upset of Class 5A No. 5 Russellville would cost St. Paul’s the region championship and would also leave defending Class 5A champion Vigor, which defeated the Golden Tigers in the 2008 championship game, out of the playoffs.

Full slate today

For the first time in a few years, no area football teams will face tiebreaker scenarios in the final week of the

regular season. That doesn’t mean there will be a lack of quality contests this week, beginning with a full slate today.

Twelve area games will kickoff tonight, as a rash of teams rescheduled from Friday night.

Class 4A Central’s game at Class 2A No. 9 Lexington could be the headliner. Central, and its rejuvenated offense, has secured its first playoff berth since 2002, while Lexington, the Region 8 champion, is going for nine wins for the third time in the last 20 years.

Other area games today include: Red Bay at Colbert Heights, Muscle Shoals at Sheffield, J.O. Johnson at Deshler, Rogers at Lauderdale County, Cherokee at Waterloo, Tharptown at Hatton, Hubbertville at Vina, Wilson at Winfield, Phil Campbell at Hackleburg, Haleyville at Winston County and Brilliant at Phillips.

Originally listed on the AHSAA master schedule to be held today, Hamilton’s game at Sumiton Christian will be played Friday.

Bryan App can be reached at 740-5730 or bryan.app@TimesDaily.com.