Local Sports

Coming off of four straight blowout wins, it looked like the Fayette County Tigers might sprint through the rest of its schedule this season. After all, the Tigers had outscored their last four opponents 191-14. Fayette County had its hands full on Friday night, however, as it outlasted the Oakman Wildcats 13-10 in a defensive slugfest that came down to the very last play. 

The Berry Wildcats were looking to get back on the winning track as they hosted the South Lamar Stallions for Homecoming.  Big plays by South Lamar would be the deciding factor as the Wildcats fell to the Stallions 52 - 18.

Traveling south to Reform on Friday night the Lions visited the Pickens County Tornadoes. Following the coin toss, Hutch Miles' opening kick was recovered by Damian Giles at the 48-yard line. The Lions defense stood strong on the opening possession with Cruz Kizzire sacking Jacobe Plott on first down for a 4-yard loss. Four plays later, facing fourth and 16 from the 36-yard line, William Latham's punt rolled dead at the 32-yard line. 

2,597 days. It was quite a long wait for the Fayette County Tigers to finally reclaim victory from the Winfield Pirates, which it did in dominant fashion in a 54-14 win on Friday, Oct. 9. With Hurricane Isaias looming above, the Tigers showed up with seven years’ worth of payback, scoring on every one of its offensive possessions for a season-high 54 points. “It’s a rivalry game and it’s always good to win that,” Fayette Head Coach Jared Porter said. “I know it meant a lot to the players to beat them, especially these seniors.” 

The Hubbertville Lions traveled to Sulligent on Friday night to battle with the Blue Devils. Winning the coin toss the Lions elected to receive sending Landon Dodd and Kayne Rushing back for the opening kick. Sulligent recovered Saige Coleman’s kick at the Lions 47-yard line setting Johnwil Spruiel and his offensive front up with their opening possession.

With frogs on the hearts and minds of the town, the Fayette County Tigers leaped to its third straight victory as it took down the Haleyville Lions 40-0 on Friday night. After being defeated 40-0 in its matchup with Hatton on Sep. 4, Fayette County has scored 137 straight unanswered points in its last three contests. “Altogether, this team has responded to [the coaches] challenging them after the Hatton game,” Head Coach Jared Porter said. “They have started playing with the physicality it takes to win games.”

Bevill State struggled to overcome an early deficit Friday, Sept. 25, falling 10-2 to Freed-Hardeman University. Freed-Hardeman jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning, using a single and two doubles to bring four runs across the plate. The Lions added another run on a solo home run in the third and continued to build their advantage on the way to the eight-run victory.

The Berry Wildcats traveled to Oxford to face the Hope Christian Saints for the first time, but penalties proved costly as the Saints controlled the game and took a 28-8 victory. Hope Christian won the toss and elected to defer to the second half. The Wildcats returned the opening kickoff to the Berry 44-yard line. The Berry offense put together a four-play drive but turned the ball over after failing to convert on fourth-and-5 from the Berry 49. Hope Christian began its first drive at the Wildcat 49 after the turnover on downs.

The Hubbertville Lions traveled south to Bibb County for a non-region contest with the West Blocton Tigers. Winning the coin toss, the Lions elected to receive, sending Landon Dodd and Kane Rushing back deep. Brandon Hernandez’s kick was fielded at the 13-yard line by Dodd, who advanced to the 32 to set up quarterback Blaize Wakefield and the Lions offense with their opening possession. Utilizing the ground game of Gavin Hubbert and a pass completion to Rushing, the Lions quickly moved into Tigers territory with a first down at the 33.

Fayette County wasted little time taking control Friday night, scoring three touchdowns in the first quarter and adding 23 more points in the second on the way to a 50-0 shutout victory over Danville. The Tigers dominated on both sides of the ball, holding Danville to minus 44 yards of total offense while piling up 290 yards of their own. Fayette County finished with 116 yards rushing and 174 yards through the air. After the two teams traded possessions early, Fayette County broke through with 8:06 remaining in the first quarter.