Local Sports

The Hubbertville Lions jumped out to an early two-touchdown lead Friday night, but Tuscaloosa Academy rallied to score 32 unanswered points and hand the Lions a 32-14 loss at Wiley Hollingsworth Stadium. After forcing the Knights to punt on their opening possession, Hubbertville put together a scoring drive highlighted by quarterback Blaize Wakefield’s connections with Cruz Kizzire. Kizzire hauled in a pass and fought his way to the Tuscaloosa Academy 3-yard line, setting up the Lions near the goal line.

The Hubbertville Lions added one more piece of hardware to their historic 2025 baseball season Friday night. Members of Hubbertville’s Class 1A state championship baseball team were presented with their championship rings Aug. 28 during a special pregame ceremony before the Lions’ football game against Tuscaloosa Academy.

The Hubbertville Lions opened their regular season Friday night with a hard-fought 28-22 victory over the University Charter Trailblazers at Wiley Hollingsworth Stadium. Winning the coin toss, the Lions elected to receive, sending Landon Dodd and Kane Rushing back for the opening kickoff. Rushing returned the kick 10 yards to the Lions’ 30-yard line. Hubbertville wasted little time finding the end zone. After Charles Keeton gained 7 yards on first down, quarterback Blaize Wakefield connected with Rushing for a 63-yard touchdown with only 57 seconds gone from the game clock.

The Berry Wildcats kicked off their 2026 campaign by hosting the Class 3A Hale County Wildcats. After graduating a large senior class last year, Berry had a lot of new faces playing in key positions on both sides of the ball. The young Berry Wildcats played Hale County close for most of the game, but a couple of late touchdowns handed them a 42-22 loss. Berry won the toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff. Berry returned the kickoff to its own 30-yard line to begin play and put together a 13-play drive that took up more than half of the first quarter.

The Fayette County Tigers opened the 2026 season with a fight to the finish Friday night, trading the lead with Gordo before the Green Wave pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 33-27 victory. Fayette struck first, weathered a 19-point second-quarter surge by Gordo and reclaimed the lead in the third quarter before a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns put the Tigers in a hole they could not quite overcome. The Tigers received the opening kickoff and immediately began moving the football.

The Fayette County High School Tigers got their first taste of action under the Friday night lights on Aug. 14, hosting a four-team football jamboree at John Morgan Brown Stadium. Fayette County was joined by Mars Hill Bible, Tuscaloosa Academy and Bibb County for the preseason event, giving the teams an opportunity to put weeks of summer workouts and preseason practices to the test before the start of regular-season play. The Tigers made the most of the opportunity, shutting out both of their opponents while scoring a combined 33 points during four quarters of jamboree action.

The Hubbertville Lions football team traveled to Curry High School on Friday night to participate in a fall jamboree at Travis Hudson Stadium. The Lions took to James Earl Hubbert Field along with Curry, Dora and Holly Pond to kick off the season. Each team played two games consisting of two 12-minute quarters. The Lions opened against the Holly Pond Broncos, whose first possession was stopped by the Hubbertville defense. Hunter Rochester, Lane Barnes and Charles Keeton were among those making stops, with Keeton recording a sack on quarterback Grayson Baggett.

The final out unleashed a celebration years in the making. 

Players sprinted toward the mound. Gloves flew into the air. Fans rose from the stands inside Jacksonville State University’s Rudy Abbott Field, cheering as Hubbertville players piled together in celebration.