Football

By Cole Frederick Friday, Jan. 1 Vrbo Citrus Bowl Auburn vs. Northwestern (-3.5). New head coach Bryan Harsin won’t take over for the bowl game, but he has been monitoring practices and making initial observations. Kevin Steele is the interim coach, and he’s tasked with preparing for a very good Northwestern team that played in

 By Chris McCarthy/Editor Literally and figuratively, two players stood head and shoulders above the competition in local boys high school basketball this past season.  Westbrook Christian’s Colin Edwards and Hokes Bluff’s Isaac Haas shot, scored, dunked, rebounded and blocked their way to being named co-Players of the Year of the 2013-14 All-Messenger team.  A 6’5”

By Joshua Price/Sports Editor It is always good to see our area student athletes find success, and that usually starts with a scholarship. For Gadsden City High School football star Laynce Sanders, that was just the case. Sanders, a 6’1, 215 pound linebacker and defensive end, recently signed a football scholarship with Division II Shorter

By Rusty Mansell/247sports.com

It is funny how the little things can sometimes change your world. For Southside High School’s Tyler Carr, it was a 10-hour bus trip to South Bend, Indiana.

Carr, a 6’5”, 285-pound college football prospect went to camp at the University of Notre Dame with a bus load of his teammates. A few hours later he was no longer

Pat Sullivan, Auburn University’s first Heisman Trophy winner, recently  was inducted into the National High School Hall of Fame.

Sullivan is just the second athlete from Alabama to be inducted into the NFHS Hall and ninth inductee overall.  

Currently the head football coach at Samford University, Sullivan was a three-sport standout at John Carroll Catholic from 1966-69. He was a

By Joshua Price/Sports Editor

Football is expanding and upgrading in the western end of Etowah County.

The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs recently awarded the City of Altoona $250,000 to assist in constructing a new football stadium. 

The city selected an 11-acre field between Highway 132 and Brown Street, near County Highway 41 as the site of the new stadium. The

By Joshua Price/Sports Editor

Emma Sansom High School graduate Mark O’Bryant was recently named head varsity football coach at Ashville High School.

O’Bryant served as offensive coordinator for Oxford High School in 2011. The Yellow Jackets finished 12-2 last season, outscoring their opponents 529-348.

O’Bryant served as head coach at Cleveland High School in Blount County in 2009 and 2010. O’Bryant’s

 West End High School defeated Sand Rock High School in spring jamboree football action on May 25 at Walnut Grove, 13-0.

The Patriots dropped its nightcap match to Cedar Bluff, 13-7.

 Etowah High School defeated Glencoe High School, 28-0, in spring football action on May 19 at James E. Glover Field in Attalla.

Glencoe high school linebacker T.J. Daugherty signed a football scholarship to Birmingham-Southern College on May 17 during a special ceremony in the Glencoe High School library. 

Daugherty was third in Etowah County in overall tackels in 2011 with 127. The senior made 18 stops for a loss with three sacks.

Daugherty was named to The Messenger's All-Etowah County team in 2010 and

By Joshua Price/Sports Editor

Etowah County Board of Education superintendent Alan Cosby and Board of Education member Ernie Payne announced on April 26 that Hayden Stockton resigned his position as head varsity football coach at West End High School. Effective immediately, Stockton will be replaced by former Patriots head coach and current Sardis High School defensive coordinator Randy Hallmark.

Stockton coached West…

 By Joshua Price/Sports Editor

Anyone familiar with the history of Glencoe Yellow Jacket football is familiar with the name “Lett.”  Ed, Kenneth and Gary were popular athletes at Glencoe High School during the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s. The boys’ father, Dr. M.G. Lett, served on the sidelines as the Yellow Jackets’ team doctor for over 50 years.

All three Lett brothers were…

Etowah High School senior Dakota Hammett signed a football scholarship to Reinhardt University in the Wyman Townsel Field House at Etowah High School on April 5. Hammett was a star lineman for the Blue Devils, which finished the 2011 season with a 10-2 record. Hammett is pictured (seated, front middle) with his parents on either side of him and surrounded…

Pat Sullivan, Auburn University’s first Heisman Trophy winner and a multi-sport star at John Carroll High School in Birmingham, headlines the 2012 class selected for induction into the National High School Hall of Fame in July.

Sullivan was considered the top football player in the state of Alabama in his junior and senior seasons from 1967-68 as the quarterback at John…

By Joshua Price/Sports Editor

*originally published in The Messenger on January 13, 2012*

Football has produced many famous offensive tandems. Bradshaw-Swann, Montana-Rice and Namath-Maynard are just a few of the famous partnerships the gridiron has produced in the past 30 years. On a more local scale, fans remember the likes of Patrick Nix-Toderick Malone or Brodie Croyle-Brandon Greer.

The duo from Etowah High…

 By Joshua Price/Sports Editor Hundreds of football fans waited patiently in line outside Flowers by Rita Custom Framing, near the corner of Fifth and Broad streets in downtown Gadsden, on Feb. 4 to meet, greet and get an autograph by University of Alabama football star Trent Richardson and former Bama standout Roy Upchurch. Richardson and

 By Joshua Price/Sports Editor

Since the late 1970’s, Brian Mintz has become a household name for any football fan in Etowah County. 

The Southside native is considered one of the top players to ever don the crimson colors and is statistically one of the most successful coaches in the county over the past three decades.

Mintz stepped down from his position as head…

 By Joshua Price/Sports Editor Etowah High School football star Darrin Peterson signed a football scholarship with Liberty University (Lynchburg, Va.) on Feb. 1 at Wyman Townsel Field House in Attalla. The 6’3 wide receiver was a key figure in the Blue Devil offense, ‘Petey’ caught 65 passes for 1,393 yards and 10 touchdowns.  Peterson won