Sports

By Chris McCarthy, Publisher/Editor Southside High’s Macie Williams highlights the 2018 All-Etowah County volleyball team. The 5’11 senior middle hitter (pictured above) was named the team’s Most Valuable Player after helping the Lady Panthers post a 42-13 record, win a fourth straight county tournament title and advance to the North Super Regional Tournament Class 5A quarterfinals.

By Chris McCarthy, Publisher/Editor Southside High out-distanced the competition on the 2018 All-Etowah County Schools boys and girls cross country team. The Panthers claimed 14 of the 20 sports on the team – eight for the boys and six for the girls. Southside swept both the county and sectional meets in early November and participated in

Thirteen student-athletes recently were named to the All-Etowah County Schools cheerleader team. Selected were senior Kayla Brooks, Lexy Morgan and Laney Owen from Southside; senior Molly Hamilton and junior Tamera Foster from Gaston; senior Lexie Payne and junior Carly Sims from Glencoe; seniors Mattie Jackson and Mackenzie Braswell from Hokes Bluff; senior Mary Kathryn Lang and

By Cole Frederick/Sports Correspondent On Alabama’s third offensive play in last Monday’s (Jan. 7) national title game, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was intercepted by Clemson’s A.J. Terrell, who promptly returned the ball 44 yards for a touchdown. Alabama kept the game close for most of the first half, the Crimson Tide couldn’t keep up with the

By Chris McCarthy, Publisher/Editor State quarterfinalists Etowah and Hokes Bluff were well-represented on the 2018 All-Messenger high school football team. The Class 5A Blue Devils and the Class 4A Eagles had seven and five players, respectively, make the first team, including three of the four postseason awards. The choice for Player of the Year was not

2017 Gadsden City High graduate and University of Missouri women’s basketball redshirt freshman Haley Troup (pictured above) came off the bench to score a career-high16 points in the Lady Tigers’ 64-66 upset victory over No. 10 Tennessee last Sunday (Jan. 6) in Knoxville, Tenn. Troup, who shot 4-for-6 from the three-point line, played 29 minutes

GIRLS Class 7A 1. Hoover 2. McGill-Toolen 3. Sparkman 4. Austin 5. Spain Park 6. Davidson 7. Grissom 8. Hewitt-Trussville 9. Auburn 10. Foley Class 6A 1. Hazel Green 2. Eufaula 3. Hartselle 4. Blount 5. Huffman 6. Opelika 7. McAdory 8. Dothan 9. Cullman 10. Carver-Montgomery Class 5A 1. Ramsay 2. Charles Henderson 3.

Photo: Etowah’s DeRickey Wright (left) drives against Southside’s Tommy Simmons during the Blue Devils’ 71-44 win in boys basketball last Tuesday (Jan. 8) in Attalla. (Courtesy of Ragan White Photography) By Chris McCarthy, Publisher/Editor Southside paid the price for too many mistakes against county neighbor and Class 5A, Area 11 rival Etowah last Tuesday (Jan. 8). Blue

By Cole Frederick/Sports Correspondent Eleven of the 14 schools from the SEC made bowl games, the most of any league in the country. The conference currently is 6-5 in bowl games this postseason, and Alabama has an opportunity to improve that record to 7-5 with a win over Clemson in the national title game on

The Boys & Girls Club of Gadsden/Etowah will host the BGC Basketball Classic this Saturday, Jan. 5, at 4 p.m. at the Gadsden City High School gymnasium. The game features the Talladega College men’s team against Carver College of Atlanta, Ga. Former Boys and Girls Club of Gadsden/Etowah County member and 2018 Gadsden City High

By Chris McCarthy, Publisher/Editor Two area high school football players were among 56 finalists for the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s Back/Lineman of the Year awards for the 2018 football season. Etowah senior defensive end Jamin Graham is a finalist for Class 5A Lineman, while Hokes Bluff junior running back Darrian Meads (pictured above) is a finalist

Photo: Etowah’s Jamin Graham follows through on a slam dunk as Coosa Christian’s Dartavious Britton (1) and Mikel Mooneyham look on during the recent Greater Gadsden Area Christmas Classic at Gadsden City High School. (Gary Wells) By Mike Goodson/Sports Correspondent The championship game of the Greater Gadsden Area Christmas Classic lived up to its advance

Pictured is Gadsden State sophomore Morgan Blalock (right) during a basketball game last season. Thirty Gadsden State student-athletes were named to 2018 Alabama Community College Conference Commissioner’s Fall Academic Honor Roll. Recognized were Andrew Bennett, Sloan Gartman, Stephen Walker, Alex Ivey and Justin Blake in men’s tennis; Morgan Blalock, Dalayia Crawford, Brooklyn Dutton, Morgan Frazier, Kaylan

By Cole Frederick/Sports Correspondent Saturday, Dec. 29 College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic: Clemson vs. Notre Dame (+12.5). Clemson has been in the playoff field for the last four seasons under Dabo Swinney, so the Tigers are no strangers to the playoffs. While most pundits project a fourth straight meeting between Clemson

By Chris McCarthy, Publisher/Editor Seventeen local football players were selected to the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s 2018 All-State football teams. Six players were named to the first team, including Gadsden City senior running back Jamontez Woods at Class 7A Athlete, Etowah senior Jamin Graham (pictured above) at Class 5A defensive end, Etowah junior DeRickey Wright at Class 5A

By Cole Frederick/Sports Correspondent Saturday, Dec. 22 Jared Birmingham Bowl: Memphis vs. Wake Forest (+3.5). The Tigers had chances to win the American Conference Championship but lost to Central Florida for the second time this season. Star running back Darrell Henderson is entering the NFL draft and skipping the bowl game, which will be a big

Photo: Etowah High senior football players Jamin Graham (left) and Justin Harris signed letters of intent with the University of Nebraska and Vanderbilt University, respectively, on Wednesday, Dec. 19) at EHS. (Chris McCarthy/Messenger) By Chris McCarthy, Publisher/Editor Three Etowah High seniors will continue their football careers at the highest level of competition. Last Wednesday at the

GIRLS Class 7A 1. Hoover 2. Spain Park 3. McGill-Toolen 4. Austin 5. Sparkman 6. Davidson 7. Hewitt-Trussville 8. Grissom 9. Foley 10. Auburn Class 6A 1. Hazel Green 2. Hartselle 3. McAdory 4. Blount 5. Huffman 6. Park Crossing 7. Eufaula 8. Opelika 9. Cullman 10. Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa Class 5A 1. Charles Henderson 2. Ramsay

Photo: United States Army/Lettermen of the USA Board Member Colonel John Jones (left) salutes World War II veteran Major Wooten during Wooten’s 102nd birthday celebration on Dec. 8 in Huntsville. As part of a 102nd birthday celebration, The Lettermen of the USA presented United States Army Private (Ret.) Major Wooten with an autographed Bobby Humphrey

Photo: Gadsden City’s Dee Pearson (right) looks to drive past Oxford’s William Warren during the Titans’ 65-56 loss in boys basketball last Monday (Dec. 17) at GCHS. (Chris McCarthy/Messenger) By Chris McCarthy, Publisher/Editor Gadsden City led for much of the game against Oxford last Monday (Dec. 17) but ultimately suffered a 65-56 loss at GCHS. Ahead

Photo: Gadsden City’s Ajainay Tinker drives to the basket between a pair of Oxford defenders during the Lady Titans’ 61-28 victory in girls basketball on Monday (Dec. 17) at GCHS. (Chris McCarthy/Messenger) By Chris McCarthy, Editor/Publisher Gadsden City girls head basketball coach Jeremy Brooks feels fortunate that his team’s Class 7A, Area 7 schedule does not

Etowah, Southside and Sardis high school were well-represented on the Class 5A, All-Region 6 football team. The region champion and state quarterfinalist Blue Devils took three of the four top honors, including junior quarterback/cornerback DeRickey Wright (pictured above) as Region MVP, senior defensive end Jamin Graham as Defensive MVP and Drew Noles as Coach of the

Gadsden State sophomore guard Xavier Malcolm recently was named the Alabama Community College Conference Player of the Week for Dec. 10-16. The Hanceville native led the Cardinals to an 87-71 win over Wallace State-Selma. Malcolm scored 27 points on 10-of-14 shooting, including 5-of-9 from the three-point line.  He also had seven rebounds and four assists.

By Cole Frederick/Sports Correspondent Saturday, Dec. 15 AutoNation Cure Bowl Tulane vs. Louisiana (+3.5). A one-point win over Navy gave Tulane its sixth win of the season, and Willie Fritz has the Green Wave bowling for the first time since 2013. First-year head coach Billy Napier guided Louisiana to seven wins and an appearance in

Girls Class 7A 1. Hoover 2. Spain Park 3. Davidson 4. McGill-Toolen 5. Sparkman 6. Hewitt-Trussville 7. Grissom 8. Mountain Brook 9. Austin 10. Foley Class 6A 1. Hazel Green 2. Hartselle 3. McAdory 4. Blount 5. Huffman 6. Eufaula 7. Cullman 8. Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa 9. Park Crossing 10. Homewood Class 5A 1. Charles Henderson 2.

Photo: Gadsden City High School senior guard Dee Pearson scored his 1,000th career point during the Titans 81-64 win over Fort Payne on Dec. 3. Pearson finished with 25 points, 11 rebounds and 14 assists in the win over the Wildcats to became just the second GCHS boys players to produce a triple double along

Photo: Coosa Christian’s Evan Delp (13) drives between Faith Christian’s Dalton Rogers (left) and Jacob Cleckler (15) during the Conquerors’ 47-45 victory over in boys basketball last Monday (Dec. 10) in Gadsden. (Chris McCarthy/Messenger) By Chris McCarthy, Publisher/Editor Coosa Christian’s 47-45 victory over Faith Christian Academy came by the skin of its teeth last Monday (Dec.

Photo: Coosa Christian’s Kaylie Reeves (left) defends Faith Christian’s Sydnee Johnson during the Lady Conquerors 66-28 win in girls basketball last Monday (Dec. 10) in Gadsden. (Chris McCarthy/Messenger) By Chris McCarthy, Publisher/Editor The Coosa Christian girls basketball team earned its third straight Class 1A, Area 12 victory with relative ease last Monday (Dec. 10) in Gadsden.

By Cole Frederick/Sports Correspondent SEC Championship Recap The script for last Saturday’s SEC championship game between Alaba-ma and Georgia was actually written 11 months ago in the same stadium in Atlanta, Ga. In the national title game from last season, Georgia led Alabama 13-0 at halftime when Tua Tagovailoa replaced Jalen Hurts at quarterback and

By Chris McCarthy, Publisher/Editor A trio of Southside High seniors will put their athletic talents on display in college this coming fall and spring. On Nov. 28, Grace McClellan signed with Louisiana State for soccer, Lauren Hunt (pictured above) with Jacksonville State for softball and Taylor Nails with Wallace State-Hanceville for cross country. McClellan, originally committed