SARALAND — With two of America’s best quarterbacks and two of Alabama’s most combustible offenses on the field, it would seem the rebuilt defenses of Saraland and Jackson might have a better chance Friday night if they stand out on nearby I-65 and try to trip up tractor trailers. The Spartans’ defense…

    Not long ago, people laughed at the prospect of Semmes becoming a city. Isn’t that the languid place far out in the fringe of Mobile County where they grow flowers and rarely win a football game? Well, the giggling has been squelched. Not long thereafter, people rolled their eyes over talk of forming…

  By ARTHUR L. MACK Ryan Williams Sr., the father of former Saraland football star Ryan Williams, has joined the Vigor football staff as defensive backs coach. Williams, a standout defensive back himself, played at B.C. Rain, signed with Auburn, transferred to Copiah-Lincoln Community College in Mississippi for a season, then signed with Louisiana Tech…

    By ARTHUR L. MACK Native Mobilian Casey Converse, a member of the 1976 U.S Olympic team and a successful college coach, died on Aug. 8 after a long battle with cancer. Converse, 66, attended UMS-Wright and moved to California after his junior year to further his swimming career. He made the 1976 U.S.…

    Football coaches have come and gone through Fruitdale with the regularity of log trucks rumbling up and down U.S. 45, although more quietly. In fact, when people other than relatives haphazardly stop in the tiny Washington County settlement — population 228 — it is usually for something at the ubiquitous Dollar General, or…

    By JIMMY WIGFIELD MONTGOMERY — Growing concern about transfers in high school sports, especially football, might be an overreaction, a high-ranking Alabama High School Athletic Association official said Wednesday. “The perception is not reality,” said Kim Vickers, the AHSAA’s associate executive director and eligibility coordinator. “The perception is that schools are recruiting players…