Area Breaking News

Staff Report JACKSONVILLE, Ala. — Leroy battled through the loser’s bracket to reach the Class 1A state softball finals Wednesday night but fell to Brantley 6-2. It was the sixth state title for Bulldogs (33-13), all since 2014, while the Bears (35-18) were denied their first Blue Map. The championship game was delayed six hours…

  By JIMMY WIGFIELD OXFORD, Ala. — Things couldn’t have gone much worse for UMS-Wright Tuesday night as it started its quest for an 11th state baseball championship. The Bulldogs were plagued by bunts. They committed four errors. They extracted just three hits off Etowah right-hander Jameson Scissum, whose well-spotted fastball touched 90 mph at…

By ARTHUR L. MACK After playing games at Ladd-Peebles Stadium for much of the last six decades, Davidson High School cut the ribbon on its on-campus stadium Thursday, signaling a new era for the Warriors’ football program. “I don’t know what it’s like because I’ve never had one where I’ve been,” Davidson coach Rick Cauley…

By ARTHUR L. MACK A new era in high school football in Mobile County began Wednesday when LeFlore and Vigor high schools held ribbon-cutting ceremonies for their new on-campus football stadiums. The stadiums are two of five facilities being built on Mobile County Public School System campuses — the others are at Davidson, B.C. Rain…

By ARTHUR L. MACK GULF SHORES — Less than 24 hours after setting a new state record in the girls long jump, Saraland’s Morgan Davis cleared 6 feet in the high jump on Saturday to secure her place in Alabama prep track and field history on the last day of her high school career. Davis’…

By JIMMY WIGFIELD Offensive linemen live largely in anonymity although they are engaged in hand-to-hand combat on every play, their faces buried in the dirt or in somebody’s groin on a drive block. They’re a crankshaft inside an engine, never noticed until it malfunctions. “Guys don’t grow up with blocking pads in the front yard,”…

By JIMMY WIGFIELD Zaylon and Emery Williams don’t know they are sleeping down the hall from a five-star recruit. They just know their big brother Ryan is faster than they are. Of course, he is faster than everybody else, too. Zaylon, 9, a third-grader nicknamed “Fat,” and Emery, 7, a first-grader nicknamed “Chunk,” don’t recognize…

By JIMMY WIGFIELD Their mouths slowly opened and started sucking in air as the 10-year-old plunged toward them into the line of scrimmage. When he came out the other side, he waved them off, turned his back and ran away, like he was trying to be first in line for a hot dog at the…

By ARTHUR L. MACK Baker star guard and newly named Mr. Basketball Labaron Philon announced Friday he has decommitted from Auburn. The nationally recruited Philon, who was one of the top scorers in the country in 2023, said changes in Bruce Pearl’s coaching staff was the primary reason for his decision. Former assistant coach Wes…

By JIMMY WIGFIELD Defending Class 6A state champion Saraland will open the 2023 season at home against two-time defending Tennessee state champion Lipscomb Academy on Aug. 25, Spartans coach Jeff Kelly announced Thursday. “We’ve been looking for a couple of months for the right opportunity to play somebody out of state, somebody with a great…