Area Breaking News

By ARTHUR L. MACK Cottage Hill Christian Academy defensive coordinator Carvel Jones was promoted to head football coach Thursday less than 24 hours after Stacy Luker decided he didn’t want to continue in the job after less than a month after taking it. “With all things, you’ve got to press forward,” CHCA head of schools…

By ARTHUR L. MACK Stacy Luker informed Cottage Hill Christian Academy officials Wednesday he has decided against continuing as the school’s head football coach. The Alabama High School Hall of Famer was tapped in March to replace Bobby Parrish. “It was unfortunate for all of us,” CHCA athletic director Adam Thomas said. “But he’s doing…

By MARCUS GATES Hall of famer Danny Powell has won a pile of state championships in football and baseball at Leroy and Jackson and said the goal will be the same at Jackson Academy, where he has taken the head football coach’s job for the second time. Powell, 74, has had an incredible career, winning…

By JIMMY WIGFIELD Saraland will defend its Class 6A state football championship this fall with as many as 22 potential college prospects, including five sophomores who have already received Division I offers. “We’ve got a number of guys who could eventually be Division I,” said Spartans coach Jeff Kelly, who returns 18 of 22 starters…

          By JIMMY WIGFIELD When it was installed, the artificial turf at Saraland’s Spartan Stadium cost roughly $12 per square foot with a limited warranty. But a certain foot of turf near the north goal line has an incalculable value and a lifetime guarantee that what happened there will be forever…

By ARTHUR L. MACK Assistant coach Dru Powell was promoted as the head boys basketball coach at Saraland High School, the school announced Thursday. Powell succeeds Andy Ryan, who served as the Spartans’ head coach from 2012-23 and led them to area titles in 2017 and 2021. Ryan was 104-166 with nine losing seasons in…

  By ARTHUR L. MACK Baker High star and Auburn commit Labaron Philon was named the Alabama Gatorade Basketball Player of the Year on Wednesday. Philon, a 6-4 junior point guard, followed former McGill-Toolen standout Barry Dunning Jr. in winning the award. Dunning, who now plays at Arkansas, won the award in 2021 and 2022…

    By ARTHUR L. MACK Six-time state championship coach Stacy Luker has been named the new head football coach at Cottage Hill Christian Academy, the school announced Thursday. Luker, 58, who was inducted into the AHSAA Hall of Fame in 2022, directed Clarke County High to the Class 2A state title in 2021 and…

  By WILLIE GRAY A renovated Mount Vernon boat ramp moved one step closer to becoming a reality last week when state Sen. Jack Williams (R-Wilmer) unveiled design plans. For more than a decade, outdoorsmen using the ramp have called for improvements. “This new design will ease the problems we have experienced at the Mount…

  By ARTHUR L. MACK Saraland baseball coach Brett Boutwell picked up his 400th career win with a 10-3 victory over Beauregard on March 11. “This win means a lot because it gives you time to reflect on what you’ve got,” he said. “I know the players at Saraland who helped us to get to…