Area Sports

    BIRMINGHAM — Jackson’s E.J. Crowell finished his final high school football game in the only way imaginable: By making everyone’s tongues droop in pure amazement at what they had witnessed, leaving a trail of skid marks where defenders had once stood and, of course, with records. The imaginable for Crowell, however, is unimaginable…

    BIRMINGHAM — As well versed as Vigor is at this state championship thing, nothing could have prepared the Wolves for the water torture they endured Thursday night in the big wash basin known as Protective Stadium. No. 3-ranked Moody was as unrelenting as the rain, beating No. 2 Vigor 25-0 to inflict the…

    By ARTHUR L. MACK BIRMINGHAM — Coming off an emotional 28-21 win over top-ranked Williamson in the Class 5A semifinals, No. 2-ranked Vigor seemed to have momentum heading into Thursday night’s Super 7 final against No. 3 Moody. But in a steady rain at Protective Stadium, the Blue Devils got up a head…

      By JIMMY WIGFIELD When Saraland receiver Deshawn Spencer visited the Iron Bowl Saturday night, he was still committed to Duke. But as he watched the Tigers fight back from a 17-0 deficit to tie Alabama before ultimately losing 27-20, he found himself being swayed and believed he could help. “Literally, in my…

    By JIMMY WIGFIELD It took one phone call on Monday to make Mary G. Montgomery tight end D.J. Broughton the first player to commit to newly installed Auburn coach Alex Golesh. “You ready to come with me?” Golesh asked Broughton. “You already know I am,” Broughton replied. Broughton had previously committed to Golesh…

    By JIMMY WIGFIELD Deshawn Spencer is the type of receiver who gives any quarterback confidence because if the football is thrown anywhere around him, no matter the coverage, there is a 99.999999% likelihood he’ll make the catch. Just ask Saraland coach Jeff Kelly and new Auburn coach Alex Golesh, who over the weekend…

      By JIMMY WIGFIELD AUBURN — New Auburn coach Alex Golesh promised Tigers fans on Monday a renaissance for their tattered football program and vowed to waste no time doing it. “What you’re going to get from me, from our staff and, as we get rolling, our players is the hardest-working, toughest, grittiest…

    AUBURN — Although it has been the favorite in every Iron Bowl since 2007, wasn’t Alabama supposed to lose to Auburn Saturday night? Wasn’t the Crimson Tide supposed to be too soft? Have no running game? See its playoff hopes and Kalen DeBoer’s job buried under a mountain of Charmin at Toomer’s Corner?…

By DARRON PATTERSON MOBILE — Sammy Dunn said he learned a lot from Vigor’s first game against Williamson and he used every bit of that knowledge in a thrilling 28-21 win over the No. 1-ranked and previously unbeaten Lions before a frenzied crowd at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in the Class 5A semifinals Friday night. The next…

        By JIMMY WIGFIELD SARALAND — Jamison Roberts went from haltingly banging the wrong key on a piano to a maestro orchestrating Saraland’s once-again unstoppable offense Friday night in about as much time as it would take him to hum a few bars of “Golden.” “I’m done hidin’, now I’m shinin’ ……