South Alabama Sports

__________ While appearing a mismatch on paper, Curtis is usually at his best in the playoffs, especially in the rare cases he is an underdog. In the postseason, he is 19-13 against higher-ranked or higher-seeded teams and 12-5 against undefeated teams. UMS-Wright has advanced past the first round in four of the previous five years it entered the postseason unranked. __________     Paper, pen and calculations — those cold arbiters of the future — say rather loudly that UMS-Wright might…

      “I’d stand a better chance if I was playing against him. I think I could outrun him, even though he looks a lot younger than I do.” — Danny Horn on Terry Curtis     By JIMMY WIGFIELD LINEVILLE — In a few weeks, there might be a new winningest high school football coach of all time in Alabama. But you wouldn’t guess it by his unpretentious 12×12 white-painted cinderblock enclosure with one window which gives him…

By ARTHUR L. MACK MOBILE — Alabama State quarterback Damon Stewart completed 12 of 16 passes for 95 yards and two touchdowns as the Hornets got an early lead and made it stand up in a 17-6 win over Grambling in the inaugural Port City Classic at Ladd-Peebles Stadium Saturday night. Both of Stewart’s touchdown passes were to Kisean Johnson as ASU improved to 5-3 overall and 3-2 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. Johnson had seven receptions for 64 yards…

  By JIMMY WIGFIELD      The playoff pairings for the AHSAA playoffs have been set and are listed below for all teams of interest in the Call News coverage area. The Super 7 is at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Dec. 6-8. Among the highlights in the first round is a historic first meeting between UMS-Wright coach Terry Curtis and Central Clay County coach Danny Horn in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs in Lineville. Curtis is the all-time winningest coach…

    By PATRICK DARRINGTON CITRONELLE — Quarterback Justin Adams concluded his Citronelle career with 166 yards on 14 carries to spark a 35-24 victory over Elberta Friday night as the Wildcats finished with a winning season for the first time since 2019. “Kudos to these seniors for leading this team,” said Citronelle coach Jason Rowell, who directed the Wildcats to a 6-4 finish in his first season. “They ain’t won but seven football games their whole career (until this…

      MOBILE — There are ways Mobile Christian can fail to win the state championship this year. The bus can break down on the way to Bryant-Denny Stadium or make a wrong turn and get lost in neighboring Oktibbeah County, where the Leopards could break out the footballs and pass the time by scrimmaging with Mississippi State. After all, one opposing coach called Mobile Christian a “small college team” in reverential tones earlier this season. Or Ronnie Cottrell…

  By JIMMY WIGFIELD MOBILE — No. 1-ranked Mobile Christian and No. 6 Thomasville had orbited each other all season and circled Friday night as the date of their inevitable collision. But come the time they were finally on the same field, they found those orbits were in vastly different galaxies. The Leopards continued their early mastery of games by scoring on their first five possessions, led 35-0 at halftime and went on to rout the Tigers 45-14 at Harrison…

By ARTHUR L. MACK DAPHNE — Mary G. Montgomery quarterback Jared Hollins was 10-of-13 passing for 213 yards and three touchdowns as the Vikings won their first region title in 38 years with as 34-7 victory over Daphne Friday night at Jubilee Stadium. MGM (9-0, 6-0) clinched the 7A Region 1 crown and home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs. “After our big win against Baker, we had to tell our guys to refocus yourself because they…

  SEMMES — Among a throng of celebrating players, Mary G. Montgomery coach Zach Golson lifted the trophy given to the winner of the Battle of West Mobile Friday night so everybody could get a good look at it through the smoke lingering over the field. You can’t go 9-0 or 10-0 or even 15-0 if you don’t get to 8-0, so the 35-14 victory over No. 7-ranked Baker was another puzzle piece which snapped into place. The trophy didn’t…

By JIMMY WIGFIELD SEMMES — It was hard to tell if plume after plume of celebratory smoke that wafted over Grider Stadium Friday night was coming from a newly erected Viking ship behind one end zone or from underneath Jared Hollins’ helmet. Hollins passed for two touchdowns, both coming after spectacular escapes from the Hornets’ pass rush, and ran for two more in No. 4-ranked Mary G. Montgomery’s 35-14 victory over No. 7 Baker that put MGM (8-0, 5-0 7A…