South Alabama Sports

      BIRMINGHAM — With the exception of the last three Super 7s, Saraland usually makes good teams look bad and bad teams look forward to next year. But now it’s the Spartans who must again look ahead. Does Friday night’s 38-21 loss to Clay-Chalkville in the Class 6A state championship game make them a bad team? Of course not. But a third straight loss in the Super 7 — the only times in the last three years Saraland…

      By JIMMY WIGFIELD BIRMINGHAM — Jamison Roberts kept getting off the turf and launching pocket rockets after getting knocked down. Deshawn Spencer kept catching them. But they and Saraland were still no match for the latest Clay-Chalkville quarterback to torment the Spartans. Cougars quarterback Aaron Frye stretched Saraland’s defense so thin that it practically vanished at times as the No. 1-ranked Cougars took an early 17-0 lead and went on to defeat the No. 2 Spartans 38-21…

      By LOGAN GATLIN BIRMINGHAM — Game MVP E.J. Crowell ran for 304 yards on 25 carries and five touchdowns and Jackson’s defense swarmed Anniston all game long as the No. 2-ranked Aggies ripped the No. 4 Bulldogs 52-0 for their second straight Class 4A state championship Friday at Protective Stadium. “When I took this job, it was based on faith,” said Jackson coach Cody Flournoy, whose team finished 13-2. “We went to a small town, we looked…

    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 for most running backs. The Aggies’ five-star Alabama signee — fueled by the fact that it was his career finale and intent on punishing Anniston…

    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 worst loss the Wolves have ever absorbed in a state championship game — and they’ve been in eight of them now, winning four, and 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 of steam behind the running of Le’Kamren Meadows and Kevin James and dashed the Wolves’ dream of winning a Blue Map with a 25-0 victory.…

      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 mind, I was like, ‘I wish I could throw some pads on and play right now,’” he said. “You could feel the reaction from the…

    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 at South Florida and it took one second for him to flip to the Tigers, declaring an affinity for a man who coached the tight…

    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 threw a renewed scholarship offer at Spencer, who eagerly took it in. “I’ve seen it with (Spartans quarterback) Jamison (Roberts) and years ago as a…

      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 program in the entire country,” Golesh said during his introductory press conference. We’re going to find wins in every single margin we can find. We’re…