The Berry Wildcats played its final road game of the year, as they traveled to Lynn to face the 11th ranked Bears. The Bears proved to have too much firepower for the Wildcats, and walked away with a 49-0 victory.
The Lions and the Wildcats met up Friday night for the annual cross-county rivalry between the two Region Five teams. This year’s game was played on Harris Field at Hubbertville in Wiley Hollingsworth Stadium.
Although Fayette crossed midfield on each of its first three possessions, the Tigers could not finish the drives and lost to the Gordo Greenwave by the score of 35-0. Gordo received the opening kickoff and lost one-yard on its possession before punting the ball to Fayette. The Tigers started at its 26-yard line and reached Gordo’s 20-yard before an illegal shift penalty and three consecutive incomplete passes turned the ball over on downs.
Coach Jared Porter will begin his head football coaching career this season, leading the Tigers into gridiron action with the hope of continuing the school’s winning tradition. After suffering a rare losing season in 2020, the team rebounded last season under Coach Waldon Tucker to finish 6-5, losing in the first round of the state high school playoffs. Fayette is one of only three teams in the state with at least 700 all-time football victories.
Hubbertville Head Football Coach Caleb Hynds is entering his second season leading the Hubbertville Lions’ football team, and is only beginning his sixth season as a head football coach. However, Hynds now finds himself as the “old man” among the county’s high school coaches, compared to second-year Coach Hunter Mims at Berry and first-year Fayette Coach Jared Porter.
Three local football players were recently named to the 2021 Alabama Sports Writers Association All-State football team. Gage Alexander, Hubbertville running back, repeated as a first team All-State player in Class 1A after also making the team in 2020. Joining Alexander as first team Class 1A All-State was Tanner Parr of Berry, who was named All-State punter.
Making second team All-State from Hubbertville was defensive lineman Dawson Youngblood.
The Fayette County High School Tigers will compete during the next two academic years as a Class 3A team in athletics, according to the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s reclassification of schools that was released last week. Fayette was last classified as a Class 3A school for football during the 2012-13 school years. The Tigers have been classified as Class 4A in football every year since leaving Class 5A following the 1999 season, with the exception of the previously mentioned two years.
The Lions traveled to Randolph County Friday night to faceoff against the Wadley Bulldogs in second round action of the playoffs. Wadley won the coin toss and elected to receive, sending Molina Urbano and the Lions' kicking team to the field.
The Fayette Tigers concluded its 2021 football season last week after suffering a 38-0 first-round playoff game loss to Randolph Academy. Randolph effectively put the game out of reach in the first quarter by scoring 28 points. Three of the touchdowns were the direct result of Fayette turnovers.
Advancing to the first round of the playoffs last Friday night, Hubbertville hosted the Hackleburg Panthers for the second time this season. The teams had met up for a fall jamboree in Hackleburg on Aug. 20 and later, the Lions hosted the Panthers for homecoming on Sept. 24.
