By Justin Graves

Justin@athensnews-courier.com



Prep rewind



After the dust had settled and the final weekend of the regular season had ended, the playoff seeding mess in Class 4A, Region 7 finally became clear – East Limestone claimed the No. 2 seed and Ardmore took the No. 3 seed.

Madison County, Ardmore and East Limestone all went into the final week of the season knotted in a three-way tie for second place.

With the help of a five-touchdown performance by Jonathan Pinque, the Indians beat West Morgan in a 48-28 rout Thursday. Madison County lost to New Hope, while Ardmore beat Clements. After counting the wins of all three teams’ defeated opponents, East Limestone edged Ardmore by one point to claim the second seed.

East Limestone will host Cherokee County Friday, while Ardmore will open the first round of the playoffs at Guntersville.

“We would’ve liked to have hosted the first round game, but we’re still excited about being in the playoffs,” Ardmore coach Tracy Malone said. “Everyone in Ardmore is excited about getting back into the playoffs. They we’re selling state playoff T-shirts at the game Friday night and our quarterback club gave our players shirts when they got off the bus. We’re looking forward to the opportunity this week.”



Starting a new season

Every football team in the state will be approaching this week with a different perspective – either win, or go home. Tanner coach LaRon White said because of this outlook, you can’t take anyone lightly.

“Everyone is starting a new season,” White said. “Every team in the state is 0-0 going into this week’s games. You know all the teams in the playoffs can play, or they wouldn’t be here.’

Tanner hosts Westbrook Christian in its first round game Friday. White said the Rattlers’ must play good defense – especially in the secondary – this week.

“They throw the ball around and score a lot of points,” he said. “We’re a little bigger than they are, but they’re still a good team.

“We need a good week of practice this week. But we have a good group of seniors who help make sure everyone is motivated.”

Athens lost three of its final three games of the season. But in years past, the Golden Eagles have found ways to make deep playoff runs despite dropping a few regular season games.

Athens coach Allen Creasy hopes his team can start a similar run Friday at Briarwood Christian.

“Our season isn’t over yet,” said Creasy after Friday’s 31-14 loss to Sparkman.

“We know we’ve still got one more game left and we’re hoping to play several more. We’re going to get to work immediately and start trying to make some things happen.’



Classic county rivalry game

With Ardmore fighting for playoff seeding and Clements celebrating its 1966 state championship team, both teams were playing in front of packed house at M.T. Newman stadium Friday night.

The fans that came out got plenty of excitement, as Ardmore defeated Clelments 20-14 in overtime.

“It was a very good game,” Malone said. “Clements has a pretty good football team.”

Clements running back Jesse Cobb scored late in the fourth quarter to tie the score at 14 apiece to set up the overtime.

“The Cobb kid is a very good football player,” Malone said. “He really impressed me.”

Clements had a chance to win in overtime, but a penalty negated a near scoring attempt and Ardmore linebacker Landon Curtis broke up a pass in the end zone.

On the Tigers possession, Derrick Green rushed for a touchdown to secure the win.

“It was a great game, but we’re still disappointed,” Clements coach Forrest Williams said. “We had our chances to win, but we had some things that didn’t go our way.”

Williams said the Colts must turn their attention to this week’s playoff game at Leeds.

“We’re going to trade films and get to work,” Williams said. “Everyone on the team is looking forward to playing.”