Earlier this month Athens football coach Allen Creasy said his team will bypass a spring game to allow more time for the basics.

The Golden Eagles’ spring drills will begin May 12 and end May 23, which is six days before commencement at Athens Stadium.

“We only have 15 school days to get in 10 practices, and that includes a spring game if you choose to do it,” Creasy said. “Having only 10 days, it’s hard to prepare to play in a game even though a lot people do. We try to focus more on fundamentals and player evaluations in the spring.”

Buoyed by its 20 seniors, Athens went 9-4 last fall and advanced to the third round of the Class 5A playoffs before being eliminated by state runner-up Muscle Shoals.

AHS must replace six starters on offense and six on defense, with big holes at quarterback, defensive back, linebacker and on the defensive line.

“We have some key positions we’re going to have to fill,” said Creasy, who added he has about 45 returnees. “But we also have key players coming back and we’re going to need to build around them in a hurry.”

To replace signal-caller Stevie Farmer, he said there are “four or five players that could potentially be our quarterback, so we try not to go into spring with our minds made up.”

“We let the players take care of competing, and we’ll look at how they all perform,” Creasy said. “Every (QB) from a freshman to seniors will have an opportunity.”

He said regardless of which QB wins the job, the basic principles of the Golden Eagles’ spread offense will remain the same.

“You try to stay within the system as much as possible … we feel comfortable with our base offense and we began to develop it a little more last year,” he said. “We want to be pretty flexible and be a multiple team.”

Medley moving up

Former Athens High golfing star Andrew Medley placed second in the NGA Classic at Stonebridge on Saturday, shooting 70 in the final round to finish in a tie with Ken Looper and behind tournament champion Dominic Bozzelli.

Medley, 29, came in three shots behind Bozzelli, a tour rookie and fellow Auburn alum, carding a 12-under 276 in the 72-hole tournament in Albany, Ga.

He shot a 66 in the first round and a 70 in each of the final three rounds, winning $7,953 to push his earnings to $9,948. He is in fourth place on this year’s NGA money list.

Senior showcase

Three locals played in the Alabama Basketball Academy’s 4th Senior Showcase at Huntsville High School on March 8.

Athens guard Giddy Potts, a Middle Tennessee State signee, scored 32 points, including eight treys, pacing his White squad to an 87-73 victory against the Blue team in the back-end of the boys’ doubleheader.

Tanner’s Desmond Love, playing for the White team, scored seven points in a 77-65 victory against the first game’s Blue squad.

In the lone girls’ showcase, Tanner’s Sydney Houston contributed six points to the White team, which lost 49-45 to the Blue side.

Eagle eye

Clements High School girls basketball coach Zach Meadows spent March 8 with his younger brother, Jud, puttering around at The Golf Club in Anderson.

Using his driver, Zach managed to double-eagle the par-4 fourth hole, prompting Jud to jokingly claim he was quitting golf after watching his brother pull off the unlikely 314-yard shot.