The jamboree between Athens and St. Michael was also a homecoming game for Philip and Stephen Rivers.

The game itself would have its fair share of big moments and memorable plays, with Athens winning by a final score of 24-15.

However, the fans were equally as keen for the pregame ceremony as they were excited to cheer on their beloved Golden Eagles, where St. Michael head coach Philip Rivers was honored for being an Athens football great.

Pregame ceremony

At this ceremony, members of Athens City Schools, including Athens head football coach Cody Gross, gave former QB1 of the Golden Eagles Philip Rivers a commemorative helmet to signify his impact on the football team, which was followed by a successful run at North Carolina State and a Hall of Fame career in the NFL.

The helmet was complete with the old-school Athens “A” that Rivers wore during his time leading the Golden Eagles offense.

While Rivers was grateful, he also continued to state his belief that “this isn’t about me,” but rather about the family of Athens.

He and Coach Gross have become good friends throughout the process of making the jamboree game a reality.

“It has been awesome. I met him (Coach Gross) a while back and we had a good visit a few years ago.”

We have talked probably 7, 8, 9 times in the past few months and I enjoy the heck out of it,” Rivers said. “We have similar visions. We obviously have our own unique ways to go about it, but we have similar visions of wanting them (our players) to be better men.”

Assistant coach for St. Michael and former Athens star Stephen Rivers was on hand for the ceremony honoring his brother as well.

As for what it is like to be in the visitor’s locker room, in a place where he called home for four years, Rivers said “It’s weird, but the only thing that makes it less weird is it’s the same locker room I dressed in freshman year every day before practice.”

While the events of the pregame highlighted the importance of the Athens football family, there was still a game to be played on the gridiron.

The game

Athens fans did not have to wait long for some fireworks, as wide receiver Jay’Shon Ridgle would score on the first play of the game on a run of over 65 yards.

Ridgle lined up at wideout on the left side, close to the offensive line. He would dart right, take the handoff from QB1 Brogan Gross on the sweep and the rest was history. 7-0 Athens.

However, St. Michael also came to play. They would score in the first quarter as well, on a methodical drive.

That is when Ridgle and Gross would step up once again. Gross would connect with Ridgle on a 30-plus yard jump ball that saw Ridgle make a catch reminiscent of what is seen on “You got Mossed” on NFL Monday Night Countdown. This would set up the Golden Eagles with a 1st down from right outside the endzone.

Larry Howard, Athens’ top-tier cornerback, would come in at the running back spot and score a touchdown from inside the 5-yard line. 14-7 Athens going into halftime.

The second half featured another son of a head coach going in at quarterback. This time it was Gunner Rivers, Philip’s son, taking the helm of the Cardinal offense. Not only did Gunner look like his father by wearing the No. 17, he also looked like his father with some of the throws he made.

Athens would put in their younger players in the second half to get them some game experience, but the energy level saw no drop-off whatsoever.

This was evidenced by some freshmen who impressed Coach Gross.

At QB for the second half was freshman Ga’Kobey Gill, who looked poised and athletic, showing sound decision making.

This was combined by a couple freshman running backs showing some signs of good things to come for the future of Athens football.

Not only that, but kicker Nelson Brown was the topic of praise from Gross as well. Brown made a field goal in the second half.

“I like how (Gill) came in the third quarter and did a good job running our offense,” Gross said. “Our freshman running backs ran the ball well there in the second half. Them getting some playing time in the second half was good. I think Nelson Brown did some good stuff in the kicking game. So that was a good deal.”

The final score was 24-15 in favor of Athens. Following the game, Rivers and Gross gathered their teams together at mid-field, where both coaches would give a speech to their players after a hard-fought contest.

Rivers wished Athens all the best in their upcoming game versus East Limestone, while Gross would do the same for St. Michael in their upcoming game versus Gulf Shores.

Athens takes on the Indians of East Limestone on Thursday night of August 18, at 7 p.m. from Larry McCoy Field.

For Rivers, leading his group back to southern Alabama in Fairhope, he says that for he and his family, “Athens has always been a special place to all of us.”