MONTGOMERY – North-South all-star squads for the for the 64th AHSAA North-South All-Star Football Game to be played at Mobile’s Hancock Whitney Stadium on Friday night, December 16 have been selected.

Brandon Dean, Director of the Alabama High School Athletic Directors and Coaches Association (AHSADCA) made the announcement of the two 37-member squads Tuesday. All players selected are 2023 seniors.

Head coaches were announced for this year’s North-South clash last month. Opelika High School head football coach Erik Speakman will head the South squad while Pickens County High School head football coach Michael Williams will lead the North squad. The AHSADCA administers the game each year.

The game, scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m., will be televised live over the AHSAA TV Network and live streamed over the NFHS Network. Vince Earley of WOTM TV is the executive producer.

“We have an abundance of talent in our state each year, and both teams selected reflect that talent,” said Dean. “We are looking forward to another exciting game this December. “

The All-Star selection committee, consisting of the two coaching staffs participating in this year’s game, chose the teams from nominations submitted by AHSAA member school coaches. “We thank our member schools for their nominations,” said Dean. He also praised Mobile for hosting the contest each year.

“We are grateful for the City (and County) of Mobile, the Mobile Sports Authority and the University of South Alabama for their continued interest and support of this all-star event,” he said. “We look forward to another momentous week in Mobile with some of the best student-athletes in this state. We also thank our member schools unwavering support of this game.”

The 63rd annual AHSAA North-South All-Star Game played at Mobile was won last December by the North 14-10. The South now holds a 32-30-2 edge in the series which was first played in Tuscaloosa in 1948. Two games, a small-school and large-school contest, were played in 1984 with the North winning the 1A-2A game played at Auburn 21-20 and the South winning the large-school game at Tuscaloosa that year 7-6. Both games are counted in the overall series record. This year’s game will be the third classic played at Hancock Whitney Stadium in the North-South Game’s long history. The South won the 2020 Classic at Mobile 28-20.

From 2010-2019 the game was played at Montgomery’s Cramton Bowl as part of the AHSAA and AHSADCA All-Star Sports Week. The game was cancelled due to the COVID Pandemic in the summer of 2020 and seniors of 2021 played in the first game of the series played in December of that year.

The North-South Classic, the AHSAA’s oldest all-star event, was first played in 1948 at Tuscaloosa on the campus of the University of Alabama and remained at Bryant-Denny Stadium as a summer event through 1984. A small-school all-star game was also held at Auburn in 1984. The Classic was discontinued from 1985-1996 but reinstated in 1997 when the AHSAA instituted All-Star Sports Week with the Summer Conference. The game was played at Cramton Bowl from 1997-2004 and then moved to Troy University for two years and Huntsville’s Alabama A&M University from 2007-2010. It returned to Montgomery in 2011.

The AHSADCA, which operates under the auspices of the Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) still plays its other All-Star Games in boys’ and girls’ basketball, baseball, softball, boys’ and girls’ soccer, volleyball, boys’ and girls’ cross country, tennis and golf during All-Star Week currently held in Montgomery each July.

Among the players in this year’s North-South Game is North All-Star quarterback Jack Hayes of defending Class 3A state champion Piedmont, who became the AHSAA’s all-time leading passer this season. The outstanding senior quarterback passed for three touchdowns and rushed for two in last week’s 41-20 win over Sylacauga to become the first player in AHSAA history to account for more than 200 touchdowns in his career. He closed out the 2022 regular season week with 470 total yards, four passing touchdowns and two rushing TDs against the Aggies – giving him a state record 151 career TD passes, 50 rushing TDs and 201 total – another AHSAA state record. His 470 total yards pushed him past Lanett’s Kristian Story (2016-19) to become the all-time total offense leader as well. Hayes heads into the playoffs with 13,500 career total yards. He currently ranks fourth all-time for total passing yardage (10,200 yards) and has rushed for than 3,300 yards as well.

Joining Hayes, a two-time Super 7 Class 3A State finals MVP, on the North squad at quarterback is Giovanni Lopez of Class 7A James Clemens. South quarterbacks selected are Caden Creel of Class 7A Fairhope and Clyde Pittman of Class 7A Auburn.

Both teams have outstanding size with Gadsden City offensive lineman Aaron Wood topping the chart for the North at 6-foot-6, 285 pounds, and offensive lineman Patrick Screws of Eufaula measuring 6-6, 300.

*The complete rosters for each team are listed online at the AHSAA website and will be posted in The News Courier.