By By Jimmy Boone / EMG sports writer
Sept. 5, 2003
Somebody is going to rebound this week.
Livingston High School will travel to Fayette County on Friday night to open Class 4-A Region 3 action.
Last week Livingston (0-1) fell to Aliceville 27-0 while Fayette County (0-1) lost to Class 6-A Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa 35-7.
In other West Alabama AHSAA action this week Sumter County will travel to Midfield, Choctaw County will play at Hillcrest-Evergreen, and Excel will play at Southern Choctaw.
In AISA action Patrician will travel to Escambia, Jackson Academy will play at South Choctaw Academy, and Wilcox will play at Sumter Academy.
Livingston head coach Scottie Jones said he saw some positives in the game.
Aliceville led the Cougars 8-0 at the half and 14-0 after three quarters. In the fourth quarter Aliceville added two quick scores.
Jones said he knows that Fayette traditionally has a strong offense and is preparing his team for the challenge.
He feels the most successful defense will be to keep his offense on the field, and the Fayette offense on the bench.
One bright point offensively for Livingston was that Roland Finch had two receptions for 81 yards.
Livingston will face a Fayette team that is also seeking to rebound from a difficult loss. Last week the Fayette offense struggled against number 10 ranked Class 6-A Hillcrest.
Fayette rushed for 144 yards against Hillcrest while completing 11 of 25 attempts with two interceptions for a total of 84 yards.
Patrician Academy
at Escambia Academy
Two other teams who are also seeking to rebound from losses are Patrician Academy and Escambia Academy.
Last week Patrician (0-1) fell to Clarke-Prep 33-0 in the season opener, while Escambia Academy (0-1) fell to Faith Academy 38-12.
Turnovers contributed to three of the Clarke-Prep touchdowns in PA's opener.
Wilcox Academy
at Sumter Academy
Sumter Academy (1-0) squeaked out a 22-21 win over Warrior Academy last week while Wilcox Academy (1-0) ran over Calvary Christian 54-7.
On the first two drives of the game, the Eagles drove the length of the field only to see one drive end in a fumble in the end zone and another with a pass interception.
The Eagles claimed the win when they powered a 70-yard drive to score with 50 seconds remaining in the game for the win. Chad Bryan led the running game as he ran 30 times for 191 yards.
Against Wilcox, Sumter Academy will face a team currently ranked No. 10 10 in the AISA poll.
Jackson Academy
at South Choctaw Academy
Both teams enter the game after claiming wins last week.
South Choctaw (1-0) traveled to Mobile and claimed a 27-22 win over Class AAA Mobile Christian. Defending Class A state champion Jackson Academy (1-0) took a 47-6 win over Lakeside.
Jackson Academy, currently ranked No. 6 in the AISA poll is led by Dillon Howard who raced for three touchdowns with each run from over 30-yards out.
South Choctaw scored three touchdowns off passes from quarterback Rob Dahlberg. The other touchdown came off an 87-yard kickoff return by Justin Bonner.
Excel at
Southern Choctaw High School
Southern Choctaw, 1-0 and ranked No. 1 in the Class 2-A poll, will seek to win a school record 16th game in a row against Excel.
The Indians claimed a unique 9-8 win over Choctaw County last week as all of their points were scored as a result of special teams play.
The Indians scored a safety off one blocked punt and then a touchdown on another blocked punt with 17 seconds remaining in the game.
Excel (1-0) claimed a 14-8 win over Frisco City last week.
Choctaw County
at Hillcrest-Evergreen
These schools also will both be seeking the first win of the year.
Choctaw County (0-1) lost a defensive battle to Southern Choctaw 9-8, while Hillcrest-Evergreen (0-1) fell to W.S. Neal 23-0.
The Choctaw County defense did not give up any points to Southern Choctaw and kept the Indians offense at bay all night long.
Offensively Choctaw County found success in moving the ball, but had trouble reaching the end zone.
Merrill Johnson, Jr. had a 50-yard touchdown score in the third quarter to lead Choctaw County.
Sumter County
at Midfield
Sumter County (0-1) was manhandled by sixth ranked Demopolis 65-14. Midfield (1-0) took a 26-24 win over John Carroll.
Marco Mitchell scored both touchdowns for Sumter County as he returned a pass interception 98 yards for one score and then picked up a fumble and raced 64 yards for another.