By Daniel Evans
The Selma Times-Journal

Unofficially, it’s been almost 100 years since Dallas County defeated Selma on the football field.

The last time the Hornets beat the Saints was 1929, according to the Alabama High School Football Historical Society, which is a nonprofit organization dedicated to documenting the state’s high school football history. That was the year the Great Depression started.

Dallas County (0-0) will look to end that streak Friday when the teams take the field at Memorial Stadium in what amounts to a game for county supremacy.

“We as a football program have to step up and win games that people think we can’t win and win games that people think are going to be close,” said Dallas County head coach Marty Smith. “We’ve got to find a way to learn how to win.”

The rivalry between the two schools has been off and on over the last century but restarted last year when local schools put an emphasis on playing schools to limit their travel.

With all the breaks in the series, Selma (1-0) and Dallas County have only played 12 times since 1929, but both coaches say that doesn’t mean it’s any less of a rivalry.

For Selma, it’ll be the second straight week the Saints have played a county foe. Last week Selma defeated Southside for the eleventh consecutive year.

“Sometimes it is tough to get emotionally up for two big rivalry games, to match that intensity we had last week,” said Selma head coach Leroy Miles. “But I feel our kids understand this. We played this game last year and we have played some games of this caliber before, so I feel our kids will be up for it.”

The Saints needed a big second half to rally against the Panthers last week. Southside scored the game’s first 12 points to put a scare into Selma, but the Saints’ offense came alive in the third and fourth quarter.

Quarterback Marquell Moorer sparked the Selma offense with his running ability. Miles said the Saints’ adjusted to run the ball more to the weak side in the second half, but also opened up the playbook so that Moorer could use both his arm and legs to make plays.

Smith said Moorer really stood out on film from the Southside game. He was also impressed with the way the Saints’ wide receivers crisply ran their routes, even on plays when Moorer tucked the ball and ran.

“He’s a very gifted runner and he does a good job of making people miss, but we still cannot give up the big play in the passing game,” Smith said.

Both teams will look to take care of the ball better this week. Selma had three turnovers in the first quarter against Southside, while Dallas County fumbled twice inside the Billingsley red zone in the Hornets’ 14-7 win in a jamboree.

“It’s going to boil down to the team that makes the least amount of mistakes,” Miles said. “We can’t go and make the mistakes we made last week and feel we can be successful.”

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Memorial Stadium.

 

Keith at Southside

After a spirited performance against rival Selma last week, Southside will take on a second consecutive county rival Friday night.

The Panthers (0-1) will face Keith (0-0), which took last week off, coming off its closest game against Selma in a decade.

Southside has won two straight games over the Bears, including last season’s 40-12 victory in Orrville. Many of the offensive standouts in that game for the Panthers — quarterback Scott Cole and running backs Jhalandius Sullivan and Damon Watts — have now graduated.

Both starting quarterbacks, Southside’s Khamari Gibbs and Keith’s Brian Crum sat out the game with injuries.

Defense will probably be the key though.

In wins the last two years, the Panthers have slowed Keith’s signature Wing-T offense.

“The first year it kind of caught me off guard to see how Keith runs it with the athletes they had, but the past few years instead of sitting back and letting them attack us, we’ve attacked them,” said Southside head coach Daniel Flowers.

The Bears did not have a game last week and will be playing their season opener Friday night. The Panthers will also have several players return after missing last week’s opener against Selma.

Some of those players missed too many workouts during the summer, while others didn’t get their physical done in time to be available to play.

The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. kickoff.

 

Monroe Academy at Morgan Academy

There won’t be any easing into the regular season for Morgan Academy.

The Senators (0-0) face No. 3 ranked Monroe Academy (1-0) in their regular season opener Friday night. Following a 1-9 season, Morgan looked improved in two preseason scrimmage contests earlier in the fall, but Friday the Senators will undoubtedly be tested by one of the AISA’s top teams.

Monroe already has a win under its belt. The Volunteers rolled to a 42-6 victory over Lancaster Christian, a school located in Smyrna, Tenn last week to open their season. Monroe rested its starters in the second half of that game after leading 40-0 at halftime.

Monroe defeated Morgan 35-7 in last season’s meeting and also won games over the Senators in 2013 and 2012.

 

Meadowview Christian at Marion Academy

Meadowview Christian (0-1) and Marion Academy (0-1) are two teams that will be glad to put last week in the rearview mirror.

The Trojans lost their first ever six-man football game 80-6 last week to Cullman Christian while Marion was blown out by defending state champion Victory Baptist 57-0.

Marion made the playoffs in 6-man football last season before being eliminated by Victory Baptist in the state semifinals.

Dating back to last season, Meadowview has lost its last seven games.