CLASS 4A CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW: Sanford, Knights defense ready for Warriors

Catholic’s Garrett Sanford and coach Kirk Johnson chat during a recent practice as the Knights prepare for Friday’s Class 4A championship game against Cherokee County. (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE
Garrett Sanford has watched his share of film on Cherokee County running back Jacob Cornejo. The Catholic defensive end knows the challenges facing the Knights at the Super 7 Championships on Friday at the University of Alabama’s Bryant-Denny Stadium.

But this is what football is all about. Sanford’s unit, the top-rated scoring defense in 4A, will fight for supremacy against Cornejo and the second-rated scoring offense in 4A.

“They look like they can hit hard on film,” Sanford said, “but we can also hit hard. I really like it. That just makes me more pumped up to just go hit him.”

Three years ago, the junior had never played a down of football. He hails from a military family that was living in Germany at the time and he was anxious to play a sport he had seen plenty of weekends on television but had never personally experienced.

“I actually wanted to play football my whole life, but my mom wouldn’t let me,” he said. “My eighth grade year in Germany, she was eventually like, ‘If you start working out and are more active, I’ll let you play football your freshman year.’ That was before we knew we were moving to Alabama.

“A few months later, we found out we were moving to Alabama. I already knew Alabama would be pretty competitive for football. In Germany, there are no competitive sports except for soccer and the year before I was in Italy and it’s the same thing. Moving here, I knew I had to work to earn a spot.” 

Well, that would come later. His first meeting with the Catholic coaching staff didn’t go as planned.

“He came out and told us he was going to play quarterback,” Catholic coach Kirk Johnson recalled. “I told him that nobody starts here, we can have a competition battle, but we do have a returning quarterback (Caleb McCreary) who was a freshman that had led us to the state championship game. He’s like, ‘I’ll beat him out.’ Well, he quickly found himself at defensive end and the rest is history.”

Sanford admits his knowledge of the sport was limited to what he had seen on television. 

“I came here wanting to play quarterback,” he said. “Watching it on TV, all you see is the quarterback. Once I was put on the defensive line, I started to watch football a lot differently. I started to watch my position. It’s changed my perspective on how to watch football.” 

That first season, as a freshman, he was second on the depth chart behind Jamarion Augustus and played sparingly as a 185-pound defensive end, managing six tackles that season. 

“I was really undersized, so my key thing was technique, technique, technique,” Sanford said. “I was in the process of getting bigger, but I wasn’t there yet, so I had to completely focus on technique as I was getting better.”

Johnson gives a lot of credit to defensive line coach Billy Lockhart -- and Sanford -- for the junior’s improvement over the past two years. 

“The guy watches more film than some of the coaches,” Johnson said. “He’s always locked in, a ‘yes sir, no sir’ guy, comes from a phenomenal family with a military background. He was in more of a role position. Now, he’s in a dominant position. You’ve got to block him or he’s going to get the tackle or the sack.

“A lot of the credit goes to Billy Lockhart. Garrett’s work ethic is he wants more, so from the time we lost last year he and Billy met two times a week until we started football season. The thing I’m most proud of … is he’s starting to become vocal. He started holding the D-line accountable. So we voted on four captains and the team came to me and said, ‘We need to make him a captain, too.’ So he became the fifth captain.

“Another thing he’s done for me is KJ (Washington) is probably one of the most talented players in the city, but Garrett’s success, his competitive nature and drive and leadership has made KJ become a better football player.”

Sanford went from 57 tackles, including 10 for loss, as a starter in 2022 to 84 tackles, including 23 for loss and seven sacks, this season. His 23 tackles for loss rank second on the team to Washington’s 24 and his seven sacks are second to Washington’s eight. His 84 tackles are tops for a Catholic lineman.

Standing between the Knights and a state championship is a 13-1 Cherokee County team that features 205-pound Cornejo, who averages 9.3 yards per carry and 205.4 yards per game. He has rushed for 2,875 yards and 31 touchdowns on 309 carries this season. 

“We have to be able to control the line of scrimmage,” Johnson said. “All of the D-linemen are important, the entire defense is important, because they are a team that wants to be downhill and downhill fast, so we have to bring the physicality to them.”

Sanford, now at 225 pounds, is ready for the challenge. After two years of losing in the semifinals of the state playoffs, he will be playing in his first state championship game. 

“At the beginning of the season, my goal was to get back to the fourth round and win it,” he said. “At the beginning of the season, not a lot of people thought we would make it this far. Honestly, a big part of what we’ve done this year is to focus on the next moment and just try to win it. Win the next moment.”

AHSAA SUPER 7 CHAMPIONSHIPS

Bryant-Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa

Wednesday’s results

CLASS 1A-5A FLAG

Wenonah 18, Catholic 12 (OT)

CLASS 6A-7A FLAG

Central-Phenix City 25, Vestavia Hills 0

CLASS 7A

Central-Phenix City 21, Thompson 19

Thursday’s schedule

CLASS 3A

Mobile Christian (14-0) vs. Madison Academy (14-0), 11 a.m.

CLASS 1A

Leroy (13-0) vs. Coosa Christian (9-5), 3 p.m.

CLASS 5A

Gulf Shores (14-0) vs. Ramsay (12-2), 7 p.m.

Friday’s schedule

CLASS 4A

Catholic (14-0) vs. Cherokee County (13-1), 11 a.m.

CLASS 2A

Reeltown (13-0) vs. Fyffe (13-1), 3 p.m.

CLASS 6A

Saraland (14-0) vs. Clay-Chalkville (13-0), 7 p.m.