PREP KICKOFF 2020: Kickoff Classic sets tone for new season
Catholic and Pike Road open the season on Thursday in the AHSAA Kickoff Classic at Cramton Bowl. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
Prattville coach Caleb Ross set tone for high school coaches throughout the state of Alabama when he spoke at Tuesday’s press conference for the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s Kickoff Classic at Cramton Bowl this week.
“To showcase our talents on a big stage like Cramton Bowl and the Kickoff Classic is an opportunity we couldn’t pass up,” Ross said. “We’re excited about playing. I think I speak for most coaches, we’re just thankful for the opportunity to play.”
The AHSAA Kickoff Classic opens up the 2020 season, a season that has been in doubt for much of the last five months as the coronavirus pandemic has set in throughout the country. While other states have pushed back the start of the season or postponed it to the spring, high school football in the state of Alabama will kick off on time for most of the communities in the state.
AHSAA executive director Steve Savarese praised the coaches throughout the state for their resiliency in adapting to new guidelines to push forward despite the pandemic.
“The example they have set, categorically following the best practice guidelines, is a testament that everyone in our country can learn from,” Savarese said. “Their illustration has shown our state how we can live with this virus.”
The first game in the Kickoff Classic on Thursday at 7 p.m., features Pike Road, 11-1 last season in its second year as an athletic program, versus Catholic, 12-1 in a record-setting season for the school last season. The Patriots make the jump from 3A to 5A this fall, while Catholic drops from 4A to 3A. This will be the first-ever meeting between the two best teams in the city a year ago.
“Pike Road is excited to play, not just this game but also in the rest of our (fall) sports and throughout the rest of football season,” said Pike Road coach Patrick Browning, the school’s co-athletic director. “We’re extremely blessed and excited just for the opportunity, to do whatever is asked of us from a protocol standpoint to stay safe for our players, our coaches, our fans and the entire student body.”
Catholic coach Aubrey Blackwell said this year’s squad will be in a rebuilding mode after returning just three offensive and six defensive starters and will have to grow up in a hurry to have a chance in the season opener.
“The leadership on our team is something that we want to come on in a hurry,” he said. “We’ve got to teach these kids to grow up and what an incredible first game to be able to do that. We’re really excited about this game, getting an opportunity to play Pike Road, a group of guys that are competitive. I want our guys to come out and have fun and enjoy this opportunity that we get to play in this game.”
The second game, on Friday at 7 p.m., takes a game that was slated to be played at Prattville’s Stanley-Jensen Stadium, and moves it to Montgomery to showcase the 7A Lions, 9-3 a year ago, and the 6A Indians, 6-6 in 2019.
“We’re very much looking forward to it,” Wetumpka coach Tim Perry said. “It’s an honor for Wetumpka High School to be extended this invitation.”
Perry has four returners on offense, including three linemen, but returns much of the defense intact, a unit that will face a huge challenge in the season opener. Likewise, Prattville will be searching for some new playmakers on offense, but should have an improved defense in 2020.
“We’re playing a really quality opponent,” Prattville coach Caleb Ross said. “Wetumpka has been one of the best programs in the state the last five or six years. We know it’s going to be a great challenge. To me, that’s why you play the game. You want competition and to play it with a rival school – you’ve got two very similar communities that both have a lot of respect for each other – we know it’s going to be a great challenge on Friday night.”
Savarese said the four football teams participating this weekend are among 89 percent of AHSAA schools playing games this week and 96 percent that are planning to participate by the time region games arrive in the third week of the season. In volleyball, cross country and swimming, the number is virtually at 100 percent, he added.
“I want to remind you nothing will be normal this season, so I encourage you not to gauge success or failure on playing one or 10 games, winning a championship or making the playoffs,” Savarese said. “Let the season be measured by the opportunity provided for those who will benefit from educational athletics in some form or fashion. It’s not who is playing this week but the fact that we have an opportunity to play.”
And, as he has from the start, he was quick to point out the support of those who opted out of playing this fall.
“Let us not forget those who are uncomfortable with participation, either as an individual or as a school system,” he said. “As we’ve said previously, our association completely understands and respects their position. Prayerfully, conditions will change sooner than later and all schools will have an opportunity to return to participation.”