PREP SPRING FOOTBALL: Billingsley fills in for spring game against Catholic

Catholic coach Kirk Johnson had already cancelled the spring game but heard from Billingsley to see if they would play. The two met on Thursday. (File Photo)

By TIM GAYLE

What do you do when your spring football game opponent calls up and cancels at the last moment?

If you’re Billingsley coach Lanny Jones, you call around and find a replacement.

“He canceled at 1:30 on Thursday and I just started looking,” Jones said. “Even if they already had something going, we could just jump in on it. I called around and found out (Catholic) was looking for a game. I called him and he was excited about doing it, so we were able to get it done Thursday night.”

Catholic coach Kirk Johnson was spending his Thursday wondering how to use his final spring practice, which had been designated for a spring game against Beauregard. The Hornets had canceled, leaving the Knights with one day left for football, but no one willing to play a game.  

“It would have been a great game,” Johnson said. “In my opinion, it’s the only reason you do spring, to kind of figure out where you are. It’s hard to be out there for nine, 10 days and not have something to look forward to. So we gave them something to look forward to and it got taken away from them.”

That’s when Jones stepped in. The Bears had traveled to Tuscaloosa last year to play Holy Spirit but the Titans called on Thursday afternoon and canceled their return trip. After getting Johnson’s name from Prattville coach J.B. Wallace, Jones set up a play date with the Knights that evening at Mims Field. Then he went and broke the news to his players.

“It was most definitely a night that the kids dreaded at first,” Jones said, “but when it was over they felt OK about it.” 

Johnson, who said he was disappointed “we weren’t going to get an opportunity for our boys to see where they are,” was grateful Billingsley was willing to play when so many other teams in the area weren’t. 

“We had called around to some schools and we got a bunch of ‘no’s,’” Johnson said. “I’m just thankful for a little 1A school, Billingsley, and their coaching staff. I’ve gained the utmost respect for them for reaching out to us at the last minute. His spring game got canceled about 1 o’clock and he called us at 2 and by 3:30 I had jerseys out and buses loaded.”

Catholic players, with their Thursday game canceled, were expecting to wrap up the spring with a practice session but suddenly discovered they had to get ready to play a game four hours later. 

“It was crazy,” Johnson said. “But that’s a testament to my administration and my coaching staff because we’re sending out e-mails, we grabbing pregame food. You’re talking about an hour-and-a-half, two-hour window. Everybody jumped on it. We had a couple of coaches that are off campus and they left their prospective jobs to come over and help. We’re giving out jerseys, we’re going to get food, we’re issuing things that maybe a kid didn’t have.

“(Thursday) would have been our last day. We were like, there’s no need to go (practice) on a Friday when everybody was expecting a spring game. So a shout out to everybody, the administration, for allowing us to do a game, one, and for being able to put it together so fast.”

The matchup went as expected when the first team played the first team. The Catholic defense returns nine starters from last year’s 15-0 team that won the 4A state championship and shut out nine opponents, but that didn’t deter Jones, who returns the bulk of his offense that is hoping to make a run in the 1A state playoffs this fall. 

“We have a lot of kids coming back offensively, so I was like, ‘I hope you really are good because our guys need to get hit in the mouth a little bit because they don’t get that in practice,’” Jones said, referring to the lack of depth on a 1A team. “It was a humbling experience for our guys but when it was over, I told the kids that, moving forward, you’ll know the competition will never be better than what you played tonight so your mentality should be you’ve been tested and going into any game you should be prepared and mentally ready no matter who’s on the field.

“We had some good things.We actually scored on their first ‘D’ on a fade ball and scored on their subs. We had some good moments.”

Jones, who watched the Knights shut out Cherokee County for the 4A state championship in Tuscaloosa last December, knew before he made the phone call to Johnson what type of challenge his players were facing on Thursday night.

“I knew he didn’t lose very many on defense,” the Billingsley coach said. “The really good quarterback he had was a senior but it really didn’t matter to me. Our kids just really wanted to play. It was a very humbling experience for our guys but it’s something they’ll look back on and it’ll make them better.”

Johnson, who has played Tallassee and Homewood in past spring games, said he always likes to close out spring practice with a game, although there are certain coaches that simply want to have an intrasquad scrimmage to wrap up practice. 

“In certain situations, you have to,” he said. “It might be a new coach, your baseball team might be playing (in the playoffs), whatever, there’s different reasons. But for me, that’s not something that I’m interested in doing, ever. I’m interested in our boys going to see what level they are against somebody else that’s competitive. 

“(Jones) said he wanted to give his kids an opportunity to showcase what they’ve worked on all spring. That’s really what it’s all about. I don’t understand why people do all this ducking and dodging. From now on, I know to choose my opponents wisely, someone who’s like-minded. That’s on me for not doing my due diligence.”

Changing the opponent at the last minute also meant Johnson knew nothing about his opponent, so he didn’t go into Thursday’s game with a game plan designed for the Bears. 

“We just got our kids some work,” he said. “At that point, there’s nothing you’re looking for. When I had Beauregard scheduled, there were things I wanted to see because I knew they had a bigger back, a bigger front, and we have some young offensive linemen that I wanted to see how they handled things.

“When you flip to Billingsley, no disrespect to them, but they’re a smaller school, they don’t have as many kids, as many athletes, so it flipped to letting the kids have fun and giving them something to play for so they felt like they accomplished something this spring. It was very rewarding that we had the game, but very disheartening that we’ve reached this point where we are in the coaching profession.”

While the defense will return as one of the state’s best, there are some questions on offense in replacing some offensive linemen and skill players, including four-year starting quarterback Caleb McCreary.

“There’s no replacing Caleb, just like there’s no replacing Jeremiah Cobb, just like there’s no replacing TJ Dudley,” Johnson said. “Whoever steps in that role, you try your best to put a scheme together and the best kids around them to make whatever that kid does successful.”

The Knights started Kingston Preayear at quarterback and also played JJ Williams, a receiver who was the backup last year. At tailback, Johnson mixed in Giovanni Hayner, Josh Harrell, Zaylon Jackson and freshman Jeremiah Gardner.