Prattville Opens Dubose Era In Prep Football Marathon

            The last time Prattville’s Lions lost a regular-season high school football game, Saddam Hussein was still the ruler of Iraq and Barry Bonds was one year removed from hitting 73 home runs in a major league baseball season.

Heading into this weekend 2008 season opener at Cincinnati, Ohio, against St. Xavier (OH) in the Kirk Herbstreit Classic prep football challenge, coach Jamey DuBose’s squad has won a state-record 56 straight regular season games dating back to that 2002 setback to Central-Tuscaloosa in the second week of play.

It’s a streak the Lions don’t dwell on. In fact, DuBose, who is making his head-coaching debut for the Prattville squad, says the Lions are proud of  their strong tradition but have built their most recent success on looking ahead to the next game – not looking back.

“Our kids are really eager to get this season underway,” said DuBose, who was not even on the Lions staff when Central won in 2002 on a last-second “Hail Mary” pass 25-20. Little did anyone know at the time that the next five seasons would produce five consecutive undefeated regular seasons and three trips to the Class 6A Super 6 state finals.

Prattville finished the last two seasons as 6A state champs and 15-0 overall – 30 straight wins heading into Saturday night’s 7 p.m. (CDT) kickoff at Cincinnati’s famous Paul Brown Stadium against Ohio’s defending champs.

That game is one of 15 in this year’s Herstreit Classic that pits 15 Ohio schools against 15 schools from outside the Buckeye State in perhaps the most celebrated lineup of prep football competition ever. ESPN is televising Saturday’s Cincinnati-Elder vs. St. Thomas Aquinas (FL) 10 a.m. CDT clash live nationally. Prattville’s contest is expected to be webcast live.

Four games are scheduled Saturday at Cincinnati, four more are set for Canton’s Faucett Stadium and the Football Hall of Fame Field. Four more games will be played at Texas Stadium in Arlington (TX) as part of this year’s event. Three more games are set for Paul Brown Stadium Sunday to close out the Labor Day Weekend of prep football.

DuBose moved into the head coaching slot at Prattville last spring after Bill Clark (106-11), who led the Lions for the last nine years, left to become the defensive coordinator at the University of South Alabama as it fields its first college football team in 2009 under head coach Joey Jones

The 56 regular-season wins are six more than the previous state record that was shared by Andalusia (1973-78) and Verbena (1950-54) at 50. Tuscaloosa High School won 49 in a row from 1926-31. Clay County most recently won 39 regular-season games in a row from 1994-1997 on the way to the AHSAA’s overall state record of 55 consecutive wins. That figure includes 17 straight playoff wins.

Prattville, which has also won 13 straight season openers dating back to 1994, could move to fourth all-time on the AHSAA consecutive win list with another 15-0 season in 2008.  Enterprise, which hosts Alma Bryant Friday night at Bates Memorial Stadium, has won its last 11 season openers.

DuBose, who was 11-10 in two years as head coach at Susan Moore High School, is an Opp native and cousin of former University of Alabama head coach Mike DuBose. The Prattville head man has served as an assistant coach in some storied programs for some innovative head coaches, including at Eufaula (with Coach Rush Propst), Ashville (with Coach John Grass), Gadsden (with Coach Joel Williams), Alma Bryant (with Coach Mark Lasseter), Opelika (with Coach Spence McCracken) in addition to Prattville (with Clark).

“I have picked up something along the way from all of these outstanding coaches,” said DuBose. “The one thing I think I learned most of all is that there is no shortcut to success. It requires hard work. I believe in working hard and being prepared.”

            Prattville’s Saturday night foe St. Xavier had its own 15-game winning streak snapped last weekend with a season-opening 13-8 setback at the hands of Colerain, the same team that beat Hoover in the Herbstreit Classic last year in double overtime.

            “St. Xavier was playing without its 6-foot-5 quarterback and a starting tackle,” said DuBose. “Both were nursing injuries. Their quarterback is expected to be back this weekend. We’re figuring he is going to play.”

            The Lions were scheduled to face Oxford in last week’s al.com Champions Challenge last Saturday night in Montgomery, but Hurricane Fay’s heavy wind and rains forced cancellation of the exhibition contest that would not have counted on either team’s record.

            “We had our kids at the dressing room last Saturday morning when we got the word the game had been canceled,” said DuBose. “Our kids were really disappointed. They were ready to play. After seeing how hard the rain and wind actually was, though, I am glad we didn’t try to play.”

Prattville will dress almost 150 players for Saturday night’s game and actually played 159 in a spring jamboree back in May. The team left Thursday morning by charter bus en route to Cincinnati for Saturday night’s game.     

Prattville led Class 6A last season and finished third in the state overall with just 7.8 points allowed in 15 games. The Lions averaged almost 38 ppg on offense, but quarterback Casey Weston has graduated. This year, 6-foot-2, 210-pound junior Sam Gibson is the starter. Also back is Jerodis Williams, a senior running back who was thrust into the limelight in 2007 when 1,500-yard rusher Justin Albert was injured in the playoffs.

Williams responded with over 400 yards in the final four games, earning MVP honors in the Class 6A state finals with 120 yards and both touchdowns in the 14-0 win over Spain Park. Williams finished the year with 628 yards on 97 carries and 11 scores.

Linebackers La’Angelo Albright and Octavius Gilbert, free safety Zach Brownell and defensive ends Alex Page and Hunter Powell return to anchor a defense that yielded only 94.5 yards rushing and 76.7 passing per game last season. It also forced 81 punts and 37 turnovers.

The Prattville-St. Xavier contest highlights the first week of action involving AHSAA schools. A total of 43 games kick off the season tonight. Fans have a wide array of big rivalries to watch tonight and Friday.

Among tonight’s top games are Billingsley at Maplesville, Reeltown at Dadeville, Childersburg at B.B. Comer, Boaz at Guntersville, Dora at Cordova, Anniston at Alexandria, Trinity at St. James, St. Paul’s at Fairhope, Murphy at Foley, Fairfield at Jess Lanier and Opelika at Sidney Lanier.

Friday’s slate statewide includes some longstanding rivalries as well. Among them are Luverne at Brantley in a Crenshaw County showdown, R.A. Hubbard at Hazlewood, Clarke County at Leroy, Cedar Bluff at Sand Rock, Calera at Montevallo, Scottsboro at North Jackson, Selma vs. Southside-Selma at Memorial Stadium, Sweet Water at Thomasville, Carver-Montomery vs. Jeff Davis at Cramton Bowl, Pelham at Oak Mountain, Briarwood Christian at Vestavia Hills, Vigor vs. Williamson at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Butler vs. Grissom and Deshler at Russellville. Two more contests that have promise are Gadsden City at Tuscaloosa and Oxford at Benjamin Russell in Class 6A.