Prattville, Oxford To Kickoff Season (8-22-08)
Prattville High School, two-time defending Class 6A state champions, and top 10 power Oxford High School will kickoff the state 2008 prep season Aug. 23 in the third annual al.com Champions Challenge.
The pre-season interstate game will feature the two perennial state powers in a 7:05 p.m. contest at Montgomery’s historic Cramton Bowl, home of the now defunct Blue-Gray All-Star Football Classic for many years.
The game, which will not count on the teams’ season records and have no bearing on the teams’ playoff status, will reward the teams for their 2007 accomplishments and also raise funds for the new AHSAA state office building that serves all 692 member middle, junior and senior high schools around the state.
Popular broadcast personalities Matt Coulter and Ryan Brown, both of Birmingham, will handle the live television broadcast duties along with sidelines reporter Landrum Roberts for the Sinclair Broadcast Group of Birmningham.
Brown is co-host of the popular Dunaway and Brown daily afternoon sports radio talk show on WSPZ AM-690 in Birmingham. Coulter, a veteran radio and television personality in the Birmingham area, has served as the voice of the Birmingham Steeldogs Arena2 Football Team.
Stations committed to carrying the contest include Sinclair’s WABM-TV My68 in Birmingham, WJRM-TV MYNet in Montgomery and WPMI-TV NBC 15 in Mobile. Cross Creek Productions is producing the telecast for Sinclair.
Prattville beat North Gwinnett, Ga., 36-3 last season in the Champions Challenge contest on the way to winning the 6A crown. North Gwinnett went on to reach the Georgia Class 5A state finals.
In the inaugural event in 2006, Hoover downed UMS-Wright 38-0 and Clay County beat Addison 41-6.
Steve Bailey, Director of the Alabama High School Athletic Directors and Coaches Association, coordinates the event for the Alabama High School Athletic Association. A Hospitality Tent will be set up in the end zone of Cramton Bowl for members of the AHSADCA. A coach’s card will be required for admittance.
Tickets to the event are $10 each and will be on sale at the gate prior to game time.
Champions Challenge On The Air:
TV: Sinclair Broadcast Group Network includes WABM-TV My68 (Birmingham); WJRM-TV MYNet
(Montgomery); and WPMI-TV NBC 15 (Mobile).
Radio: WIQR-AM 1410 (Prattville); WVOK FM 97.9 (Oxford)
Live streaming: al.com.