Phillips' Williams Enters Spotlight As A Quarterback
Trent Williams spent his junior football season in 2008 catching lots and lots of passes for Phillips High School of Bear Creek. In fact, he hauled in 52 receptions for 835 yards and 12 touchdowns on the way to gathering All-State honors.
And as a result, the Bears led the AHSAA in scoring with 52.4 points in 11 games.
This year, Coach Gary McCarley asked Williams to move to quarterback, the position his son Adam vacated upon graduation last spring after totaling 3,877 total yards and 48 touchdowns (35 passing, 13 rushing) in ‘08.
It turned out to be a brilliant move as Class 1A Phillips opened the 2009 season last Thursday night with a 62-16 win over Tharptown as Williams completed 16-of-25 passes for 296 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions on offense and rushed for two touchdowns and had four tackles and an interception on defense.
Williams’ performance grabbed the top spot in the first Alabama High School Athletic Association Spotlight of the 2009 football season.
Williams’ effort edged out a number of other strong performances, including those turned in by Fairview senior quarterback Trett Hardman and Baldwin County senior running back Charleston Gandy.
Hardman, who has already committed to Samford, finished with 377 yards total offense in a 35-26 win over Vinemont. He passed for 265 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 111 and one touchdown.
Gandy needed only 18 carries to net 324 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns -- runs of 27, 42, 32, 56 and 67 yards -- in the Tigers’ wild 55-40 victory over Baker. He also caught an 18-yard TD pass for a sixth score.
Other top performances turned in for week one included:
PASSING
· JUSTIN EVANS, MIDFIELD: Was 24-for-33 passing for 349 yards and three touchdowns in a 29-28 win over Tarrant. He also had 50 yards rushing and another score to account for all four Patriot TDs.
· ERIC WALDING, GENEVA COUNTY: Was 10-of-17 passing for 305 yards and four touchdowns, including a game-winning 82-yard toss to Reggie Jones with 4:32 left in a 32-26 win over Wicksburg. Panthers wide receiver Richard Williams caught six of the completions for 155 yards, including TD passes of 23, 50 and 30 yards.
· MITCH STULTS, HAMILTON: Stults hit Cody Frederick for a 4-yard touchdown pass with 16 seconds remaining to lift Hamilton to a 40-38 season-opening victory at Sulligent. The freshman, who took over for graduated quarterback and Furman signee Josh Hollingsworth, completed 16-of-30 passes for 255 yards and three touchdowns, including two to Frederick.
· DYLAN SKIPPER, CULLMAN: The junior quarterback, making his first varsity start, completed 22-of-26 passes for 299 yards and four touchdowns in the first half of a 42-19 win at Hayden. He did not play in the second half.
· MATT SMITH, COLBERT HEIGHTS: The senior quarterback passed for 242 yards and four touchdowns as the Wildcats downed Cherokee 42-13.
· JOHNATHAN WORD, WATERLOO: Had a sparkling debut at quarterback with a 13-of-18 passing performance good for 218 yards and six touchdowns as Waterloo dumped Woodville 64-26. He had three TD tosses each to Casey Crowell and Chad Palmer.
· DESMOND WARREN, HOUSTON COUNTY: Warren, an UAB verbal commitment, accounted for 281 yards and all four touchdowns in the Lions’ 28-21 win over Ashford. He was 17-of-38 passing for 240 yards and three touchdowns (11, 20 and 28 yards) and added 41 yards on six carries with a touchdown run of 9 yards.
· LOGAN PAUL, GULF SHORES: The senior quarterback completed 11-of-24 passes for 187 yards and TD passes of 79 and 16 yards while rushing for 111 yards and a 25-yard TD on 21 carries in a 30-15 win over Robertsdale in new coach Mark Freeman’s head-coaching debut.
· BRYCE CURTIS, FLORENCE: Was 6-of-13 passing for 230 yards with TD passes covering 60, 53 and 82 yards in the Falcons’ 47-6 win over Hazel Green.
· DESMOND DEBOSE, COTTONWOOD: Debose accounted for 252 total yards and four touchdowns in a 34-19 win over Slocomb. He completed 8-of-11 passes for 160 yards and two touchdowns covering 38 and 43 yards and also rushed for 92 yards on 12 carries with TD runs of 1 and 25 yards.
· CHRIS BRANCH, MOUNTAIN BROOK: The quarterback completed 11-of-16 passes for 213 yards and three touchdowns in a 34-7 win over Thompson.
· KENNY RATLIFF, LEXINGTON: Completed 16-of-25 passes for 201 yards and three touchdowns and added another rushing to lead the Golden Bears past Rogers 31-6.
· DEON CURRY, PICKENS COUNTY: The junior quarterback accounted for five touchdowns and had 10 tackles on defense in the Tornadoes’ 48-24 win over Greensboro. The left-hander threw three touchdown passes and rushed for two.
RUSHING
· MICHAEL NEVELS, B.C. RAIN: The Raiders running back rushed for 274 yards in a 26-13 victory over Satsuma. He scored three touchdowns on runs covering 72, 23 and 10 yards.
· DEMONT BUICE, GASTON: Buice, who was named the 2008 Class 1A Back of the Year, opened his senior season with a 25-carry, 252-yard rushing performance in a 39-29 win over Sardis. He scored six touchdowns in the win.
· MICHAEL CHANFDLER, DAR: Rushed 10 times for 268 yards and touchdowns of 82, 11, 85 and 48 yards — all in the first half — in DAR's 55-0 win over Crossville.
· DREW PHILLIPS, BOAZ: Ran for 266 yards and two touchdowns on 37 carries in a 21-13 loss to Guntersville. His TD runs covered 30 and 28 yards.
· COREY PERKINS, REHOBETH: The 5-foot-11, 155-pound sophomore, playing in his first varsity game, rushed for 246 yards on 23 carries and had a touchdown run of 14 yards in the Rebels’ 28-14 win over Geneva. It marked the first Rebel win over Geneva 16 years, snapping a string of 11 straight losses to the Panthers.
· BRANDON THOMAS, HORSESHOE BEND: The running back had 162 yards rushing and one touchdown on 18 carries to help the Generals defeat Wadley 29-19, the first victory over the Bulldogs since 1999.
· MIKE SMITH, TALLASSEE: Rushed for 172 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries and returned a punt 50 yards for the game's first score as Tallassee downed Elmore County 42-7.
· JAMAL WOODYARD, FAIRHOPE: The senior running back returned a punt 79 yards for a touchdown in a 34-21 victory over St. Paul's and also ran for 179 yards and three touchdowns.
· LaJORDAN CRITTENDEN, BUTLER COUNTY MAGNET: Rushed for 213 yards and two touchdowns as Butler County Magnet downed Marengo 32-20. He also returned the second-half opening kickoff for 75 yards and a TD. Teammate Victor Marshall opened the game with a 71-yard TD run on the first play of the game.
· NOAH WILLIAMS, HEWITT-TRUSSVILLE: Sparked a 28-21 win over Stanhope Elmore with 262 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns. Wilson had 167 yards rushing, 65 receiving and 35 on returns.
· JOSH PARKER, PIKE COUNTY: The senior quarterback came up big late in the Bulldogs’ 19-18 overtime win over Carroll. He capped a late drive with a 19-yard TD run to tie the game at 12 with under two minutes left to force overtime. He preserved the win in the extra period by making a tackle on a two-point conversion try by Carroll. Overall, Parker rushed for 113 yards and the TD and had one completion for a 34-yard touchdown pass.
· TAE LEWIS, SHELBY COUNTY: Ran for a 96-yard touchdown and also had a 43-yard scoring pass as the Wildcats blanked Pell City 28-0. Lewis finished with 124 yards rushing on six carries.
PASS RECEIVING/SPECIAL TEAMS
· MARQUES KING, EAST LAWRENCE: Caught four passes for 104 yards and two touchdowns and also had six tackles and an interception on defense in a 35-14 win over Phil Campbell.
· CODY HARRIS, VINEMONT: The senior receiver caught nine passes for 183 yards and two touchdowns in a 35-26 loss to Fairview.
· MARVIN SHINN, VIGOR: The junior receiver caught four passes for 142 yards, including TD receptions of 80 and 41 yards, and threw a 46-yard touchdown pass in a 28-27 victory over Williamson in the defending 5A state champion Wolves’ 16th straight win.
· JEREMY NICHOLSON, W.S. NEAL: The senior wide receiver racked up 360 all-purpose yards, including an 85-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. He also scored on runs of 11 and 66 yards in a 24-10 victory over Monroe County. He had a fourth TD nullified by a penalty.
· OWEN McCOY, PRATTVILLE: Punted seven times for a 46.7-yard average— two going for 54 yards—as the defending Class 6A Lions fell to North Gwinnett at Suwanee, Ga., 14-11 on Saturday night.
DEFENSE
· JALEN JONES, MUSCLE SHOALS: The Trojans linebacker registered 16 tackles as Muscle Shoals beat Colbert County 29-6 before a standing-room-only crowd at James F. Moore Stadium in Muscle Shoals.
· JOSEPH REACH AND JESSE VENABLE, RED BAY: Each had two interceptions as Class 2A Red Bay swiped six passes overall in a 34-0 win over Class 5A Lee-Huntsville. The Tigers limited the Generals to less than 100 yards total offense.
· STEHLE KORNEGAY, HOUSTON ACADEMY: The Raiders senior linebacker earned 17 tackles in Houston Academy’s 27-6 win over Providence Christian.
· LaDARIUS OWENS, JESS LANIER: Had 13 tackles including four sacks in a 16-6 win over Fairfield.
· JESSE KELLY, HUFFMAN: Recorded eight tackles, two sacks and returned an interception for a touchdown as the Vikings defense limited Jackson-Olin to 55 total yards and minus-24 yards rushing in the 27-7 win.
· DARREN JONES, CITRONELLE: The defensive back returned an interception 51 yards for a touchdown with 4:15 remaining to provide the winning margin in a 26-24 victory over Mary Montgomery.