By Stephen Dawkins

The Advertiser’s annual football honors, not surprisingly, feature a North Chilton flavor.
Our player of the year is Jemison running back Javae Swindle.
Though many close to the program were probably already aware of his ability, Swindle burst onto the county football scene as a sophomore, leading the area in rushing yards and receptions. Swindle also returned a kickoff for a touchdown and intercepted three passes on defense.
Swindle was often focused on by opposing defenses, and he found a way to get his yards anyway. More than a little bit of that had to do with his supporting cast.
If Swindle was contained early in a game, several other Panthers could be turned to, and the offensive line contintued trying to open up holes.
Swindle, the fresh face, provides an interesting contrast to our coach of the year, Maplesville’s Brent Hubbert, who has been around Chilton County football for most of his life.
Hubbert, and Swindle, are deserving of the honors, but another development in county football that deserves special recognition is the progress made by Thorsby under first-year coach Billy Jackson.
Sure, the Rebels only won two games, but that’s two more than they won in 2008.
The significance of the season is best measured in attitude instead of wins and losses, though. Jackson convinced his players that if they gave it their all, success would follow.
The Rebels continued to play hard even as their losing streak grew to 17 games, and it paid off in the end.
The success was limited, but it was there. And with a core group of juniors that should be stronger and more experiened next season, Thorsby should be able to build on that success.

– Dawkins is the sports editor for The North Chilton Advertiser.