From Staff Reports

The University of West Alabama football team will have a Chilton County flavor this fall.

Three county players signed National Letters of Intent on Wednesday to take their talents to Livingston.

Jemison receiver Eddie Hubbard and running back Javae Swindle held a joint ceremony Wednesday morning, and then Chilton County High School defensive end Dyquan Floyd signed with the Tigers later in the afternoon on what is known as National Signing Day, the first day high school football players can sign letters to play at the college of their choice.

By Stephen Dawkins | Assistant Managing Editor

Jemison running back Javae Swindle and receiver Eddie Hubbard spent years terrorizing opposing high school defense.

Next fall, they’ll be doing the same thing to Gulf South Conference opponents.

The duo announced they will both play next fall for the University of West Alabama, Jemison coach Merritt Bowden said.

Players can sign binding National Letters of Intent beginning Wednesday.

Hubbard this past season caught 42 passes for 738 yards and six touchdowns—and was among leaders in the Chilton County area in each statistical category.

He was also named to The Clanton Advertiser’s All-Area Football Team.

Bowden said Hubbard was impressed with the UWA coaching staff and their relationship with the players.

“It seemed a lot like a family atmosphere,” Bowden said.

Swindle was named The Clanton Advertiser’s Player of the Year following a senior season in which he rushed for 1,443 yards and 19 touchdowns.

“He’s the same every day in practice and the games. He’s consistent,” Bowden said.

By Stephen Dawkins | Assistant Managing Editor

Thorsby moved up to Class 3A in the newest football and basketball classifications released by the Alabama High School Athletic Association.

Classifications are studied and set every two years, based on number students in grades 10-12, and then on proximity to other schools.

Jemison stayed in Class 4A, though its region and area foes changed somewhat.

Thorsby football coach and athletic director Billy Jackson said school officials were aware the Rebels might move up.

“We said, ‘We will either be one of the biggest 2As in the state or one of the smallest 3As,’” Jackson said. “It was that close.”

Jackson said the reclassification will challenge all Rebels athletic programs because several new region foes—including Midfield, Montevallo and Tarrant—have been 4A schools within the past several years.

Basketball and football groupings for each local program are listed below:

Basketball

Class 4A, Area 7

Bibb County, Calera, Dallas County, Jemison

Class 3A, Area 5

B.B. Comer, Central Coosa, Thorsby, Trinity Presbyterian

Football

Class 4A, Region 4

Bibb County, Calera, Corner, Dallas County, Dora, Jemison, Oak Grove, West Blocton

Class 3A, Region 4

B.B. Comer, Central Coosa, Leeds, Midfield, Montevallo, Tarrant, Thorsby, Trinity Presbyterian

From Staff Reports

Jemison’s playoff hopes ended with Friday’s 54-45 loss at Greene County.

The visiting Panthers fell behind 24-0, tied the game by halftime, took a 32-24 lead in the second half but then couldn’t hang on.

Jemison entered the game with a chance to make the playoffs—even after their chances appeared ended with last week’s loss to Sumter Central—because Sumter Central was forced to forfeit games for playing an ineligible player in four contests earlier in the season.

An 80-yard punt return for a touchdown was Jemison’s first score and sparked the Panthers.

Tre Bryant scored on a 1-yard run, passed 43 yards to Randy Satterfield and then scored on a 2-yard run to tie the game.

Bryant completed 15 passes in 29 attempts on the night for 218 yards. His favorite target was Hubbard, who had seven catches for 129 yards.

Randy Satterfield caught four passes for 72 yards.

Javae Swindle’s 5-yard run early in the second half gave JHS (5-4 overall, 3-4 region) the lead.

Swindle also had a 1-yard touchdown run. He rushed 36 times for 178 yards.

Jemison’s last score was a 15-yard pass from Bryant to Hubbard. Bryant hit Satterfield for a 2-point conversion.

Madison Bolton paced the Jemison defense with 15 tackles, including five for a loss.

Raquane Jones recorded four sacks.

By Stephen Dawkins | Assistant Managing Editor

Jemison’s comeback ran out of gas, and the Panthers’ playoff hopes took a shot to the gut with Friday’s 36-26 loss to Sumter-Central.

With only one week of region play remaining, the Panthers need a win at Greene County on Oct. 21 and some help in order to qualify for the postseason.

On Friday, the JHS offense couldn’t find its rhythm from earlier in the year, and the defense was pounded by 275-pound running back Terrance Hinson and an even bigger offensive line.

Sumter (6-2 overall, 4-2 region) scored first, on a 10-yard Hinson run to conclude the first possession of the game, and built a 22-7 halftime lead.

Jemison’s only lead came with 1:09 remaining in the first half, when Randy Satterfield’s leaping touchdown reception from quarterback Tre Bryant was followed by a Cruz Martinez extra point.

The visitors responded with a 17-yard scoring strike from quarterback Roderick Harris on a 4th-and-15 play, and with a 5-yard Harris scramble for a touchdown.

Hinson’s 2-point run made the deficit 15 points at halftime.

But Jemison’s Javae Swindle scored on the first play from scrimmage of the second half, a 71-yard run.

Swindle wasn’t as efficient on the next possession, as he needed two runs—of 29 yards and then 32 yards—to reach the end zone.

Martinez added the point after to bring the score to 22-20, but that was as close as the Panthers (5-3, 3-3) would get. A lost fumble on Jemison’s next possession killed the momentum, and Hinson’s powerful runs combined with Harris’ elusiveness wore down the JHS defense as Sumter added two scores to pull away in the fourth quarter.

From Staff Reports

Jemison was toppled at West Blocton on Friday, 36-21.

The Panthers trailed 28-7 in the second quarter and could never catch up.

JHS’s first score was a 53-yard pass from Tre Bryant to Randy Satterfield. Bryant then scored on a 1-yard run.

Javae Swindle scored Jemison’s final touchdown, a 24-yard run, but it was too little too late.

Swindle ran 16 times for 103 yards.

Joseph Hall led the defense with 11 tackles.

By Emily Beckett | Staff Writer

The Jemison Panthers dominated the field in their homecoming and region game against the Southside-Selma Panthers on Friday, Sept. 30.

JHS (5-1, 3-1) held SSHS (0-6, 0-4) to one touchdown the entire game, with a final score of 55-6.

Jemison head coach Merritt Bowden said his team showed the discipline he wanted them to coming into Friday night’s game, and a lot of young players saw playing time as well.

Jemison Trahe Smith, far right, runs for yardage against Southside-Selma on Friday while teammates lead the way with blocks.

“I thought we did a lot of good things on both sides of the ball,” Bowden said. “Trying to concentrate on us, get better and I think we did that.”

On defense, senior Madison Bolton had seven tackles, senior Trahe Smith had an interception for 18 yards and sophomore Randy Satterfield had an interception for 21 yards.

On offense, senior Tre Bryant totaled 106 passing yards with two touchdowns, senior Trahe Smith had 39 yards rushing with two touchdowns and senior Eddie Hubbard had 70 yards receiving and two touchdowns.

The 2012 JHS Homecoming Queen and her court were announced prior to kickoff. Senior Wendy Waldrop was crowned homecoming queen, and her court was Makenzie Ray, 11^th grade; Morgan Lucas, 10^th grade; Mikala Thornton, ninth grade; and Kelsey Mitchell, eighth grade.

By Justin Averette | Managing Editor

Nobody was surprised that the Jemison-Calera game Friday had some offensive fireworks.

But nobody expected a touchdown on the second play from scrimmage and then two more in the game’s first two minutes.

Big plays were common throughout the game — and on both sides of the ball for Jemison — giving them a comfortable 50-16 win over neighboring Calera.

Javae Swindle nearly scored on the first play from scrimmage, running down to the 9-yard line. He did find the end zone on the next play to put Jemison on the scoreboard. The Panthers would score fast again off a 52-yard run by Swindle.

Calera responded with a big play of its own, a 69-yard TD reception by Ronnie Clark to tighten the score.

And that was with 9:52 to go in the first quarter.

Inevitably, the pace did slow down some as Jemison’s defense took control, particularly in the second half.

Swindle continued to march on, though, and scored his second touchdown of the game off a 2-yard run late in the first quarter to put the home team up 21-7.

Calera running back Sam Adams would be the next to score off a 45-yard run. The PAT was no good leaving things at 21-13.

Then Swindle would again find the end zone for the third time Friday via a 9-yard run. He didn’t play in the second half after an apparent shoulder injury.

Right before the break, Calera added a 30-yard field goal off the leg of Francisco Garcia to put the score at 28-16.

The second half would belong all to Jemison, particularly its defense.

B.P. Reeves recovered a Calera fumble on the kickoff that ultimately led to a 28-yard field goal by Cruz Martinez.

Calera would try to get things going on their next possession but had that drive end by an interception in the end zone by Trahe Smith.

Jemison would go on to score two more touchdowns on offense on a 24-yard pass from Tre Bryant to Randy Satterfield and a 7-yard run by Kevin King.

On Calera’s next drive, Smith would get his second interception of the game, which corrected a Jemison fumble and turnover on the previous play.

Joseph Hall also had an interception in the game, while King made several key plays and had multiple sacks.

Jemison put a period on the game with an Eddie Hubbard interception for a TD with less than a minute to go. The pick, from 72 yards out, capped scoring for the night.

Jemison improves to 4-1 overall (2-1 in the region), while Calera falls to 1-4 overall.

From Staff Reports

Jemison fell to Bibb County, 56-35, on Friday despite being down only one point at halftime.

Bibb County scored the game’s first 14 points, but Jemison pulled to within one on a pass from Tre Bryant to Randy Satterfield with 9 seconds remaining in the second half.

But Bibb then scored 34 points in the third quarter.

The Choctaws only threw one pass in the game, getting 287 yards rushing and four touchdowns from C.J. Cutts.

Kevin King had 20 tackles for the JHS defense.

Bryant completed 20 passes in 27 attempts for 278 yards with one rushing touchdown and two passing scores to Satterfield, who had 96 receiving yards.

Eddie Hubbard caught nine passes for 135 yards and also had a 93-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

Javae Swindle ran 13 times for 66 yards and a touchdown.

By James Dubuisson | Special to the Advertiser

Jemison blew out visiting Holt, 54-17, Friday night even after being held scoreless in the first quarter.

The Panthers had the ball on HHS’s 24-yard line to start the second quarter, and senior running back Javae Swindle ran the ball in for his first touchdown of the night. JHS led 7-3 with 11:50 left in the half.

JHS’s next drive ended with a 2-yard Swindle touchdown run with 4:31 left in the quarter. JHS led 14-3.

Holt’s next drive was halted in large part by two sacks on back-to-back plays by Panther senior Madison Bolton.

Three plays later, it appeared as if JHS quarterback Tre Bryant was about to be taken down for a sack on a broken play when he flipped the ball to Swindle, who turned up field and ran the ball into the end zone on the 54-yard reception.

The Panthers would pull away in the second half as Swindle scored two more rushing touchdowns in the third quarter, one of 18 yards with 10:40 left in the third and the other from 3 yards out with 8:43 left in the game.

Panther quarterback Tre Bryant hit classmate Eddie Hubbard on a 32-yard touchdown pass with 4:15 left in the quarter. Sophomore quarterback Jacob Hatch would also score in the quarter with a 15-yard run.

Hatch would open up the scoring in the fourth quarter, as he had a 2-yard rushing touchdown.