By Stephen Dawkins | Assistant Managing Editor

Pressed into action by an injury to Verbena’s starting quarterback, Jaryus Wilson threw for two touchdowns as the Red Devils edged Thorsby, 26-20, on Friday in a season opening game that came down to seconds.

Wilson’s first few series were spoiled by heavy pressure from the Thorsby defensive line, but the sophomore found Tyric’ Ray behind the defense for a 52-yard pass play on 4th down and nine yards to go with 1:50 remaining in the third quarter.

Wilson was sacked by Johnathon Spivey on the try for 2 points, but the score was tied at 14.

Verbena took its first lead on a 17-yard run by Duante Talley 40 seconds into the fourth quarter, but Thorsby’s Bo Hoffman tied the game with a 35-yard run with 5:33 on the clock.

Bay Lucas caught a 34-yard TD pass from Wilson with 2:02 remaining.

Hoffman took the ensuing kickoff to the end zone, but the run was called back because of a penalty.

Verbena’s Jacob Montgomery intercepted a Braden McRae pass on the third play of the possession, but fumbled the ball and Thorsby recovered, giving the Rebels another shot.

They made the most of it, as a flea flicker on the next play advanced the ball to the Verbena 11-yard line on a pass from McRae to Taylor Gunn.

The Devils defense stiffened to begin the celebration.

Wilson completed seven passes in 11 attempts for 154 yards. He rushed eight times for 51 more yards.

“He did an outstanding job,” Verbena coach Mike Harris said.

VHS scored first, on a 44-yard pass from Christian Coston to Jeremy Creger.

Coston found Lucas for the 2-point conversion.

Thorsby tied the game at 8 on a 17-yard pass from McRae to Stephen Mims and a 2-point conversion run by Matt Morgan.

Coston then went down with a gruesome leg injury and was carted off the field on a stretcher—as Mims would be later, with what appeared to be a neck or back injury.

The final score of the first half was a 5-yard pass on fourth down-and-goal to go from McRae to B.B. Evans.

Chilton County will be well represented at the Alabama All-Stars Sports Week.

Three county varsity athletes, including one from Thorsby, and two coaches have been chosen to participate in the event, which began July 10 in Montgomery and will last through Thursday.

Thorsby’s Erick Camarillo and Maplesville’s Hunter McCay will compete in the all-star football game for the South team, which will be coached by Maplesville’s Brent Hubbert, while Chilton County’s Kipp Moore will play in the baseball game for the South squad, which will be coached by Mooore’s varsity coach, Josey Shannon.

Coaches nominate players for All-Star Sports Week, which features the state’s best performers in several sports competing against each other after being split into North and South teams.

The football game will be played at 7 p.m. Thursday at Cramton Bowl.

Camarillo, a THS graduate who was one of the county’s leading tacklers in each of the past three seasons as a linebacker in addition to playing offensive line, has declared his intention to play at Faulkner University in the fall.

By Stephen Dawkins | Assistant Managing Editor

The 2010 season was one of remarkable production from two local quarterbacks: Jemison’s Scott Clements and Thorsby’s Andrew Farris.

Both will graduate this month, creating opportunities but also casting doubt on the upcoming season.

Jemison’s football team, at least, has a signal caller with experience on this year’s roster. Rising senior Trey Bryant started two games last season when Clements went down with an injury.

Bryant will team with one of Jemison’s best ever groups of offensive ball handlers (running back Javae Swindle and receiver Eddie Hubbard were both candidates for The Clanton Advertiser’s Player of the Year honor last year) to form a potent offense–if an offensive line can be completely rebuilt.

“We’ve got to find five guys that can play together there and make 22 (Swindle) look good,” assistant coach Jon Clements said.

The Panthers are practicing without a head coach having been named to replace Brad Abbott.

Thorsby’s quest to replace Farris was complicated by the school’s baseball team, which included many football players, advancing all the way to the semifinal round of the state playoffs, meaning those players were unavailable for football practice.

“We’ve been trying to get what we could done without everybody out there,” THS coach Billy Jackson said. “We’ve got a lot of new faces because we lost a bunch offensively and defensively. We know what we want to do, we’re just trying to find guys who can fit into that.”

Jemison and Thorsby will each hold a scrimmage at 1 p.m. Friday.

From Staff Reports

Camarillo headed to Faulkner: Thorsby senior Erick Camarillo (seated, third from left) on Monday signed to play college football for Faulkner University.

Camarillo was joined in a ceremony in the school library by (clockwise from top left) THS principal Russ Bryan, Thorsby assistant coach Corey Clements, Faulkner assistant coach Duane McWhorter,  Thorsby coach Billy Jackson, Thorsby assistant coach Keith Williams, brother Miguel Camarillo, Lily Porter, mother Patricia Camarillo and Marisa Hilyer.

Erick Camarillo led the Rebels in tackles for three consecutive seasons and was also an important offensive player, contributing as an offensive lineman and tight end.

By Stephen Dawkins

Andrew Farris, an undersized sophomore, had never before played in an organized game of football, and there he was, running onto the field as the starting quarterback for the Thorsby football team.

The Rebels lost, 28-0, on Aug. 29, 2008, at Verbena. In fact, they lost all 10 games they played that season, and none were closer than 25 points.

The following summer, Billy Jackson was having his rounds of golf interrupted by head-shaking acquaintances, wondering why he had agreed to become head football coach at Thorsby.

Now, the two are basking in the memories of one of the greatest seasons in Thorsby football history—and are the North Chilton Advertiser’s football coach and player of the year.

The Rebels won eight games in 2010, tying a school record, and earned their first playoff berth since 2003.

The formula: Jackson and his coaching staff transformed the team’s mindset; and a group of players, including Farris, made a commitment to improving and hit their peaks during their senior seasons.

“That first year (2008) was pretty rough, I think everybody would say that,” Farris said. “This year, we knew we couldn’t hold anything back, that there wouldn’t be a next year.”

Jackson felt Thorsby’s athletes were content being good at baseball and basketball and learning to accept losing on the football field. That had to change.

“I tell them, ‘If we’re playing checkers, we want Thorsby to be competitive,’” he said.

One of Jackson’s first moves upon becoming coach in 2009 was to put Keith Williams in charge of the team’s strength and conditioning program. Williams spent the better part of most summer days helping the players get faster and stronger.

Jackson rounded out his staff by relinquishing play calling duties to longtime coordinator Corey Clements and promoting Josh Deavers to defensive coordinator.

Jackson’s coach at Chilton County High School, Don Hand, volunteered to help.

But it didn’t stop there. Jackson raves about his staff all working toward one goal—and about the willingness of the Thorsby administration to give the players every opportunity to succeed.

“There’s so many people that have helped this program,” Jackson said.

Still, it would never have happened without the players. Farris, linebacker/center Erick Camarillo, fullback/defensive end Kalup Nunn, receiver Marcus Bray and others formed a group of seniors that bought into the coaching staff’s insistence on hard work as sophomores and reaped the rewards as seniors.

Farris’ accomplishments stood out. He completed 88 passes in 145 attempts for 1,339 yards and 20 touchdowns. Farris rushed for 1,200 yards and 17 touchdowns on 129 carries (a 9.3 yards per carry average).

The 37 touchdowns were almost twice as many as Thorsby had as a team (19) in 2009.

And Farris did it all after being diagnosed with Rocky Mountain spotted fever, a disease that, while lethal in some cases, required Farris to wear sunglasses and long sleeves during practice, and limited his ability to condition. But Farris had come too far to turn back.

In eighth grade, before ever putting on a uniform, a teacher asked Farris’ class to write down the things they wanted to do before they graduated from Thorsby. Farris’ response: be the starting quarterback for the football team. The teacher was Jackson.

“He had a baptism by fire,” Jackson said about Farris. “We knew it was going to be difficult that first year. We had to have some growing pains to get to where we are this year.”

By James Dubuisson | Special to the Advertiser

One of Thorsby High School’s greatest football seasons ever came to a disappointing end against Providence Christian Academy on Friday in the first round of the Class 2A state playoffs.

PCA’s defense shut out the Rebels offense, which had been explosive most of the season.

The Eagles offense scored 18 points to defeat THS, 18-0.

The Eagles’ first score of the game came with 1:48 left in the first quarter when PCA sophomore Kyle Eriksen ran the ball in from the 17-yard line.

The Eagles (8-3) had the ball again and a 6-0 lead when the first quarter came to a close. The Eagles drove the ball all the way to the Rebels’ 18-yard line but were forced to attempt a field goal. The 35-yard try was good by Eagles senior Banks Smith.

The Rebels (8-3) had the ball with 1:01 left in the half after a PCA three-and-out. On the first play of the drive, THS mishandled a handoff and fumbled the ball. PCA’s senior Garret Nix recovered the fumble.

The Eagles took advantage of the Rebel mistake when Sterling Gatlin III scored on a 3-yard touchdown run. The Eagles led at the half, 15-0.

The Rebels got the ball to begin the second half, but THS’s drive was ruined by Gatlin III’s second interception of the game.

The Eagles’ next drive ended with their last score of the night, a 28-yard field goal by Smith with 2:00 left in the third quarter.

The following Rebel drive was ended when Eriksen picked off a third down pass.

The Eagles’ next drive went into the fourth quarter and PCA had the lead 18-0. The drive ended when THS sophomore Bo Hoffman recovered a fumble with 10:45 left in the game.

The Rebels’ next drive included a 14-yard pass where Farris completed a pass to junior wide receiver Stephen Mims that made up for a penalty that put the Rebels 24 yards away from the first down marker. Two plays later, Farris completed his final pass at THS, which was caught by senior Marcus Bray, who was Farris’s favorite target in his three years as a starter. Bray made the 5-yard catch on 4th-and-4 by dragging his feet to stay inbounds. The Rebels’ final offensive drive of the season ended four plays later with 8:11 in the game.

The Eagles killed the rest of the clock and advanced to the next round of the playoffs. They will face Cottonwood next week. The Eagles offense was led by senior running back Banks Smith, who had 138 yards on 24 carries. He now has rushed over 1,000 yards for the season.

Thorsby coach Billy Jackson said that his team went “above what we all thought we had.” The Rebels’ eight wins this season was a complete turnaround from last season, when they lost eight games.

By Stephen Dawkins

It’s already been quite a season for the Thorsby football team—possibly the best season in school history, actually—but the Rebels aren’t ready for it to end just yet.

Thorsby on Friday will make its first playoff appearance since 2003 and a win would give this year’s team the most victories in school history, but coach Billy Jackson said he isn’t concerned about his players getting caught up in the excitement and forgetting the preparation during the week that necessarily precedes a strong performance on Friday night.

“The senior group we’ve got, they just love to play,” Jackson said. “I think they’re so excited about getting a chance to play another week that they’re not worried about anything else.”

If the Rebels (8-2) are going to play even another week, they’ll have to play better against Providence Christian (7-3) on Friday than they did in a 40-20 loss to Horseshoe Bend on Oct. 29.

THS committed five turnovers in the game, three on special teams.

“You don’t win many games with five turnovers. I think our kids played as hard as they could…We just made too many errors at the end to win,” Jackson said. “We all wanted to finish 9-1 so the guys were a little upset. This week’s game will depend on how we can get over a loss last week and get back to work.”

Thorsby hosts a Providence Christian team that has already set a school record for wins in a season with seven.

Granted, the program has only been around since 2006, but the Eagles have made the playoffs three out of five years, giving them more playoff experience than Thorsby.

“We can’t afford to take anybody lightly around here,” Jackson said. “We’ve got to play—we’ve got to compete.

Don’t look for competitiveness to be a problem for the Rebels, not with so much at stake.

“I don’t think they’ll take it lightly,” Jackson said. “We’ve been telling them all year long that they’ve got a chance to do something special.”

From Staff Reports

Thorsby built a 28-0 halftime lead at R.C. Hatch on Friday and never looked back, winning 41-6.

Senior quarterback Andrew Farris accounted for all six touchdowns. Farris ran for Thorsby’s first score, passed to Stephen Mims for the next, ran another one in, passed to Bo Hoffman on a trick play just before halftime, connected with Marcus Bray in the third quarter and concluded the scoring with a pass to Bradley Evans.

By Stephen Dawkins

Thorsby used a game-tying 87-yard drive near the end of regulation and two Andrew Farris touchdown runs in overtime periods to sneak by Vincent on Friday, 36-30 in double overtime.

Thorsby took a 14-6 lead with 3:20 remaining in the first half when Farris, Thorsby’s senior quarterback, rolled right and found senior Tanner Bush open in the end zone.

But Vincent controlled the second half with a power running game behind quarterback Damauntey Johnson and running back Rodney Groce. The Yellow Jackets (6-2, 4-2 Class 2A, Region 4) tied the game on a short pass from Johnson to ShaCorry Lilly that turned into a 70-yard touchdown play.

Johnson found Daniel Hawkins open in the end zone after a fake toss for the 2-point conversion.

The visitors took the lead on a Johnson keeper from six yards out, dragging defenders into the end zone with him with 7:54 left on the clock.

Thorsby (7-1, 5-1) took possession with 2;18 remaining and 87 yards between the Rebels and the goal line.

The hosts gained some momentum when Farris hit Stephen Mims on a reverse pass for 41 yards to the Vincent 31-yard line.

Farris connected with Mims again, and the receiver stretched across the goal line with less than 1 minute to play.

Farris kept it himself for the 2-point play, and the game was headed to overtime.

In what was a run all the way, Farris rolled right and scored just inside the pylon on the first play of overtime.

The QB ran up the middle for two more points, and the home fans were feeling good about their chances on Homecoming night.

But Johnson fought his way into the end zone from 10 yards out to score for Vincent. On the 2-point conversion attempt, the Rebels defense appeared to have Johnson stopped short of the goal line on fourth down during Vincent’s turn in the extra period, but he somehow managed the flip the ball to Sadarius Lawson in the end zone to bring on another overtime period.

Vincent got the ball first in the second OT, and Erick Camarillo broke up a pass attempt in the end zone on fourth down.

When the Rebels got the ball, they went back to the same play that worked so well in the first overtime, and Farris took it in again, this time for the win.

With the win, Thorsby will host a game in the first round of the state playoffs. The top two teams in each region host.

From Staff Reports

Thorsby on Friday suffered its first loss of the season, 49-27 to American Christian.

The Rebels came into the game 5-0 and 3-0 in Class 2A, Region 4 but were bested by an ACA team (6-0, 4-0) that also had its sights on the region championship.

Thorsby will have to regroup quickly because another region contest awaits, this time at Central-Hayneville on Oct. 8.

On Friday, Thorsby had possession of the football inside ACA’s 5-yard line and came away with no points on two different occasions.

The hosts kept it close in the first half.

Senior Kalup Nunn scored on a 7-yard run in the first quarter, and that was followed by a 59-yard pass from senior quarterback Andrew Farris to junior Stephen Mims.

Farris struck again on another long pass in the second quarter. This time it was a 50-yard touchdown completion to Tanner Bush.

Thorsby trailed 28-21 at halftime but couldn’t score again until the last play of the game.