Football all-stars
- Updated: May 16, 2016
Alexandria coach Tucker, two players named to North-South all-star roster; QB Club recognizes Blanchard
By East Alabama Sports Today
Alexandria head coach Frank Tucker, Valley Cubs offensive lineman Dakota Sams and Piedmont defensive back Darnell Jackson have all been selected to play in the AHSAA North-South All-Star football game.
The game is July 21 in Montgomery’s Cramton Bowl and wraps up a week of all-star action at the AHSAA Summer Conference.
The South leads the series 30-24-2, but the North won last year 14-13.
Tucker will be the North’s head coach. His staff includes former Wellborn and current Madison County coach Scott Peavey.
“It’s an honor,” Tucker said. “You seem to get these kinds of awards after you’ve had some good players. I’ve got to give credit for this to the teams; they are responsible for this as anyone.
“I’ve talked to some others who’ve coached in it before and they said it’s an enjoyable experience. They said they developed some relationships with kids and coaches. I think it will be a good thing.”
What will make it even more enjoyable is one of his own — Sams — is on the roster.
“He’s very deserving,” Tucker said. “He’s been a great lineman for us the last four years and it’ll be good he’ll get to compete against some of the best players in the state.”
Tucker has known about the honor for more than a month, but had been instructed to keep the news under wraps until AHSAA officials announced it Monday. He said game organizers got together during spring break to pick the team.
Since the start of this month, however, he has been busy putting his own team together. Perhaps the biggest question the Valley Cubs faced in the spring was who would be their quarterback and right now it’s a two-man battle between Quentin Bowie and Joshua Tucker.
The new quarterbacks will get plenty of chances to show their stuff in game-like conditions Thursday when the Valley Cubs play Weaver in their spring game 7:30 p.m. Thursday at JSU Stadium.
QB CLUB HONORING TRIO: Calhoun County Quarterback Club officials have completed the distribution of their three scholarships with the award presentation to Piedmont’s versatile Bayley Blanchard.
Blanchard is heading to West Alabama. The other QB Club honorees this year have been Anniston’s Jarvis Jackson and Cleburne County’s Austin Harler.
“Each year it is a hard decision to narrow the applicants down to the top three,” Quarterback Club board member Danny Shears said. “We have so many well-deserving student-athletes in our county, and we wish that we could award every one of them a $5,000 scholarship.”
You must be logged in to post a comment Login