Editor’s note: This is an opinion column.
By Bobby Mathews, Sports Editor
It’s easy to talk about the marquee football players in The Tribune’s coverage area. There are star quarterbacks (Khalib Johnson, Zach Pyron, Cade Ott Carruth, A.J. Wallace), star running backs (Troy Bruce, Rametrius Yelverton, Ed Osley, Mike Sharpe, James Hammonds) and star wide receivers (Marquarius White, Omari Kelly, Davion Dozier, Josh Ruff).
But there are also the guys who aren’t heralded, kids who are out there making a difference for their team every game.
Those are the kids I want to talk about today.
First, for Hewitt-Trussville: senior wide receiver Ryan Shoop is a tall, rangy target and a good possession receiver who manages to turn upfield every time he gets the ball. He works hard on routes and his sheer size (6-4, 185 pounds) makes him a good target for Carruth or Peyton Floyd. Another couple of players who don’t get their name in the paper a whole lot are tight end/linebacker Matt Miller and defensive back/running back Connor Thomas. Miller and Thomas can play both ways, and they’re each integral role players on the Huskies’ team.
At Clay-Chalkville, it’s been Mario Craver’s breakout year. Craver has elite speed, but his hands are great, too. Against Decatur, Craver streaked over the middle and caught a pass off of his shoetops, then turned upfield with a burst down the home field sideline for a 64-yard touchdown in the first quarter. But it has been the quiet, constricting defense that has gone under the radar all season for the Cougars. This is a unit that has pitched five shutouts on the season. Lamar Croskey and Jayden Sweeney have been terrific in the defensive backfield, and D’angelo Barber and Matthew Yafondo have become adept at shutting opposing offenses down.
Defending 6A state champs Pinson Valley found a new identity late in the season: survivors. Against Robert E. Lee, kicker Damian Gonzales became a hero, booting a field goal as time ran out and pushing the Indians over the top, 15-14. In the first round of the playoffs, Mike Sharpe rose up as time was winding down, but it was the defensive play of guys like TJ Metcalf, Connor Knight, BJ Diakite, and Mekhi Anderson who have really helped define the gutsy heart of this Indians squad.
In 5A, Leeds has been strong from top to bottom. Tucker Summers and Cody Saulisbury don’t get the same type of attention that Kavion Henderson does, but they have been stalwarts up on that defensive line. Tanner Chambers has been consistent in the defensive backfield, and that consistent play is what has allowed a guy like C.J. Douglas to be a big hitter. On the offensive line, center Jackson Bartee has been the heart and soul of that unit. In many ways, players like Saulisbury and Bartee exemplify what makes Leeds a great team to watch: these kids play their guts out on every snap.
Center Point has transformed itself into a team that anyone with good sense dreads playing. They racked up 66 points against East Limestone in a playoff game, and now they’re hosting Ramsay in the second round. Everyone knows Troy Bruce and Jabari Collier. But here are some guys to keep an eye on: Therman Moore is ostensibly a DB, but he’s come on as another strong option at wide receiver for the Eagles. Ke’marius Horne has been a sophomore playing like a grown man in that defensive backfield, and you can’t forget Demario Hicks and Gerrell Perry, either. Those kids can play. Big shoutout to Horne, who played a great deal of the season with his left hand immobilized in a cast.
Now, for the teams who didn’t quite make it into the playoff bracket, there are still kids who made a huge difference but don’t get a lot of recognition.
Moody turned itself around from an 0-9 team in 2020 to a 6-4 playoff contender in 5A, Region 6. A guy to thank for that turnaround? Logan Suggs. The senior lineman — both defense and offense — came to play on every down. An absolute workhorse of a player, this kid is the strongest player on the team and graded out at 92.6 percent, with 46 pancake blocks. Matthew McDonald deserves a shout-out, too. The senior linebacker was lights out for the Blue Devils, with 131 tackles in nine games, with 22 tackles for loss. Insane numbers, but this kid absolutely has a nose for the football. And I can’t leave our Kolby Seymour, a tremendous athlete who stepped up as quarterback for the final two games of the Blue Devils’ season after A.J. Wallace went down to an injury.
Springville’s Johnnie Wolfe was a tremendous crontributor for the Tigers. This is a kid who can do a lot of things well, including kicking the ball, running, or making a tackle. Senior running back Patrick Bennett pounded the ball hard for Springville, and Mahlon Alverson was one of those kids who could give the team good production from either side of the ball. Hayden Beasley played well at middle linebacker, and for a team that didn’t have “stars” at any position, the Tigers came together and played some unselfish, tough football through season that didn’t quite go the way they had intended.
For every kid here that I’ve named, there are probably 10 others out there who are unsung, whose contributions hold their teams together like an invisible glue that you don’t know is there until it’s gone. The stars get the headlines, but it’s the unsung player, the kid often overlooked who does his job on every down, that binds these teams into something special.
Bobby Mathews is sports editor at The Tribune. Reach him at bobby.mathews@trussvilletribune.com or @bobbymathews on Twitter.