By Johnny Sanders, Sports Editor
TRUSSVILLE – It is no secret that the Trussville Tribune coverage area is saturated with athletic talent across all sports and from each of the eight schools that we cover. In Alabama, football is king and that sport is no exception when it comes to the rich talent in our area.
That fact was no more evident than it was this past week as two of our student-athletes experienced some significant events for their futures.
Coming off of an impressive season with Clay Chalkville, the Cougars’ D’angelo “DJ” Barber made his commitment known on Independence Day of 2023 when he announced his commitment to Hugh Freeze and the Auburn Tigers. The three-star linebacker from Clay (51st ranked linebacker in the nation) chose the Tigers over Georgia Tech, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Arkansas and arch rival Alabama, in addition to a host of other schools ranging from SEC, ACC, Conference USA and AAF teams just to name a few.
Barber helped to lead the Cougars to a 8-1 regular season, with their only loss coming to eventual 7A State Champ Thompson in Alabaster by a narrow score of 17-14. The season would come to an end for Barber and company in the first round of the playoffs with a surprise 7-6 loss to the Parker Thundering Herd. Barber and his teammates look to make up for the disappointing season-ending loss and hope to be ordering new rings in December as the next 6A State Champions.
Barber’s future teammate at Auburn, Moody’s A’mon Lane, had a big week as well. The Alabama High School Athletic Association Radio Network
selected Lane as their Russell Do it Centers AHSAA Male Athlete of the Week last week. Lane, the leader in a crowded defensive backfield for the Blue Devils, has been committed to Auburn since July of last year, when former coach Bryan Harsin was still the coach. Proving he is a man of his word, Lane stayed committed to the Tigers despite Harsin’s firing and will join Barber and others as part of Hugh Freeze’s first recruiting class at Auburn.
With the four-star cornerback (24th ranked corner in the nation) as their anchor in the defensive backfield, the Moody Blue Devils set school records and experienced success like those in the small Saint Clair County town have not seen in quite some time, if ever. Lane, along with his father and head football coach, Jake Ganus, brought a new attitude, even a swagger, to Moody last year that they look to build upon in 2023. The season did not end with a blue map as many had planned. Lane and company fell in the regular season to only rival Leeds and then lost in the second round of the playoffs to Arab.
Both players look to make their mark at the highest level of collegiate sports. But first, they both have unfinished business to attend to in the 2023 season and we are the ones who get to sit back and watch them.