Sports

LYNN — During the quarter-final round of football playoffs, the Hackleburg Panthers traveled to Lynn once more this season to defeat the Lynn Bears. The two rivals faced each other on Aug. 30, of this year, with Hackleburg the victor at 33-13. Last Friday, Nov. 22, the score was 32-19, with Hackleburg again on top.
Hackleburg received the opening kickoff, with Panther Jaquan Reeder lighting the scoreboard first. With a no good PAT, the score was 6-0, Hackleburg.

FLORENCE — The Winfield Pirates’ season ended with a 28-13 loss to the Mars Hill Panthers in the third round of the Class 3A State Playoffs on Friday, Nov. 22, in Florence.
In a defensive battle through the first half, both teams struggled to put points on the board. The Pirates broke through in the third quarter and traded touchdowns with Mars Hill until the fourth when the Panthers broke the game open and pulled away to get the victory.

OAKVILLE INDIAN MOUNDS — The Hamilton Aggies’ Boys’ Cross Country Team won the 2024 AHSAA Cross Country 4A State Championship on Saturday, Nov. 9.
According to the AHSAA, Hamilton’s victory marks the first time a public school has won the 4A state meet since 2016.
Scoring in cross country is based on the top five runners on each team, and the points are based on the position they finish in. The lowest score wins. Each race takes place on a 5-kilometer (3.1 mile) course.

WINFIELD — The Winfield Pirates defense forced five turnovers to upend the Sylvania Rams 35-20 in the second round of the Class 3A State Playoffs on Friday, Nov. 15, in Winfield.
Winfield built a 28-0 halftime lead with 2 pick-6 touchdowns and two offensive scores, held off a furious comeback in the second half by Sylvania and added another touchdown in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.
The Pirates intercepted a pass on the Rams' first drive of the night as Blaine Bowen picked off a pass at the Winfield 33.

HACKLEBURG — The Hackleburg Panthers will continue to the third round of playoffs after their sound 49-12 defeat of the Winterboro Bulldogs Friday, Nov. 15.
The game began with Hackleburg winning the coin toss and deferring to the second half. The Panthers forced a punt from Winterboro, and Jaquan Reeder was the first to score, on a 65-yard drive and a 55-yard run. The PAT was no good, with the score 6-0, Hackleburg.
The Bulldogs kept the chains moving on the next drive and made it as close to the Panther 2-yard line before the defense forced a turnover on downs.

HOOVER — Four volleyball teams from Marion County advanced to the regional tournament at the Finley Center on Wednesday, Oct. 23, and Oct. 24.
1A
After winning their area tournament, the Lady Red Raiders fought hard in the first round of regionals.
Marion County played the Faith Christian Lions on Oct. 24, and the match was close. In the end, Faith Christian won the tie-breaker set to win 3-2.
The Brilliant Lady Tigers were shut out by the Spring Garden Panthers 3-0.
The Panthers would go on to win the regional tournament.
3A

HACKLEBURG — It was a windy night in Hackleburg Friday, Nov. 8, but the Pickens County Tornadoes were sent home with a 41-6 loss in the first round of playoffs.
The game began with Hackleburg winning the coin toss and deferring to the second half. Kicking off to Pickens County, Panther Aiden Pimentel recovered the ball and set Hackleburg in good position at the Tornado 36 yard-line. Shortly, it was first and goal with Jaquan Reeder on the first touchdown. A good PAT had the score at 7-0, Hackleburg.

WINFIELD — The Winfield Pirates cruised into the second round of the AHSAA Class 3A State Playoffs with a 44-14 victory over the Colbert County Indians on Friday, Nov. 8, in Winfield.
Winfield scored on four out of six possessions in the first half and added two more touchdowns on their three possessions in the second half, effectively sealing the win against the Indians and advancing in the playoffs.
Keylan Hughes led the Pirates’ rushing attack, scoring 3 touchdowns and 105 yards on 22 carries, scoring on runs of 7, 3 and 4 yards.

FLORENCE — The Hamilton Aggies’ season came to an end after the first round of the state playoffs on Friday night, Nov. 8, with a 70-13 loss to the Central Florence Wildcats.
The Wildcats scored four unanswered touchdowns in the first quarter to take a 28-0 lead, followed by another touchdown with about 10 minutes remaining in the second quarter.
But Hamilton’s Spencer Tyra took the kickoff and returned it 95-yards for the Aggies’ first touchdown of the night. With the extra point, they were trailing 35-7.

BEAR CREEK — The Phillips Bears went out on a high note this season with a 30-6 win over the visiting Tharptown Wildcats on Friday night, Nov. 1.
The Bears end their season with an overall record of 3-7, with a record of 2-5 in 1A Region 7, a slight step up from last season’s record of 2-7.
The Bears saw regular season wins against the Shoals Christian Flame (29-14), the Waterloo Cougars (14-6) and of course their victory over the Tharptown Wildcats last Friday.

FAYETTEVILLE — The Brilliant Tigers lost their final regular season game to the Fayetteville Wolves 30-18 on Friday night, Nov. 1.
The loss leaves the Tigers with an overall record of 3-7, and 1A Region 5 record of 1-6.
The loss to Fayetteville marked the end of the Tigers’ 2024 season, as the Tigers did not advance to the playoffs.

HUBBERTVILLE — After winning nine games in a row, the Hackleburg Panthers lost the last regular season game against the Hubbertville Lions 28-22 Friday, Nov. 1.
The Lions won the toss and elected to receive the ball on opening kickoff. Hackleburg’s defense kept things tight and forced a punt before the Lions could get in Hackleburg’s territory, but the Lions returned the favor by forcing Hackleburg to punt.

VERNON — The Marion County Raiders beat the Lamar County High School Bulldogs on the road 48-35 on Friday night, Nov. 1.
The Raiders scored one touchdown in the first quarter and were matched by the Bulldogs for a 7-7 tie.
The Raiders responded with a 59-yard rushing touchdown from Samuel Taylor. Tye Madison crossed the goal line afterward for 2 more points, putting the Raiders ahead 15-7 with about five minutes to go in the first quarter.

BIRMINGHAM — The Hamilton Aggies ended their regular season on Friday night, Nov. 1, with a 28-6 victory over the Tarrant Wildcats.
The Aggies were the first to score with a 60-yard pass from Mason Holloway to Coley Gilstrap for a touchdown with about eight minutes remaining in the first quarter.
The PAT missed, but the Aggies were leading 6-0.
In the second quarter, Eli Harris scored a touchdown on a 25-yard rush, but missed the PAT again. Regardless, they were leading 12-0 with about four minutes left in the half.

Hackleburg 9-0 after Cherokee shut out
HACKLEBURG — The Hackleburg Panthers are now 9-0, 7-0 after their last region game Friday, Oct. 25, when they shut out the visiting Cherokee Indians 57-0. Hackleburg, as of last week, was ranked number three in the state in 1A by the Alabama Sports Writers Association.
Friday’s game began with Cherokee winning the toss and choosing to receive. Immediately on first down, Garrett Pennington on defense sacked Cherokee’s quarterback, the first of several, setting Cherokee back 20 yards from second.

Pirates close regular season with 42-12 win over Vinemont
VINEMONT — The Winfield Pirates finished the regular season with a convincing 42-12 victory on the road against the Vinemont Eagles on Friday, Oct. 25.
Winfield scored on every possession of the first half to build up a 28-0 lead at halftime and added two more scores in the second half to secure the win.
The win improved the Pirates to 9-1 on the season and a perfect 7-0 in Class 3A, Region 5 play.
Winfield held Vinemont to only 5 yards on first down during their first possession and forced a punt.

Hamilton Aggies defeat Fayette Tigers 41-26
HAMILTON — The Hamilton Aggies won their home game 41-26 on Friday night, Oct. 25, against the Fayette Tigers.
The Aggies were the first to score on a touchdown and 2 extra points with 9:32 left in the first quarter to take an 8-0 lead.
They followed that up with a touchdown pass from Mason Holloway to Spencer Tyra, without extra points this time, to raise their lead to 14-0.
The Aggies attempted an onside kick, but the Tigers recovered and got to work.

REFORM — The Marion County Red Raiders lost to the Pickens County Tornadoes 22-16 on Friday night, Oct. 25.
The Tornadoes were the first to score and were leading 8-0 at the end of the first quarter.
The Raiders responded with a touchdown with about eight minutes left in the second quarter, but failed the 2-point conversion attempt. At halftime, the Raiders were trailing 8-6.
In the third quarter, the Raiders kicked a field goal with about nine minutes to go to take a slim 9-8 lead.

BRILLIANT — The Brilliant Tigers lost last Friday night’s home game to the Berry Wildcats 51-8.
The Tigers were able to score a touchdown with a  two-point conversion, but couldn’t keep up with the Wildcats in the end.
The loss leaves the Tigers with a 4-6 overall record for the season, with a 1-6 region record as the regular season winds down. The Tigers faced a tough game since Berry only suffered one loss this season with a record of 8-1.

FLORENCE — The Hackleburg Panthers soundly defeated the Shoals Christian Flame 48-10 on Friday, Oct. 18.
Davin Dulaney scored on a two-yard run, and the PAT put the Panthers ahead 7-0.
Later in the first quarter, Cameron Ingram scored on a 57-yard pass from Blaise Vickery, and another PAT from JonHasten Stidham put the Panthers ahead 14-0.
Dulaney scored again in the first quarter on a 46-yard run. The extra point kick was good once more to put the Panthers ahead 21-0.

BEAR CREEK — Phillips Bears fans had a thriller of a homecoming, not knowing if their team was going to be able to pull it out until the final minutes of the game, when Brandon Ricketts found the end zone to give the Bears a 14-6 victory over regional foe Waterloo.
After a defensive struggle for most of the first half, the Cougars struck paydirt, with Preston Morris doing the honors.  The two-point try was no good, and Waterloo was ahead 6-0 going into the locker rooms.

BEAR CREEK — The Bears may have started out on the prowl, but it was the Tigers who had the final growl, as Meek soundly defeated Phillips 37-8 in a Friday the 13th regional victory.