Daily Double 11-18

– posted by Cody Whitlock

It’s one week until turkey time …

Here are some high school headlines to whet your appetite until Thursday night basketball and Friday’s quarterfinal round of the state football playoffs.

In one of my most enjoyable interviews since I’ve been in the business, I chatted with Hartselle defensive coordinator Larry Peck about his ability to consistently make Hartselle one of the best defensive teams in North Alabama. Click here to see what he had to say.   

Mike Cummings — who, by the way, celebrates a birthday this weekend — catches up on all things preps in his prep notebook debut. Decatur Heritage’s basketball teams have included some pretty tough county schools on their schedules.

And here are a couple of hoops results that were reported late Tuesday night.

I guess I wouldn’t be a team player if I didn’t share a video from River City Rumblings’ blog brother, The Daily Bama Blog. So here’s Michael Casagrande’s gameday video from Bama’s win against Mississippi State last week.

Kneejerk reactions: Clay-Chalkville 42, Austin 19

— posted by Mike Cummings

Three quick thoughts on Austin’s 42-19 loss to Clay-Chalkville on Friday night.

1. Clay-Chalkville was the better team, but the scoreline was slightly deceiving. Yes, Austin committed four turnovers, but so did Clay-Chalkville. Both teams turned two of those turnovers into touchdowns, so the difference was what the teams did the rest of the time. Clay-Chalkville outgained Austin by about 100 yards and scored three times on drives that spanned two plays or fewer. Austin moved the ball at times but shot itself in the foot seemingly every time it did something right.
2. I didn’t have time to research this in time for Friday’s deadline, but Austin is now out of the Class 6A playoff race. Even if the Black Bears (3-3 in the region) win next week and force an unlikely three-way tie with Oxford and Clay-Chalkville (both 4-2), they still wouldn’t get in. According to AHSAA rules, if more than two teams are tied in the region standings, the team that beat the others makes the playoffs as the highest seed among the three. Since Oxford beat both Austin and Clay-Chalkville, the Yellow Jackets would receive the third seed. Then, Clay-Chalkville would get the head-to-head tiebreaker over Austin.
3. Another oversight (and this should never happen) was Austin’s individual leaders. Seth Lynch led the Black Bears with 86 rushing yards on 17 carries, while Josh Walker added 24 yards on nine carries. Three quarterbacks saw action for Austin. Nick Jones started and went 6-for-7 with 65 yards and an interception, all before halftime. Morgan Wallace went 1-for-3 for 11 yards and one pick on one possession right after halftime. And Chris Sparkman finished 7-for-17 with 55 yards, all after halftime. Together, the three were 14-for-27 for 131 yards and two interceptions.

Football, food and friends

— posted by Mike Cummings

Here’s a sneak peek at what I’m working on for tomorrow. It’s a feature story about “The Three Wills” of Hartselle High’s football team. Individually, the three are known as quarterback Will Lang, receiver Will Tiffin and center/defensive end Will Swann. But they might as well be considered one unit.

Just take a look at their weekly routine.

These days, the three Wills have perfected the art of hanging out. After practice on Mondays, the three often eat at El Portal, a Mexican restaurant here on U.S. 31. On Tuesdays, it’s Roosters in Priceville. After church services on Wednesday, the three enjoy a meal with the team on Thursday.

And on Friday nights after football games — well, it’s best to let them explain.

“We go to the Huddle House pretty much every Friday night and basically see how much we can eat,” said Lang, who usually picks up the tab despite winning the informal eating contest.

Whew. I’m kind of relieved I’m too old to play prep football. I don’t think I could keep up with the required eating.

For more, check out tomorrow’s edition of The Decatur Daily.