COUNTY TEAMS AT THE 2023 HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL MEDIA DAY

By Cinthia Rico
Last Friday, DeKalb and Jackson Counties’ head football coaches and selected players gathered at the Tom Bevill Enrichment Center in Rainsville for a preseason football media day.

As the start of the 2023 high school football season drew near, coaches and players discussed their anticipation, hopes, and objectives before taking the field with a clean slate.

At this point, every team is optimistic about the upcoming season. Here are some of the highlights from Friday:

Scottsboro is looking forward to a new season with a stronger team: Wildcat head football coach Cris Bell, who’s entering his third consecutive season at the helm said he’s excited about where his team is. “This year we’re not have to reteach things as we’ve had in the past. They’re starting to adapt across the board,” Bell added.

“I think there’s still a lot of room to grow, but we are certainly much further ahead than we’ve been at this time in the past.”

North Jackson enters the season with a winning mindset: Chiefs’ head football coach Joel Hollis said the team is excited for the upcoming season. “Our guys have been working extremely hard throughout the course of the summer, getting closer and tighter as a group,” he noted.

While working on learning from their mistakes and successes the last two years, Hollis said they’ve had a really good summer. “This team is showing a lot of signs of being the disciplined style football team that we want to be. I think it was a learning curve the last two years – we’re very pleased where we are at this point.”

Pisgah eyes on playoffs: Pisgah’s season head football coach Luke Pruitt remarked on the team’s outstanding season last year, which ended with an 11-3 record and a quarterfinal appearance. “We’ve talked in the offseason about trying to get past that point,” he said.

“Last year is behind us, this is a new season and the dynamic of the team is different – we’re looking to try to go beyond last season.”

North Sand Mountain ready to rise up: With another year of experience under their belt, and a year in the weight room, North Sand Mountain’s season football coach, Keith Kirby is ready to see what his players can do.

“Obviously, we want to go out and win every game we can, and we didn’t get the results that we wanted every time last year, but last year is over with,” he said. “It’s a new year, a new team – ready to rise up.”

Section program building continues with new season: Leading the Lions for his first year, football head coach Riley Edwards said right now a big focus involves leadership and character development.

“Developing and setting our standards to where we want it was our number one goal coming in,” he said. “We are completely reestablishing the whole program – working on building the players up, our quick game and making improvements where needed.”

Woodville concentrated on the present challenge: Leading the Panthers for his first season, head football coach Joel Poole said he’s looking to build on the team’s strengths they’ve acquired in the weight room and their past experience to build a solid defense and play fundamental football.

“We got some good experience coming back and we’re trying to build on that leadership,” he said. “I am looking forward to seeing us play.”

Full interviews from the 2023 Football Media Days can be found on the North Jackson Press Facebook page.

Also last week, Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) Executive Director Alvin Briggs reaffirmed the AHSAA would uphold its commitments to play its state championship Super 7 series in the three community rotations, Auburn, Tuscaloosa, and Birmingham during the sixth annual East Alabama High School Media Days held at the Bottling Plant Event Center in Opelika.