Valley Cubs hit 600
- Updated: September 11, 2020
County roundup: Alexandria blanks St. Clair County to earn program’s 600th all-time victory; shutouts galore
FRIDAY’S CALHOUN COUNTY GAMES
Alexandria 38, St. Clair County 0
Cherokee County 43, Anniston 27
Faith Temple (JCA) 54, Tabernacle 26
Jacksonville 46, White Plains 24
Ohatchee 35, Hokes Bluff 0
Oxford 56, Southside 0
Piedmont 54, Glencoe 0
Pleasant Valley 56, Weaver 8
Wellborn 20, Saks 0
Winterboro 42, Donoho 13
By East Alabama Sports Today
ODENVILLE — Ronnie Royal rushed for 261 yards and scored three long touchdowns and the Alexandria defense allowed their hosts less than 200 yards of offense as the Valley Cubs blanked St. Clair County 38-0 to become the first team in Calhoun County and 23rd in Alabama to win 600 games all-time.
Valley Cubs head coach Todd Ginn was the quarterback for win No. 400 (Sept. 20, 1996, vs. Butler). His dad Larry was in his final season as the coach when they got No. 500 (Oct. 6, 2006, vs. Guntersville) and he quarterbacked No. 200 (Nov. 17, 1967, vs. Wellborn).
Alexandria is now 600-333-29 in its history. Fayette County is the state’s all-time leader in victories (697). Oxford is the next closest in Calhoun County with 580.
“The secret, I believe, is true Valley Cubs stick together, they work hard and they give you all they have,” Todd Ginn said. “Their parents let you coach their kids up, don’t complain or ever look to put (or want) their kids anywhere else. There will always be a few outliers, but we don’t consider those Alexandria people anyway.
“I’m really happy for our community and all the players and coaches — past and present — that get to celebrate it. I really wish Dad was still around to witness it.”
Royal scored on runs of 26 and 51 yards and hooked up on an 80-yard pass play from Javais McGhee. Seven of his 13 carries went for 20 yards or more, including consecutive runs of 26, 22 and 27 and back-to-back runs of 40. Three of his last four runs went for 131 yards.
Antonio Ross scored on a 2-yard run and a 39-yard pass from Wesley Wright. Cleat Forrest kicked a 27-yard field goal to close the scoring.
ALEXANDRIA 38, ST. CLAIR CO. 0
Alexandria 14 14 7 3 — 38
St. Clair Co. 0 0 0 0 — 0
A – Ronnie Royal 26 run (Cleat Forrest kick), 8:20 1Q
A – Antonio Ross 2 run (Cleat Forrest kick), 3:42 1Q
A – Ronnie Royal 80 pass from Javais McGhee (Cleat Forrest kick), 10:57 2Q
A – Antonio Ross 39 pass from Wesley Wright (Cleat Forrest kick), 0:03 2Q
A – Ronnie Royal 51 run (Cleat Forrest kick), 9:36 3Q
A – Cleat Forrest 27 FG, 11:03 4Q
Wellborn 20, Saks 0
Calvin Spinks, Jett Smith and Jesse Lewis all scored touchdowns and Wellborn’s defense kept Saks off the board with several big plays.
Spinks, who led the third-ranked Panthers (3-0) with 71 yards rushing, scored on a 2-yard run. Smith had a 20-yard run and Lewis scored on a 3-yard run in the third quarter.
It was the Panthers’ first shutout in the series since 2000. The Panthers have allowed only 21 points this season.
Piedmont 54, Glencoe 0
GLENCOE – Jack Hayes had another big game, throwing touchdown passes to four different receivers, to lead top-ranked Piedmont to its third straight victory.
Hayes had touchdown passes of 14 yards to Elijah Johnson, 15 yards to Coleman Reid, 16 yards to Jadon Calhoun and 33 yards to Austin Estes. He now had 10 touchdown passes to five different receivers in three games, with Estes and Calhoun each grabbing three.
Johnson added a 1-yard scoring run. Cody Holloway, Parker Thornton and Luke Rhineheart also had touchdown runs.
It was the Bulldogs fifth straight win in the series and first shutout since 2001. The Bulldogs have allowed only 13 points in three games this season.
Winterboro 42, Donoho 13
ALPINE – The Donoho bus broke down on the way to the game and it was bad news the rest of the way for the Falcons.
Josh James scored three touchdowns and Brody Hamm had two as No. 9 Winterboro, ranked for the first time since 2011, went to 4-0 under new coach Skylar Mansfield (three wins and a forfeit) for the first time since 2011.
Amari Smedley scored Donoho’s first touchdown on a 50-yard run in the first quarter to tie the game, then it was all Winterboro. The Falcons closed the scoring on a 17-yard pass from Ridge Hopkins to Grant Steed.
WINTERBORO 42, DONOHO 13
Donoho 6 0 0 7 — 13
Winterboro 14 22 6 0 — 42
W – Brody Hamm 4 pass from Jake Travis (kick failed)
D – Amari Smedley 50 run (PAT failed)
W – Josh James 9 run (Josh James run)
W – Troy McKinney 42 run (Brody Hamm kick)
W – Josh James run (Brody Hamm kick)
W – Josh James 70 run (Chance Dandridge pass from Jake Travis)
W – Brody Hamm 41 run (PAT failed)
D – Grant Steed 17 pass from Ridge Hopkins (Ethan Miles Jamison kick)
Cherokee Co. 43, Anniston 27
Cherokee County senior quarterback Slade Alexander turned in another standout performance that kept Anniston from getting its first victory of the season.
A week after accounting for seven total touchdowns in a win over Springville, Alexander ran for 121 yards on 24 carries and three scores, completed 5-of-7 pass attempts for 65 yards and another touchdown and returned an interception for another score in the fourth quarter.
Anniston (0-4, 0-2) twice led in the first half, but each time Alexander was there to answer. Jamarius Billingsley’s 14-yard touchdown run in the second quarter broke a scoreless tie, but Alexander countered with his first score, a 5-yard run. Brandon Roberts put the Bulldogs back on top with a 7-yard run, but Alexander answered with a 2-yard run for a 14-14 halftime tie.
The Warriors (3-1, 1-0) took their first lead of the game in the third quarter on Alexander’s 34-yard touchdown pass to Whit Johnson.
Damien Ramsey, who also rushed for 121 yards (on 15 carries), stretched the Warriors lead to 28-14 in the fourth quarter on a 20-yard run, but Kentrez Hunt pulled Anniston within a touchdown on his 3-yard run.
But Alexander made sure the Bulldogs would get no closer. He scored again on a 1-yard run. Johnson added the 2-point conversion for a 36-21 lead and the he intercepted Anniston quarterback Kamron Sandlin and returned it for a touchdown to stretch the Warrior lead to 43-21.
Sandlin scored the game’s final touchdown on a 10-yard run. He led the Bulldogs by completing 13-of-20 pass attempts for 206 yards. He
also had 30 yards on seven carries. Taishun Hall was Sandlin’s top receiver with six catches for 131 yards.
CHEROKEE COUNTY 43, ANNISTON 27
Cherokee Co. 0 14 7 22 — 43
Anniston 0 14 0 13 — 27
A – Jamarius Billingsley 14 run (Kevin Escareno kick)
C – Slade Alexander 5 run (Daniel Mejia kick)
A – Brandon Roberts 7 run (Kevin Escareno kick)
C – Slade Alexander 2 run (Daniel Mejia kick)
C – Whit Johnson 34 pass from Slade Alexander (Daniel Mejia kick)
C – Damien Ramsey 20 run (Daniel Mejia kick)
A – Kentrez Hunt 3 run (Kevin Escareno kick)
C – Slade Alexander 1 run (Whit Johnson run)
C – Slade Alexander interception return (Daniel Mejia kick)
A – Kamron Sandlin 10 run (kick failed)
| Cher (43) | Ann (27) | |
| 22 | First downs | 20 |
| 44-278 | Rushes-yards | 38-206 |
| 5-7-0 | Comp-Att-Int | 13-20-2 |
| 65 | Passing yards | 206 |
| 1-1 | Fumbles-Lost | 1-1 |
| 1-26.0 | Punts-avg | 2-21.0 |
| 5-30 | Penalties-yards | 16-135 |
Ohatchee 35, Hokes Bluff 0
OHATCHEE – After playing a big region game the week before without much emotion and having their 24-game regular-season winning streak snapped, the Indians came out and posted their first shutout of the year, beating Hokes Bluff for only the third time in the series and first time since 1938.
Eli Ennis and Noah Fuller each scored two touchdowns and Devin Howell scored once. Fuller rushed for 120 yards on 18 carries. The Ohatchee defense held the Eagles to 92 yards of net offense, forced four turnovers and blocked a punt.
OHATCHEE 35, HOKES BLUFF 0
Hokes Bluff 0 0 0 0 — 0
Ohatchee 7 21 7 0 — 35
O – Eli Ennis 7 run (Eli Ennis kick), 1:29 1Q
O – Noah Fuller 43 run (kick failed), 10:58 2Q
O – Noah Fuller 6 run (Eli Ennis run), 6:31 2Q
O – Devin Howell 18 run (Eli Ennis kick), 1:42 2Q
O – Eli Ennis 24 run (Eli Ennis kick), 3:49 3Q
| HB (0) | Ohat (35) | |
| 8 | First downs | 14 |
| 31-75 | Rushes-yards | 44-297 |
| 2-10-3 | Comp-Att-Int | 0-0-0 |
| 17 | Passing yards | 0 |
| 1-1 | Fumbles-Lost | 0-0 |
| 4-18.8 | Punts-avg | 3-31.3 |
| 4-20 | Penalties-yards | 5-50 |
Pleasant Valley 56, Weaver 8
WEAVER – The Raiders picked up their first win of the season, while handing Weaver its 14th straight loss going back to 2018.
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