Talkin’ Football
- Updated: August 6, 2024
A playoff nearmiss and an energized community give White Plains the fever for the flavor for a better day heading into Jennings’ second season as head coach.
Editor’s note: High school football practice starts this week, and East Alabama Sports Today editor Joe Medley has begun his annual round of preseason visits to football-playing schools in Calhoun County. Check out East Alabama Sports Today’s Facebook page for live interviews each weekday leading up to season openers. Columns and key facts will also appear at EASportsToday.com and related social-media platforms.
WHITE PLAINS — White Plains can take a lot from its near-breakthrough into the playoffs in 2023. More than anything, the Wildcats can take one perfect moment.
They were catching their breath in the break between the fourth quarter and overtime against Munford. A win, and the Wildcats make the playoffs for the first time since 1994 and only the second time in program history.
Players and coaches had a moment to look around. They saw a full, enthusiastic home grandstand. They saw fans on the hill, between the home grandstand and school building.
They saw what so many who have tried to make White Plains football competitive have long hoped to see.
“You’re able to stand around for a few minutes and just kind of look around,” second year White Plains coach Blake Jennings said. “They were able to see how many people were here from White Plains, and the community support.
“That was one of the biggest things.”
White Plains lost that game in overtime but gained a taste. Jennings has had a full offseason cycle to stoke the appetite, and seven of his nine All-Calhoun County players from last season return.
A cursory look at what Jennings can put on the field this season includes a sophomore running back who runs a 4.3-second 40-yard dash. P.J. Holloway gives White Plains an element it hasn’t always had.
“He went to Alabama this summer and did a bunch of those camps,” Jennings said. “At three of those camps, he did a sub-4.4. He’s done a great job all summer long of just improving his craft.”
He’ll run behind a veteran offensive line, and at least one of those behemoths will stand out to anyone who sees the Wildcats play this season. Sophomore Hudson Inglasbe hit a growth spurt, reaching 6-foot-6, 270 pounds, and will no doubt remind Wildcat fans of Will O’Steen.
White Plains returns its starting quarterback. Crew Martin showed positive signs when he became the starting quarterback midway through last season, and he’s had an offseason to develop.
“Last year, about week five, was when we threw him in there and just said go with it,” Jennings said.”We were throwing him into the fire a little bit, but even the next week against Heflin, he had some big passes for us at that point, on third and fourth down.
“Crew has really improved. He’s also gained about 15 pounds. He’s right at 6-foot. He’s another one that’s went to a bunch of camps this summer. He’s put the work in. There was a switch that flipped with him three or four months ago where he said, ‘I want to be the guy.'”
Between camps at Alabama, 4.3 40s and 6-6 linemen, things one can say about White Plains coming into this season traditionally come up in conversations about other programs.
White Plains came so close to making the playoffs in 2023, it’s not beyond the pale to think it can happen in 2024 … the 30th year since the program’s only playoff team.
The Wildcats will have to find a place among the top four in a new region that includes back-to-back Class 4A runnerup Cherokee County, Alexandria, Anniston, Ashville, Etowah, Hokes Bluff and Oneonta. Then again, they nearly got it done in a brutal Region 4 last year.
There’s no reason for White Plains not to dream, and the Wildcats remember well what the dream looked like on a late-October night last season.
They saw what a chance to make history can look like, and how it can look if what would be considered history now becomes situation normal some day.
Wildcats facts
Things to know about White Plains football heading into the 2024 season:
—Blake Jennings enters his second season as White Plains’ head football coach. .
—White Plains finished 2-8 in 2023 and 2-4 in Class 4A, Region 4. The Wildcats seek their first winning season since going 6-4 in 2003. They’ve finished 5-5 five times since then but came within one win of their first playoff berth since 1994 last season.
—Key graduation losses from 2023 include All-Calhoun County QB/RB/WR/LB Dylan Barksdale.
—The following All-Calhoun County picks return: junior DB Rodney Peery, sophomore RB P.J. Holloway, senior OL Dalton Luker, senior LB Ty Roberts, sophomore DB/K Bryson Cheatwood, junior DB/KR Hayden Barksdale, senior WR Ethan Turner, sophomore DL Logan Laube, senior LB Patrick Sams.
–Players to watch: Sophomore OL Hudson Ingalsbe hit a growth spurt, up to 6-foot-6, 270 pounds, and will add an imposing presence on a veteran offensive line. Sophomore QB Crew Martin became the starter midway through 2023 and comes into 2024 with experience.
— Realignment moved White Plains back north after two cycles in Class 4A South. In Region 6, White Plains will be aligned with Alexandria, Anniston, Ashville, Cherokee County, Etowah, Hokes Bluff and Oneonta.
—Joe Medley
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