Power of positivity

Weaver overcomes a season of challenges, completes midseason turnaround with big finish against J.B. Pennington to clinch first playoff berth since 2018.

This week’s area scoreboard

THURSDAY, Oct. 31
Alexandria 28, Munford 21

FRIDAY, Nov. 1
Jacksonville 28, Anniston 24, FINAL
White Plains 42, Cleburne County 13, FINAL
Donoho 28, Cedar Bluff 21, FINAL
Piedmont 48, Glencoe 10, FINAL
Hokes Bluff 44, Randolph County 12, FINAL
Jacksonville Christian 37, Russell (Miss.) 26, FINAL
Etowah 57, Lincoln 32, FINAL
Oxford 34, Florence 10, FINAL
Spring Garden 40, Ranburne 7, FINAL
Locust Fork 54, Saks 32, FINAL
Pell City 45, Southside 7, FINAL
Weaver 54, J.B. Pennington 21, FINAL
Westbrook Christian 47, Wellborn 24, FINAL
Horseshoe Bend 48, Woodland 28, FINAL
Open: Central-Clay, Cherokee County, Handley, Ohatchee, Pleasant Valley, Talladega, Wadley.

Football playoff pairings

First-round pairings for coverage-area teams. Full playoff brackets can be found on this link.

THURSDAY, Nov. 7
Class 4A
Handley at St. Michael
Class 3A
Ohatchee at Fyffe

FRIDAY, Nov. 8
CLASS 6A
Buckhorn at Oxford
Mountain Brook at Southside
CLASS 5A
Greenville at Central-Clay
Jacksonville at Scottsboro
CLASS 4A
Westminster Christian at Cherokee County
Madison Academy at Hokes Bluff
Anniston at Randolph
Alexandria at North Jackson
CLASS 3A
Collinsville at Piedmont
Weaver at Sylvania
Trinity at Randolph County
CLASS 2A
Sulligent at Pleasant Valley
CLASS 1A
Valley Head at Wadley
Victory Christian at Spring Garden
Donoho at Appalachian

By Joe Medley
East Alabama Sports Today

WEAVER — In balance with his second season as Weaver’s head coach, Ken Cofer went from an icy cold splash to the kind of warmth that fuels a coach’s fire Friday.

Bearcats stalked him with a water cooler on the sideline during the final two minutes of their 54-21 victory over J.B. Pennington, a victory that clinched Class 3A, Region 6’s third playoff qualifying spot for Weaver.

Soon after his cold soaking and the postgame handshake line, came warmth.

It came in the form of lineman Zachary Rhodes wrapping his beefy arms around his taller coach with a simple two-word message: “Thank you! Thank you!”

Wide receiver KeShawn Allen soon wrapped his arms around his coach: “We did it! We did it!”

Indeed, Weaver clinched its first playoff berth since 2018, while scoring its fourth win in five games, after going 7-42 over five years and 0-5 to start this season.

The turnaround happened not because Cofer and his staff found magic Xs and Os, Cofer said. It happened when he and his team, following the example, dug deep and found the warmth of positivity amid the chill.

It all started after Weaver lost its homecoming game to Winterboro, 27-13 on Sept. 27.

“We stopped a lot of the negativity,” Cofer said. “We had to get rid of some of that, and I was part of it. That weekend was pretty miserable. I just gave everything to the good Lord instead of trying to fix it by myself. I can’t do it by myself. 

“I just said, ‘I’m going to go out here and have a great time with these kids. I’m going to push them, but I’m going to love them like I said I would. It’s that simple.”

Cofer and the Bearcats can be forgiven a little negativity. Say nothing about the last five years, which included two winless seasons, but the Alabama High School Athletic Association ruled two linemen Deno Mallow and Tai Thomas ineligible before the season started.

An injury scare prompted emergency personnel to airlift quarterback/defensive back Kaden Gooden off of the field after a Sept. 6 loss to Wellborn. 

It turned out Gooden was not seriously injured, but the Bearcats got another scare Thursday. While trick-or-treating in the Buckhorn subdivision, running back Damerion Welch suffered a stab wound in the leg.

Cofer got the call Thursday, while he was near Atlanta, visiting his stepmother in an ICU. Jane Cofer died Friday morning at age 79.

“I was on the other side of Atlanta, and I’m getting phone call after phone call about” Welch’s situation, Cofer said.

Welch watched Friday’s game on crutches.

“He’s good,” Cofer said. “It really worried me. It didn’t hit any bone. It was just tissue. They stapled him up and said he could play if he wanted to. Just wrap it up.

“I’ve had staples in my leg before. I don’t know how anybody could play with staples in their leg, so I wasn’t about to chance it.”

Cofer made that call with Weaver needing a win over J.B. Pennington to clinch a playoff berth. A win coupled with a Westbrook Christian victory over Wellborn would give Weaver the region’s No. 3 qualifying spot.

During more negative times, Welch’s non-football injury a night before such a big game might just wreck the Bearcats.

These are not negative times in Weaver.

Gooden rushed for 221 yards as the Bearcats built a 20-14 halftime lead. That included touchdown runs of one, 70 and one yard.

J.B. Pennington, who had double teamed Allen the first half and, at times, doubleteamed Junior Allen as well, risked single coverage. Gooden threw touchdown passes of 33 and 54 yards to KeShawn Allen and 79 yards to Junior Allen in the second half.

Gooden added a 7–yard touchdown run and finished 245 yards on 22 carries and four touchdowns. He also completed nine of 12 passes for 260 yards and three touchdowns, accounting for 505 total yards and seven touchdowns.

Junior Allen caught five passes for 151 yards and a score, and KeyShawn Allen had four catches for 109 yards and two touchdowns.

Reserve Leegion Bragg’s 20-yard touchdown run put the cherry on top. Soon thereafter, Cofer got his cooler bath, then his hugs. And thank-yous from Rhodes.

“The way he coaches us and leads us is just amazing,” Rhodes said. “He’s like a second father in the house. He’s like the main guy. He’s like a dad we never had.

“Coach Cofer has always given us a great mentality. He always inspires us. That’s why I love this man. We all love him. … Coach Cofer was having tough times, and he always came with a smile.”

Positivity planted the seed for change, but something good needed to happen. A shocking 45-34 victory over Locust Fork, which came a week after Weaver beat Glencoe for the Bearcats’ first win this season, did the trick.

Specifically, it was Gooden’s 99-yard touchdown pass to KeShawn Allen in the Locust Fork game. 

“That changed our season,” Cofer said. “Everybody says Glencoe, but I think it was the 99-yard touchdown against Locust Fork. We got our swagger back.

“I told them, ‘It’s us against everybody, because nobody gives us a freaking chance anymore, so get after that tail.’”

As for the cold of a cooler bath and the warmth of hugs from his players Friday, Cofer sees only one cause.

“Our attitude changed, and God saved me again,” Cofer said. “Like he always does.”

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