Prep notebook: First week of high school football left plenty of highlights
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Aug. 25—The first week of high school football has come and gone but not without plenty to talk about.
Key wins, including a program's first ever, as well as some monster individual performances headlined an eventful first Friday night.
Here were some of the biggest highlights:
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New faces, same Hartselle
Hartselle went through a lot of changes this offseason by replacing nearly 30 seniors from last year's 10-win team and hiring a new offensive coordinator in Grant Lake, the team's first new offensive play caller in seven years. You wouldn't have been able to tell it though as it was business as usual in J.P. Cain on Friday night.
The Tigers cruised by Bob Jones 35-6 with junior quarterback Asa Priola passing for 133 yards and two touchdowns in his first career start. They also rushed 236 yards as a team, with sophomore Maddox Southern rushing for 124 yards and a touchdown, while the defense forced three turnovers, a safety and had a blocked punt.
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The beat goes on at Priceville
Speaking of changes, Priceville has a new head coach this season after replacing previous head coach Seth Parker, who was named the 2025 Decatur Daily Coach of the Year for improving Priceville's record from 2-8 in 2024 to 8-4. The Bulldogs promoted defensive coordinator Austin Burke to fill the role, and after one game it doesn't look like they missed a beat.
Priceville shut out Brewer 46-0 with Burke's defense forcing four interceptions, two of which came from Tripp Sivley. Quarterback Jack Eubanks, who's coming off an All-State season in 2025, shined by passing for 134 yards, rushing for 43 yards and accounting for three touchdowns. They also kept up the Priceville standard of a strong running game by rushing for 244 yards as a team with seven different players.
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The beast was unleashed in Lawrence County
The best performance by a single player on Friday undoubtedly came from Lawrence County running back Tavian Jones. After breaking school records and rushing for over 1,000 yards as a freshman, Jones kicked it up a notch in the first game of his sophomore campaign. He carried the ball 29 times for 252 yards and four touchdowns in a 34-12 win over East Lawrence which included a 97-yard scoring run, the longest touchdown run in school history
Here were other highlights and storylines from the first week of high school football:
—After a 28-6 loss to Athens on Friday, West Morgan is in unfamiliar territory. The loss ended a 34-game regular season winning streak that was the longest in the state. The last time the Rebels lost a regular season game was in October 2022, when the current seniors were in eighth grade. They'll try to rebound this Friday against a Madison Academy team also coming off a loss, 24-21 to Mars Hill.
—In its first varsity game in school history Lindsay Lane came away with a big win, knocking off Brindlee Mountain 21-6. Willie Vandiver scored two touchdowns and Jack McWhorter had another.
—Despite having to replace quarterback Tasean Love and playing without star running back Savarius Evans, Hatton still managed to top Brooks 27-20. Quarterback Cade Parham shined in his debut, throwing for 194 yards and two touchdowns. Nyzae Gamble rushed for 128 yards and a score, while Quenderius Bolding caught four passes for 95 yards and a score.
—Tanner broke in its brand new turf field with a bang, racing past fellow Limestone foe Elkmont 33-0. Isaiah Pryor and Kaden Freeman both rushed for over 140 yards with Pryor having two touchdowns and Freeman having one.
—Columbia High School in Huntsville made national headlines on Saturday when the Eagles defeated Greensboro 41-14 to end a 101-game losing streak that began in 2015 and was the longest in the country. Columbia is coached by former Auburn receiver Sammie Coates.
— caleb.suggs@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2395. Twitter @CalebSuggs2
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