Most teams hit the road this week

By Scott Johnson
General Manager

Last week was another solid week for predictions, save the Brilliant loss to Meek, 46-26. I had the Tigers winning. Due to Labor Day deadlines, coverage for that game was not available for print. You will be able to find it in our sister paper, the Northwest Alabamian.
Phillips lost to Decatur Heritage 41-10 as I predicted. Stats from that game were not received by the by presstime on Monday.
Here are my predictions for this Friday:

Cooper begins life sentence

By Scott Johnson
General Manager

Double springs – Convicted double homicide suspect Jimmy Dale Cooper, 63, has begun his life sentence in the custody of the Alabama Department of Corrections.
According to Winston County Sheriff Horace Moore, Cooper transferred to state custody on Thursday, Aug. 19, after a three-month interlude since his trial on May 24.

Panthers pounce on Tigers

By Luke Brantley
Staff Writer

HACKLEBURG — The Brilliant Tigers fell to the Hackleburg Panthers 26-6 at Hackleburg on Friday. The game was Brilliant’s first game of the season.
The Panthers kicked off to start the game, with Brilliant’s Braden O’Mary on the return. O’Mary took the Tigers to their own 30 yard line.
On their first play, Brilliant quarterback Wiley Hanson kept the ball and ran to the side for a gain of a few yards before he was brought down by the Panther’s defense.

Red Raiders make Vina Red Devils see red

By Luke Vrantley
Staff Writer

VINA — The Marion County Red Raiders traveled to Vina on Friday to take on the Red Devils, shutting them down 48-0.
The Raiders won the coin toss and elected to receive, and began their first drive on their own 35 yard line.
Brodie Silas ran twice for the Raiders for a total of 20 yards. Dee Lipsey was next, rushing for another 17 yards. The Raiders fumbled on the next play, and the Devils recovered.
The Red Raider defense held the line, stopping the Red Devils from gaining yards and forcing a punt.

Scott’s Prediction Round-up

The elephant in the room is that my prediction for a Brilliant Tiger road victory in Hackleburg has left me with my foot in my mouth.
It was the game I was least sure about in my predictions, and I’m not surprised I got it wrong. The Hackleburg Panthers protected their home turf at Ray Family Stadium on Friday night, disappointing the Tigers 26-6. They improve their record in the historic, in-county series to 35-31 over Brilliant, answering back to the Tigers’ 21-0 shut-out last year.

Trump comes to Alabama

Former President Donald Trump paid a visit to the Heart of Dixie last week.  Obviously, this is Trump country.
Alabama was one of Trump’s best states in the 2020 Election.  He got an amazing 65% of the vote in our state. If the turnout for his August 21 rally in rural Cullman County is any indication, he would get that same margin of victory this year if the election were held again.  Many of those in attendance were insistent that Trump won last year’s presidential contest and that it was stolen from him.

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