High school notebook: COVID won't miss this season as Athens gets forfeit win, open date

David Elwell, The Decatur Daily, Ala.
·3 min read

Aug. 31—The schedule says Athens is supposed to be preparing for a region game with Columbia this week.

That's not going to happen because Columbia has had to forfeit due to COVID for the second straight week.

Instead of a game this week, Athens head coach Cody Gross wants to take advantage of having a week with no Friday night opponent. His team is coming off a 47-7 loss to Class 7A power James Clemens.

"We will spend the week working on us getting better," Gross said.

Athens has its home opener Sept. 10 vs. Hazel Green.

COVID was the giant story last football season. Unfortunately, it is still a big story this season. According to the Alabama High School Athletic Association, there have been 14 forfeits and five canceled games through the first two weeks of the season. Those numbers are way down from last year at this time when there were 58 forfeits and 16 canceled games.

There is a difference between a forfeit and a canceled game. A forfeit is when one team can't play for whatever reason and the team that can play takes a 1-0 win. If both schools agree not to play, the game is canceled and neither team gets a win.

Since the region standings determine which teams make the playoffs, those games cannot be canceled. They have to be a forfeit. So Athens' record goes to 2-1 overall and 1-0 in Class 6A, Region 8.

Last season, Athens and Decatur Heritage had to forfeit one game each. West Morgan, Falkville, Ardmore, Lawrence County and Tanner each received a forfeit win. East Lawrence received two forfeit wins.

—If career wins were poker chips, there would be a lot on the table when Muscle Shoals visits Decatur on Friday at Ogle Stadium. Muscle Shoals head coach Scott Basden, who grew up in Trinity, has 189 career wins. Decatur's Jere Adcock has 174 career wins.

That's a combined 363 wins and a lot of poker chips.

—Speaking of big numbers, Hartselle travels to Cullman on Friday for the 100th game in the series that started in 1916. Hartselle holds a 48-47-4 advantage.

—Speaking of even bigger numbers, the T.R. Miller Tigers in Atmore could become the first high school program in the state to have 700 wins. The Tigers have a record of 699-327-20 that includes five state championships. The Tigers (1-1) host Cottage Hill Christian on Friday.

The Fayette County Tigers had a chance to beat T.R. Miller to 700 wins. Fayette County started the season with 699 wins that include one state championship, but the Tigers opened the season with losses to Winfield, 6-0, and Bibb County, 31-12. Fayette County is open this week. The Tigers' next try at No. 700 is Sept. 10 at Curry.

Oneonta is close behind T.R. Miller and Fayette County with 695 wins. Then it drops off to Deshler with 679. Colbert County and Thomasville have 662. Decatur and Russellville are tied for 12th with 644 wins.

A list of programs in north Alabama with over 500 wins includes Hartselle 633, Guntersville 618, Cullman 603, Athens 578, Addison 570, Huntsville 540, Lauderdale County 531, Sheffield 529 and Scottsboro 517. Also on the list is Hazlewood with 550 wins before the program was shut down in 2008.

— david.elwell@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2395. Twitter @DD_DavidElwell.