The AHSAA football playoffs continued over the Thanksgiving holidays and there is nobody left from our area of the state. Hoover and Clay-Chalkville meet in the 6A semis, while Carver-Montgomery will meet Opelika in the other semis. The Cougars have been waiting for a shot at Hoover and they are going to get it this week. Logic tells you that the Bucs will win this one. The thought here is a Hoover-Carver state championship game.

In talking with Larry Davidson about his election to the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, it brought back memories of the many great coaches that I have had the pleasure of working with over the years before moving to this area.

There was Wayne Trawick, my baseball coach at Andalusia High School, who went on to win a lot of games at Central of Phenix City.

Jimmy Foshee , my PE teacher at Andalusia, who went on to greatness as the head football coach at Stanhope Elmore.

Richard Robertson, my basketball coach at Andalusia High School, is still coaching at Andalusia and has over 800 victories on the hard court. Don Sharpe won 58 straight as the head football coach at Andalusia.

There is David Lowery, a good friend who has averaged 12 wins a year at Brantley High School for the last 15 years.

Then you have Mack Wood of Elba High School and Bill Bacon at Enterprise High School with whom I did radio for their games at Elba and Enterprise. These guys have all won state championships and the one thing that sets them all apart is their drive to be at the top and the effort that they put in and how they were always looking for that extra edge.

Now, I have the great fortune to be working with some of the great people here at Oxford High School in the northern part of the state.

My man cave has 5 televisions, which means I can watch five games at once and football Saturdays are a lot of fun and relaxation. One of the unsung teams I have been watching is Vanderbilt. They are playing SEC football and are one of the league’s best-kept secrets. They are 8-4 and have won six straight and absolutely demolished Tennessee and Wake Forest on consecutive weekends. Oxford grad Jared Morse is seeing a lot of playing time on the defensive line for the Commodores. You have not heard, Go Dores!, very much, but it is being heard a lot these days.