 |
| Former Bibb Graves players Kevin Wilson, left, and Alfred Simmons sat out a year after transferring to Clay County when the Bulldogs canceled their football program. The move paid off for the pair as the Panthers are a victory away from the Class 1A state title. Photo: Trent Penny. |
ASHLAND
Alfred Simmons said it wasnt a hard decision to make.
Same, too, for Kevin Wilson.
It was the summer before their junior year and Bibb Graves High School, the school they were attending at the time, had canceled football. No one knew when or if football would ever start up again in Millerville.
For Simmons, the choice was just too simple.
We were going to have to sit out over there and not have football, he said. Why not just come over here (to Clay County) and sit out a year? At least we knew they were going to have a team the next year.
And for Wilson, it was simpler than that.
If they were going to take football away, he said, then I was just going to have to leave.
And so it was done.
Both Simmons and Wilson came to Clay County High School with plan in hand sit out their junior year for a guaranteed shot at least for the chance to play football, both players primary sport, in their senior year.
Still, both admit they never dreamed it would have worked out like this. Simmons and Wilson and the rest of the Clay County Panthers will take on Augatauville for the Class 1A state championship on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. at Birminghams Legion Field.
I thought when I came here theyd have a good team, Wilson said. But that is the reason I came here, because theyve already won four state championships.
Others had the chance to make the same move. Wilson and Simmons talked about it openly before doing it.
I dont guess anybody really thought we were going to do it, Simmons said.
Over the summer an announcement came, allowing all the players from Bibb Graves make the same move. Two schools in Clay County, Bibb Graves and Mellow Valley, were going to be shut down. All students would be sent to one of two schools, Clay County or Lineville.
Football players started coming into Ashland. They started working out in the summer, readying themselves to become Panthers. But then it was all taken away from them.
Just before the school year started, the decision was reversed. The two schools, Bibb Graves and Mellow Valley, would remain open. All the students from Bibb Graves had to return to Millerville. All except Simmons and Wilson.
Making their decision a year early, they complied with the Alabama High School Athletic Associations guidelines in changing schools and becoming eligible.
You have to feel sorry for all those kids, Clay County head coach Danny Horn. They spend their summer getting ready, working, thinking you were going to get to play and then having it snatched away from you.
Simmons and Wilson had avoided disaster. But that doesnt mean they didnt go through hard times.
All through their junior season they were forced to watch as their new friends strapped on the pads. They had to do the grueling workouts, with no reward to come on Friday nights.
They knew the rewards would come, but for two teenagers that year seemed like an eternity.
It was tough, Simmons said. Every game I was just hoping somebody would say weve sat out long enough, it was alright to play now.
They never did.
They dont have to worry about that anymore. Both have earned the chance to play, and play significant time for the Panthers. Theyve had to make changes in positions and learn new offenses and defenses, but theyll both tell you in a heartbeat that it was well worth it.
The two still from time to time talk about their days at Bibb Graves.
Well talk. Well wonder whats happening right now, Wilson said. Wonder what wed be doing if we were still there.
But for right now, all they have to wonder about is Autaugaville and their matchup Friday.
No one will ever be able to take away what the Bibb Graves transplants have now. And as Horn is quick to remind, Theyre not Bibb Graves kids anymore. Theyre Panthers now. | 