OPELIKA —
Opelika’s Cross Country team ran in the “Jesse Owens Classic” at Oakville Indian Mounds Park last Saturday in Oakville, Alabama. This is the same course at which the AHSAA State Cross Country Championship is held.
The results are listed below for the girls and boys that participated in the meet.
5000 METER RUN
GIRLS:
21:14.50 — Paola Torres, 62nd, Girls Silver
21:28.70 — Margaret Bice, 72nd, Girls Silver
22:24.30 — Violett Alcorn, 116th, Girls Silver
23:03.90 — Joanne Smith T, 157th, Girls Silver
24:24.30 — Susan Gaston, 208th, Girls Silver
25:29.24 — Carlie Moates, 111th, Girls Red
26:29.88 — Frida Cruz Valdez, 142nd. Girls Red
26:52.61 — Ellie Kendrick, 151st, Girls Red
28:01.87 — Kaitlyn Brown, 171st, Girls Red
28:21.51 — Kiley Brooks, 181st, Girls Red
5000 METER RUN
BOYS:
16:11.41 — Brantley Turnham, 55th, Boys Gold
16:50.21 — Chas Brewer, 101st, Boys Gold
17:57.32 — Michael Hart, 179th, Boys Gold
18:38.39 — Trey White, 209th, Boys Gold
18:52.35 — Zane Sexton, 215th, Boys Gold
19:08.75 — Zalen Shaw, 225th, Boys Gold
19:37.91 — Amari Bynum, 237th, Boys Gold
19:44.97 — Burch Harris, 232nd, Boys Silver
19:59.03 — Ben Bell, 245th, Boys Silver
20:14.72 —Murphy Williams, 256th, Boys Silver
20:32.9 — Tripp Campbell, 264th, Boys Silver
21:04.35 — Alexander Burgess, 273rd, Boys Silver
22:55.50 — Benjamin Owens, 285th, Boys Silver
24:19.75 — Kadenden Hua, 390th, Boys Red
25:28.55 — Justin Watson, 414th, Boys Red
27:07.29 —Daylan Sanders, 433rd, Boys Red
The OHS cross country teams will compete in the “Smiths Station Panther XC Meet” at Smiths Station High School.
*Opelika did not host any home cross country meets this season.
GIRLS FLAG FOOTBALL
The Opelika High flag football team (10-4) beat Auburn 26-7 last week at Bulldog Stadium. Auburn took a 6-0 lead after returning an interception for a TD. Lady Bulldog quarterback Cherdi Daniel threw three TD passes: two to Z Fanning and one to Kahliya Cloud. Jasmine Smith returned an interception for the fourth TD. OHS head coach Jaqlyn Button praised her team for playing solid football and mentioned the players above and Ashley Hilyer for their effort.
AHS BEATS OHS 51-29
Auburn defeated Opelika 51-29 last Friday at Duck Samford Stadium in Auburn. It was the Dogs’ third straight loss after beating rival Central.
The two teams battled to a 21-21 tie at halftime, but the Tigers scored 30 points in the second half while holding the Dogs to 8 points. Auburn rolled up 515 yards on offense, 154 yards rushing and 361 yards passing while OHS gained 193 yards passing yards and 112 yards rushing.
Opelika’s points came from a few players: Roman Gagliano’s 1-yard run for the first TD and 21-yard TD pass to Bryce Speakman; Kaden Cooper ran 7 yards for the third score; and Malik Autry returned a fumble for the final Bulldog TD. Will Carroll made all three PATs.
Opelika plays host to Smiths Station Friday, Oct. 7, at Bulldog Stadium for their Homecoming game. SSHS enters the game with a 1-5 overall record and 1-3 in region play. OHS and SSHS have not played since 2017, a 51-0 Bulldog victory. Opelika has dominated the series with 21 wins and only two losses.
The Panthers beat Prattville 30-21, lost to LaGrange (49-30), Central (38-0), Enterprise (58-14), Dothan (57-43) and Benjamin Russell (46-28).
Opelika can finish second in the region and host a playoff game by winning the final three region games against SSHS, Enterprise and Dothan.
You can purchase tickets on gofan.co and listen to the Opelika broadcast on WKKR 97.7 KICKER FM, starting with the pre-game show at 6:30 p.m.
D. Mark Mitchell is the sports director at iHeartMedia, host of “On the Mark” Fox Sports the Game 910-1310, co-chair of the Auburn-Opelika Sports Council, chairman of the Super 7 and Dixie Boys Baseball state director.
