BY D MARK MITCHELL
OPINION —
Opelika High school and Opelika Middle School Cross County Teams participated in the Smiths Station XC Invitational last weekend. Opelika’s Brantley Turnham won the meet by running the 5000 Meters in 17:44.32.
Congrats Brantley Turnham
GIRLS 5000 METER RUN
20:44.65 – Caroline Couey – 3rd
24:21.08 – Violett Alcorn – 21st
26:10.09 – Frida Cruz Valdez – 26th
28:20.34 – Alyson Culberson – 40th
29:53.97 – Carlie Moates – 47th
BOYS 5000 METER RUN
17:14.32 – Brantley Turnham – 1st
19:13.08 – Amari Bynum – 11th
20:14.62 – Aiden Stephens – 24th
20:20.68 – Caleb Thornton – 25th
20:35.94 – Drew Schoonoven – 28th
20:43.05 – Murphy Williams – 30th
20:49.23 -Ben Bell -32nd
20:51.25 – Burch Harris – 33rd
21:22.57 – Zane Sexton – 40th
21:37.51 – Seth Huling – 45th
21:39.20 – Alexander Burgess – 46th
21:53.61 – John Greer -53rd
22:07.35 – Tripp Campbell – 58th
23:39.41 -Teotl Heredia – 73rd
23:42.77 – Daylan Sanders – 74th
25:14.35- Ephraim Thornton -87th
Opelika Middle School’s girls and boys Cross Country team ran in the Smiths Station XC Inviatational last Saturday in Smiths Station. The overall results for girls and boys are below:
13:04.26- Sutton Soltau – 9th
13:17.07 – Aiden Tidwell – 10th
14:27.08 – Katherine Fernandez – 5th
14:35.32 – Ashton Lester – 21st
15:57.32 – Shepherd Railey – 27th
16:05.30 Kaleb Gilchrist – 28th
16:19.81 -Ally Corbitt – 7th
17:37.54 -Alieah Nelms -10th
18:07.60 – Jordan Alcorn – 33rd
19:02.06 – Sophia Tucker -14th
OPELIKA FALLS TO 3-3 AFTER THEODORE LOSS
Theodore High School football team (4-2) used a strong rushing game to beat Opelika (3-3) 16-10 last Friday in Theodore. The Bobcats piled up 264 rushing yards and their defense limited the Bulldogs to 65 rushing yards and 129 passing yards.
OHS scored the ten points off a 42-yard TD pass and a 17-field goal from Johnnie Cesena. The Bobcats, under Hall of Fame coach Steve Mask, made three 17 yard field goals and scored 1-TD to earn the win. Bulldog Quarterback Roman Gaglian was 12 of 24 for 129-yards and a TD.
AUBURN VISITS BULLDOG STADIUM IN ANNUAL CLASH (GAME NUMBER 101)
Opelika host rival Auburn Friday night at Bulldog in a key Region game. AHS head coach Keith Etheredge has won 177 games and lost 55 in 17-years as a head coach and has five AHSAA football State Championship .
Auburn (5-1, R 3-1) is on a four game winning stear after losing to Enterprise on a last second fieldgoal in week two. The Tigers starting quarterback was injured early in the Enterprise game and is out for several weeks after undergoing surgery. The Tigers turned to Henry Allen, a senior baseball player, to play QB along with three sophomores. Allen has received the blunt of the snaps over the last three games, although they all have played.
Auburn opened the season with a 39-14 win at Hoover, lost to Enterprise 17-16, beat Dothan 17-16 on 2OT, beat JAG 46-0, Percy Julian 48-13 and Ramsay 13-7.
Friday nights’ game will be the 101st meeting betwen Auburn and Opelika. Ironically, Opelika and Auburn have 97 wins apiece and three games ended in a tie. Coach Etheredge is 3-0 against OHS but the series is 5-5 in the last ten games. Bulldog head coach Erik Speakman is 46-22 overall and 1-3 against Auburn.
The winner of this game will remain the hunt for home field playoff game with Central and Dothan.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Bulldog Stadium. The game is expected to be a sellout, but if tickets are available you can purchase at the stadium ticket office starting at 5:30.
Fans can listen to the game on WKKR 97.7 KICKER FM, online at kickerfm.com and on the iheartradio app. The game is live streamed on nfhsnetwork.com.
WRESTLING TEAM HOLDING PICKLEBALL TOURNAMENT
The OHS wrestling team is holding a “Pickleball Tournament” Oct. 20 and 21 to raise money for the program. The entry fee is $50 for singles and $100 for doubles. For more information or to enter the tournament contact David Simpson at OHS, 334-745-9715 or email david.simpson@opelika.schools.org
D. Mark Mitchell is the sports director at iHeartMedia, host of “On the Mark” Fox Sports the Game 910-1319, co-chair of the Auburn-Opelika Sports Council, chairman of the Super 7 and Dixie Boys Baseball state director.