OPINION —
Friday night carried extra significance for Opelika High School head coach Jonathan Chandler.
Standing on the home sideline at Bulldog Stadium, Chandler watched his team respond to a difficult season-opening loss with a performance that showcased resilience, discipline and growth. Fittingly, the first victory of his Opelika coaching career came against someone who helped shape his own football journey.
Behind a dominant second-half effort, No. 8 Opelika pulled away from No. 10 Enterprise (2-1, R 0-1) for a 38-21 victory, giving Chandler his first win as the Bulldogs’ head coach while improving to 1-1 overall and 1-0 in Class 6A Region 2 play.
While emotions naturally surrounded the win coming against Enterprise coach Ben Blackmon, Chandler quickly shifted the spotlight to his players and staff.
“There are a lot of personal things involved with that one,” Chandler said. “But this has nothing to do with me. Our coaches did a fantastic job preaching the message all week. We wanted to come out here and correct the mistakes we made against Hoover, and we saw that tonight.”
The Bulldogs looked like a different football team than the one that struggled in a 21-7 season-opening loss to Hoover. Opelika played turnover-free football, controlled the line of scrimmage and finished with 241 rushing yards against a talented Enterprise defense.
Leading the charge was Jalen Nelson, who had one of the best performances of his career. Nelson rushed for 128 yards on 17 carries and scored three touchdowns, including runs of 8 and 33 yards. He also added a 12-yard TD reception from Austan Cristiaan.
What made Nelson’s performance even more impressive was his ability to create yardage when the Wildcats appeared to have plays defended. Time and again, his vision and footwork allowed him to slip through traffic and find running lanes.
Chandler praised Nelson as one of the team’s most complete players.
“His footwork is tremendous,” Chandler said. “He has a great ability to read the defensive line and the second level. His eyes are good, he’s got great hands, and he’s physical. He’s the total package. He’s going to get a college opportunity one day.”
The Bulldogs’ offensive line played a major role in that response. Even after losing starting right tackle Jeremy Dillard to injury, Opelika gradually wore down Enterprise in the second half.
“I thought our training kicked in during the second half,” Chandler said. “We were able to lean on them a little bit.”
While the offense showed significant improvement, Opelika’s defense delivered game-changing plays throughout the night.
Braiden Howard returned an interception 26 yards for a TD to extend the lead to 13-0 in the second quarter for the Bulldogs. Later, Xavier Thomas sealed the victory with an 18-yard pick-six with just over a minute remaining.
The defense also shut down Enterprise’s rushing attack after halftime, allowing only seven rushing yards in the second half.
Enterprise briefly battled back after trailing 13-0, cutting the deficit to 13-7 at halftime behind a 3-yard TD run from standout Kenyon Kilow, who electrified the crowd with a 99-yard kickoff return TD and later caught a 43-yard scoring pass from Mac Houston.
However, mistakes proved costly for the Wildcats. Enterprise lost a first-quarter fumble that led directly to Nelson’s first TD and committed several penalties that stalled promising drives.
“We beat ourselves,” Blackmon said afterward. “When you go on the road in this region, you have to play close to perfect.”
Chandler, however, wasn’t ready to discount Opelika’s role in creating those mistakes.
“They’re a really good football team,” Chandler said. “We knew they were coming in ready to play. It was a physical football game. I’m proud of our kids and how they responded.”
In many ways, Friday’s victory was less about the final score and more about the steps Opelika took forward. The Bulldogs cleaned up the small errors from last week, improved field position and played better as a team.
The win doesn’t erase the disappointment of Week 1 nor does it guarantee future success. But it provided clear evidence Opelika is moving in the right direction.
Individually, Cristiaan was 12-for-24 for 106 yards, while the team rushed for 241 yards on 39 carries. Keelon Banks also caught all four of his passes for a total of 48 yards.
On a personal note, I want to congratulate Coach Chandler on getting his first win as Opelika head coach. It thrills me to see a former player who walked the halls of OHS lead our football program. There are many more wins to come.
OHS to host Central at Bulldog Stadium
The Bulldogs host Class 6A Region 2 foe No. 3 Central High School (2-1, 1-0) on Friday, Sept. 11, at Bulldog Stadium at 7 p.m..
Opelika trails in the overall series at 34-49, including last year’s 42-6 Central win.
The Red Devils lost to Thompson High School 41-14 at home in the season opener, defeated Pell City High School 54-3 and beat J.A.G High School 49-0 last week. This will be the first trip to Opelika for Central head coach Cody Flournoy, although he was an assistant for the Red Devils under Jamey Dubose and is a Smiths Station High School graduate.
Opelika’s ticket office opens at 5:30 p.m. Fans can listen the the game on iHeartRadio’s WKKR 97.7 Kicker FM, online at kickerfm.com and the free iHeartRadio app. Van Riggs and his crew will broadcast all the coverage.
