By D. Mark Mitchell
sports columnist
PRUITT WINS SECOND STRAIGHT AHSAA DIVING CROWN
Opelika High’s Conner Pruitt captured the AHSAA State Diving Championship last Friday at the Auburn University Natatorium. This is the second straight state diving championship for Conner. Congratulations, Conner!
AHSAA SUPER 7
The AHSAA Super 7 Football Championship concluded last week at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa. Spanish Fort, the team that beat the Bulldogs in the quarterfinals, won the Class-6A championship. The annual championship games rotate between Jordan-Hare Stadium and Bryant-Denny Stadium.
AHSAA UNIFIED SPORTS GAME
Lee County 25, Hewitt-Trussville 7. Lee County scored two touchdowns in each half last Wednesday en route to victory in the second annual AHSAA Super 7 Unified Sports flag football game at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
The game, developed for AHSAA member schools through a partnership with Special Olympics Alabama, opened the 2015 Super 7 championships with some outstanding play by both teams. The teams are comprised of Special Olympics athletes and peer partners from their respective areas.
Athlete Gideon Weigel caught two touchdown passes in the first half from peer partner quarterback Brooks Alberdi. The sure-handed Weigel had catches of 35 and 12 yards and finished with three catches for 70 yards. Porterfield, another outstanding athlete for Lee County, caught four passes for 38 yards including a 3-yard TD toss from Alberdi. Steven Hubbs threw a 35-yard TD pass to Steven Clark for the final Lee County score.
Hewitt-Trussville’s touchdown came late on a 27-yard pass from peer partner Will Lesley to athlete Andrew White. White, who had three catches for 38 yards, then tossed the conversion pass to Lesley.
Alberdi was 8-of-14 passing for 119 yards and Tyler Tolbert was 5-of-10 passing for Hewitt. White was also 5-of-8 for 37 yards for Coach Tim Meacham’s Hewitt-Trussville Huskies.
Lee County, coached by Dana Stewart, finished with 126 yards passing and 41 rushing for 167 yards. Hewitt had 54 yards rushing and 119 passing for 173 yards.
The first game of the Super 7 championships saw McGill-Toolin defeat Spain Park 14-12 to win the 7A title. Thursday’s games were 3A, 1A and 5A. Piedmont blew out Bayside Academy 44-7 to win the 3A championship. Maplesville won the 1A title, outscoring Cedar Bluff 59-24. St. Pauls beat Mortimer Jordan 41-26 to win the 5A crown.
On Friday, 2A Elba beat Fyffe 36-22 to win the championship. Leeds defeated Fayette Co 55-6 to win 4A title. Spanish Fort defeated Clay Chalkville 31-28 to win the 6A state title. Toros head coach Ben Blackmon, brother of OHS head coach Brian Blackmon, won his first state championship as head coach.
The 2016 Super 7 State Championships will be played in Jordan-Hare Stadium.
BASKETBALL
The Opelika girls and boys basketball teams are in the thick of their schedules. The Lady Bulldogs, 3-3, lost to AHS at the buzzer last Friday night in Auburn. They beat Central Tuesday 54-53 at the Sports Arena on the Opelika campus.
The boys, 1-3, lost a pair of games last week. Auburn High defeated the Dawgs in Auburn for the first time in eight years, 70-57. Central defeated Opelika 64-43 Tuesday night.
Both teams will host Beauregard tonight at the Sports Arena on the OHS campus. Junior varsity boys start at 5 p.m., with varsity girls and varsity boys to follow. Admission is $5, Parking is free.
ALABAMA VS MISSISSIPPI ALL-STAR FOOTBALL GAME
Opelika High School will have three players on the Team Alabama roster, Charlie Benton, Zoe Bridges and Josh Johnson.
This years game will be played tomorrow, Saturday, Dec. 12 at noon at Southern Mississippi in Hattisburg, Miss.
WRESTLING
The Opelika Wrestling Bulldogs hosted the Beauregard Hornets and Russell County Warriors last week in a tri-match. The Dawgs went 2-0 on the night, beating Russell County 70-12 and Beauregard 60-24.
Top Individual performances for the Dawgs:
Freshman 106 lbs. Quintrell Williams 2-0 {10 team points}
Freshman 120 lbs. Revaldo Smith 2-0 {12 team points}
Senior 126 lbs. Angelo Farrow 2-0 {12 team points}
Junior 138 lbs. Kris Davis 2-0 {12 team points}
Freshman 145 lbs. Timothy Tolbert 2-0 {12 team points}
Senior 152 lbs. Deon Todd 2-0 {12 team points}
Senior 170 lbs. Adam Tickal 2-0 {12 team points}
Sophomore182 lbs. Talik Jackson 2-0 {12 team points}
8th-grader 220 lbs. James Dawson 2-0 {12 team points}
Sophomore Hvwt. Callahan Saggus 2-0 {12 team points}
D.Mark Mitchell is sports director for iHeart Media, Alabama Dixie Boys State director and vice president of the A-O Sports Council.