PIRATES SAIL BY ELKMONT

Rogers 51, Elkmont 7: With just under two minutes left in the second quarter, Elkmont (0-8, 0-6) had gained some life after scoring a touchdown and forcing a three-and-out. Elkmont was vying for another quick score before the break but a Rogers defender jumped in front of a Red Devils’ pass to get the interception.

Decatur Daily

 

Rogers scored midway through the first quarter when an Elkmont bad snap on a punt resulted in a safety. The Pirates took advantage of the short field on the next possession by punching it in with a 1-yard touchdown run by Cade Serment, for a 9-0 lead with 1:47 left in the first quarter. The Pirates added another touchdown with a 12-yard run with eight minutes left in the second quarter.  Elkmont then put together what proved to be the only successful drive all night when Jordan Nelson connected with Noah Sharp for a 3-yard touchdown pass.

Talbot Rueppel cashed the turnover in for Rogers (5-3, 3-3) with a 2-yard touchdown run. It gave Rogers a 23-7 halftime lead and effectively ended Elkmont’s upset chance. “That interception was the turning point of the ball game,” Rogers coach Randal Martin said. Elkmont was unable to get close to the end zone the rest of the night.

Florence Times Daily

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS @ ROGERS

The Elkmont Red Devils will be traveling to Rogers High School for tonight's game @ 7 pm.  It takes at least an hour to get there.  Elkmont has been selected to be yet another homecoming opponent this year. This will make the game longer than normal so plan accordingly. It may be eleven before you get home.

 

GAME WEATHER:

It's going to be a hot chocolate/coffee game. A cold front will move through later today. Not much moisture for it to work with so little chance of rain, just clouds. Highs Friday will be in the mid 70s, but strong cold air will moving in by game time. If you don't like cool nights, be sure to dress warm, take gloves and a blanket.

Kickoff - 60 degrees and dropping
   9 pm - low 50s 
Wind: 5-10 MPH North Wind

WHAT DO THE PAPERS THINK? 

Decatur Daily

Elkmont at Rogers

Where: Pirate Stadium

What: Class 4A, Region 8 game

Records: Elkmont (0-7, 0-5); Rogers (4-3, 2-3)

Last season: Elkmont won 27-10

The skinny: Rogers must win to keep its playoff hopes alive. The Pirates currently are in the sixth place in the Region 8 standings, one win behind West Limestone, Wilson and Central, which are in a three-way tie for third. … For Elkmont, the season has been a tough grind, with the Red Devils still searching for their first win. … Rogers leads the series 12-5.

The Daily picks: Rogers 31, Elkmont 17

Florence Times Daily
Elkmont (0-7, 0-5) at Rogers (4-3, 2-3)
The skinny: Back-to-back losses have relegated Rogers to the sixth spot in Class 4A, Region 8, but all is not lost. The Pirates must win their two remaining region games, including next week’s against Deshler, and get some help from the outside to keep hopes alive and break a three-year postseason absence… Elkmont has managed just 13.1 points per game in 2015, 55th among 60 4A schools. Defensively, The Red Devils allow 39.9 points per game. Rogers is 12-5 all-time against Elkmont, but lost 27-10 in 2014.

ELKMONT GLOWS DURING SENIOR NIGHT

Both the Decatur Daily and the Athens News Courier have great articles about the game last night.  It is well worth picking a copy of both of them up.  If the Athens is sold out in Elkmont, you can pick up a copy at the newspaper office until Thursday.

Mike Tucker ran for 124 yards, including 120 in the first half, and Zeb Pankey scored both an offensive and defensive touchdown as Elkmont celebrated Senior Night with a 27-10 Class 4A, Region 8 win over Rogers.  The Red Devils (6-2, 4-2) piled up 292 yards on the ground and held the Pirates to just nine first downs and 149 total yards.

"Our goal every game is to control the line of scrimmage," fourth-year Elkmont head coach Sean Holt said. "I feel like we did that tonight, especially in the first half."
 
The sophomore Pankey got the Red Devils on the board first with a 3-yard touchdown run that capped a 7-play, 78-yard drive. Alexis Hernandez tacked on the extra point to make it 7-0 with 2:26 left in the first quarter. On the next offensive play, Pankey stepped in front of an errant pass from Rogers' quarterback Tristan Dailey and streaked 26 yards down the sidelines to push the lead to 14.
Rogers cut into the lead on its first possession of the second quarter when Bryant Wallace was good on a 47-yard field goal.

It was as close as the Pirates would get, as Hernandez matched field goals with a 34 yarder just before the half to put the Red Devils out front 17-3 at the midway point.
Elkmont extended its lead to 24 points through three quarters on a halfback pass from Jared Bailey to Noah Sharp and a 46-yard field goal from Hernandez.
Freshman Tikeathon Harvey scored on a 1-yard run late in the fourth quarter for Rogers' only touchdown.

"We've been stressing to them to close out games," Holt said. "We played hard until the end tonight. Our seniors have led us this year and it was a good way for them to out on Senior Night."

It was the first six-win season for Elkmont since 2011 and the Red Devils are set to snap a three-year playoffs drought. Elkmont travels to East Lawrence on Friday.

SOURCE: DECATUR DAILY

ELKMONT – Zeb Pankey scored a rushing touchdown and returned an interception for a touchdown to lead Elkmont past Rogers Friday.  Mike Tucker ran 10 times for 114 yards, and the defense didn’t allow a touchdown until late in the game for a 27-10 victory that clinched a playoff berth for the first time since 2011.

Sixteen Elkmont seniors were victorious in their final game at Boss Hill Stadium, as the win (Elkmont’s fourth in its last five games overall), along with Deshler’s victory against Brooks, clinched a playoff berth for the Red Devils (6-2, 4-2). Rogers dropped to 2-6 overall and 1-5 in region play.

“It feels good to guarantee ourselves a winning season,” said Elkmont head coach Sean Holt, whose team won a combined five games the last two years. “Rogers is a greedy, hard-nosed football team, and we had to find some plays which worked for us. Our guys played hard, and even though it wasn’t our best performance of the year, it was a good win for senior night. We fought through the emotions which go along with it.”

Elkmont finished with 345 yards of total offense while holding Rogers to 158 yards (79 each half). It would’ve been even more had Eli Hobbs’ 67-yard touchdown run in the beginning of the third quarter not been nullified due to a penalty. It prevented him from being the team’s second 100-yard rusher behind a strong night of blocking from the likes of guards Brent Stovall and Kody Clark, tackles Eli Vining and Travis Riggs, center Hunter Brazeal and tight end Joshua Carter to the tune of 289 rushing yards.

The Red Devils still came through in the clutch with Bailey’s 23-yard halfback touchdown pass to Noah Sharp for all the momentum. Alexis Hernandez’s second field goal, a 47-yarder, pushed the lead to 27-3.

“Our defense did a good job of not giving up the big play,” Holt said. “Our guys played well, tackled hard and executed our game plan. We haven’t played with a lot of leads in the past couple of years, but our guys continue to do a better job of playing with the lead and doing what they can to finish games.”

SOURCE: ATHENS NEWS COURIER

Have to have a picture of the always fun CREW - of course, they were there to cheer on the Red Devils

IT'S SENIOR NIGHT

Elkmont football is having Senior night to recognize our seniors tonight.  This is their last home game for the regular season for the 2014 season. They are playing the Rogers Pirates.   Win or lose, senior night is always a very emotional night at Boss Hill Stadium.  Good luck Red Devils.    

5:30 pm- Elkmont Fans, parents of players, cheerleaders please turn out this afternoon for the Spirit Walk and support our Red Devils!!!

Weather at Kickoff: Clear skies and 65 degrees with slight breeze out of the west. 

 

PREGAME THOUGHTS AND PREDICTIONS:

Decatur Daily:
Rogers at Elkmont
Where: Boss Hill Stadium
What: Class 4A, Region 8 game
Records: Rogers (2-5, 1-4), Elkmont (5-2, 3-2)
Last meeting: Rogers won 29-0 in 2011.
 
The skinny: There’s lot on the line for the Elkmont Red Devils. Beat Rogers and then East Lawrence next week and the Red Devils will have third place in the region. One more wins gives Elkmont its first winning season since 2011.

The Daily picks: Elkmont 35, Rogers 13

FLORENCE TIMES DAILY:
The skinny: 
Rogers quarterback Wes Black threw a pair of touchdown passes in last week’s 52-24 loss to Brooks and will try to help his team knock off Elkmont tonight. ... Elkmont was shut out 34-0 against Deshler last week, but is still averaging 30.3 points per game. ... The Red Devils are in the playoff hunt and could solidify a spot with a win. ... Rogers is averaging 25.1 points per game and allowing 27.9.

Class 4A - Region 8
School	Win	Loss	Wins Region	Losses Region
Deshler	6	1	5	0
Wilson	6	1	4	1
Elkmont	5	2	3	2
Brooks	4	3	3	2
Central	3	4	2	3
Rogers	3	4	2	3
West	2	4	2	3
East Lawrence	0	7	0	5

ELKMONT WINNING STREAK SNAPPED

Deshler rolled to its sixth straight win Friday with a convincing Class 4A, Region 8 victory over Elkmont. The win keeps the Tigers (6-1, 5-0) on top the region standings. It also stopped Elkmont’s three-game win streak. Elkmont kept pace with No. 10 ranked Deshler for a half, but couldn’t compete with the Tigers depth in the second half during a 34-0 loss Friday.

The Deshler offense broke open a 14-0 game in the second half with three touchdowns, while the defense was holding the Red Devils (5-2, 3-2) in check. In fact, Deshler limited Elkmont to only 153 yards of offense.

A fumble recovery by Nick Aubrey on the Elkmont 10 set up the game’s first score.
With 10:54 left in the half, Deshler scored again to made it 14-0 at the half.
 
The Deshler offense began to start pulling away in the third quarter. Byrd scored on a 4-yard run to push the score to 20-0. With two minutes left in the third, Chris Robinson caught a 25-yard pass from Howard and outran the defense for another touchdown.

Then with just under 10 minutes left in the game, Deshler scored its last touch down of the game and topped it off with a 2-point conversion.

Elkmont falls to 5-2 on the season and 3-2 in region play, but still sit in third place in 4A Region 8 and can make the playoffs with wins over Rogers and East Lawrence in its next two games.

Sources:  Florence Times Daily

Athens News Courier

ELKMONT FALLS TO ROGERS - DUST DEVIL IN THE STANDS

Elkmont struggled to execute on offense and also to stop Rogers on third and fourth down situations on defense Friday night.  This was not a good combination for the Red Devils and led to losing the game to the Rogers Pirates.

FIRST QUARTER:   The Red Devils stopped Rogers on the first series and had good field position after a Pirates punt.  However a penalty, a three and out series on offense and a short punt flipped the field and Rogers had the ball around the 50 yard line.  They scored on a long pass to put six points on the board but Cody Martin blocked the PAT.  On Elkmont's next drive they missed a field goal and the quarter ended with Rogers 6, Elkmont 0.

SECOND QUARTER:  Elkmont moved the ball in the second quarter but failed on fourth and one in Pirate territory.  Rogers added another touchdown and made a successful two point conversion for a 14-0 lead at halftime.

THIRD QUARTER:  The second half kickoff was fumbled by Elkmont and recovered by Rogers.  They passed down the field and ended up scoring a touchdown on fourth and goal.  The third quarter ended with the Pirates up 21-0. 

FOURTH QUARTER:  Elkmont's offense still could not move the ball during the fourth quarter.  Rogers added a touchdown and a safety to make the final score 29-0.

OBSERVATIONS:
Elkmont played poorly and had 4 turnovers to 0 for Rogers.  The Red Devils had a lack of execution on offense and gave up some big plays on defense.  However,  they are still a good team and if they learn from this loss, they can get back on the right tract next week.

The offense must execute better and also get the ball in Cole Glass's hands more.  He is the fastest player on the team and can break a big play at any time, but was limited to two touches Friday night.

The defense played well at times, but allowed some big passing plays on third and fourth downs.  

The good news is that Elkmont is a better team than it showed against the Rogers Pirates.  The players and coaches never gave up and kept fighting until the final horn.

PREDICTION:
Elkmont will get refocused this week and bounce back next Friday with a win over Lauderdale County,  21-14.

ROGERS PASSES THROUGH ELKMONT RED DEVILS

ELKMONT— Sean Holt didn’t have to search long to pinpoint what plagued his Elkmont team for four quarters Friday night — a physical Rogers group.

Just when it looked as though the Red Devils had a chance at gaining any momentum, a stingy Pirates defense put a stop to it en route to their 29-0 shutout.

“They were very physical with us and we didn’t step it up,” first year Elkmont coach Sean Holt said. “They brought it to us, that’s all there is to it.”

Rogers struck early with 5:40 remaining in the first on a 33-yard pass from quarterback Tyler Grigsby to Cody Stephens for the 6-0 lead. The extra point was blocked.

Another Pirate touchdown came midway through the second quarter as Grigsby connected with Alex Woodard in the endzone for the 5-yard score. Grigsby found Hank Thigpen on the two-point conversion to go up 14-0.

Rogers continued to roll in the second half, as they recovered their own onside kick on the Elkmont 45 yard line to begin the third quarter. Eight plays later, facing fourth and three, Grigsby hit Woodard again with a 3-yard pass.

In the fourth, Woodard intercepted a Hayden Huseth pass at Rogers own 23 and returned it 30 yards. Nine players later, the Pirates were in the endzone on 6-yard run by Woodard for the 27-0 lead. The extra point was no good.

Elkmont had one last chance for a scoring opportunity late in the game with 3:31 remaining but was unable to capitalize, as Huseth fumbled in the Red Devils own endzone for the safety.

Elkmont drops to 2-1 on the season and 1-1 in Class 3A, Region 8 play. They travel to Lauderdale County Friday.


SOURCE:  ATHENS NEWS COURIER

PRE- GAME LOOK AT THE ROGERS PIRATES

Alabama High School Football - Rogers topples Lauderdale County

(September 2, 2011: Florence, AL 35634) The Rogers Pirates (Florence, AL) football defeated the visitingLauderdale County Tigers (Rogersville, AL), 23-0 in Friday's league bout.

In their next game, the Pirates face the Elkmont Red Devils (Elkmont, AL) in a 3A Region 8 bout, on Friday, September 9. Rogers will attempt to advance on its 1-1 season record. The Red Devils enter the bout with a 2-0 record after their 31-6 league win over West Morgan (Trinity, AL).

The Tigers (1-1) will now prepare for their bout against West Morgan (Trinity, AL). The Rebels enter the 3A Region 8 bout with a 0-2 record. In their last bout, West Morgan lost by Elkmont (Elkmont, AL), 31-6, in a league bout.

School Schedule
Date Participants Req Site Location Game Name Results 08/25/2011 @ 07:00 pm Brooks High School (4A) Brooks High School L 20 32 09/02/2011 @ 07:00 pm Lauderdale County High School R Rogers High School W 23 0 09/09/2011 @ 07:00 pm Elkmont High School (3A) R Elkmont High School 09/17/2011 @ 07:00 pm West Morgan High School (3A) R Rogers High School 09/23/2011 @ 07:00 pm Lexington High School (2A) D Rogers High School 09/30/2011 @ 07:00 pm Colbert County High School (3A R Colbert County High School 10/07/2011 @ 07:00 pm Clements High School (3A) R Rogers High School 10/14/2011 @ 07:00 pm Sheffield High School (3A) R Sheffield High School 10/21/2011 @ 07:00 pm Danville High School (3A) R Rogers High School 10/28/2011 @ 07:00 pm Wilson High School (4A) Wilson High School

Team Roster
Jersey Num Name Position Grade Height Weight 1 Hank Thigpen RB 11 5'9" 165 2 Alex Harper WR 10 6'2" 174 3 Tyler Grigsby QB 12 6'2" 190 4 Judson Stephens WR 12 6'1" 170 5 Bradley Cox WR 9 5'10" 160 6 James Benefield WR 10 5'8" 155 8 James South WR 12 6'0" 178 9 Luke Mccain WR 11 6'0" 162 10 Holden Mitchell WR 11 6'0" 170 11 Skylar Moore WR 12 5'10" 160 12 Mickey Rogers WR 12 5'11" 160 15 Weston Black QB 9 5'11" 179 16 Zachery Richardson WR 9 5'9" 152 17 Roy Burks TE 11 6'1" 180 20 Colby Jones RB 12 5'9" 161 21 Alex Woodard RB 11 5'10" 165 23 Austin Kerr RB 11 6'0" 180 25 Dalton O'steen RB 9 5'9" 155 32 Chris Tucker RB 12 5'9" 170 33 John Young WR 11 5'11" 174 35 James Franks RB 10 5'9" 150 40 Raliegh Killen RB 11 5'10" 175 42 Jacob Duncan K 10 5'9" 170 44 Zane Taylor TE 12 6'0" 225 50 Nicholas Coots OL 10 5'9" 285 51 Houston Thornton OL 10 6'1" 240 52 Gentry Shaw OL 11 5'11" 180 53 Dustin Coker OL 11 5'10" 185 55 Garrett Grigsby OL 10 6'3" 240 56 Kurtis Aston OL 11 6'2" 265 57 Liam Black OL 11 6'1" 219 58 Kody Butler OL 11 5'10" 195 59 Cory Vandiver OL 10 5'10" 225 60 Dakota Hughes OL 11 5'11" 175 61 David Pounders OL 9 5'10" 225 62 Graham Herston OL 9 5'10" 235 63 David Gilliand OL 12 6'2" 300 66 Ande Whitten OL 11 5'10" 169 69 Cory Hutto OL 10 5'8" 160 70 James Wallace OL 11 6'0" 260 71 Damien Michael OL 10 5'11" 175 72 Briar Allen OL 12 6'0" 225 74 Joseph Harris OL 12 6'3" 280 79 Thomas Segers OL 10 5'10" 210 89 Dustin Blackburn TE 11 6'4" 240
Big offensive line

PREDICTIONS:


Dust Devil:  Dust Devil predicts that Elkmont will win 17-14.


Huntsville Times:  Rogers over Elkmont  21-20


Greg the Fan: Elkmont over Rogers

REGION 8:
Clements over Danville
Colbert County over Sheffield
Lauderdale County over West Morgan

freeman projections/ratings - calpreps:

Rogers (Florence, AL) at Elkmont (AL), 7:00pm [projection: Elkmont (AL) 20-17


OTHERS PREDICTIONS FOR 3A REGION 8 
Sheffield (AL) at Colbert County (Leighton, AL), 7:00pm [projection: Sheffield (AL) 21-17]
Clements (Athens, AL) at Danville (AL), 7:00pm [projection: Clements (Athens, AL) 28-14]
Rogers (Florence, AL) at Elkmont (AL), 7:00pm [projection: Elkmont (AL) 20-17]
West Morgan (Trinity, AL) at Lauderdale County (Rogersville, AL), 7:00am [projection: Lauderdale County (Rogersville, AL) 28-10]