High school football means more in 2020. Just ask these Columbus, Phenix City seniors
The Glenwood Gators lost in the first round of the Alabama Independent School Association football playoffs in middle linebacker B.J. Snellgrove’s freshman year. His sophomore year, the Gators lost in the second round. Last year, they lost in the state championship.
It was unclear for months whether Snellgrove — and many others around the Columbus and Phenix City area — would get a senior season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Gators, like all other area high school teams, lost spring practice and some summer workouts. Glenwood did not begin summer workouts until June 15.
But after an offseason limited by coronavirus precautions, high school football returned to the Chattahoochee Valley.
For the area’s seniors, this season meant everything. For Snellgrove, it meant one last chance at a state championship, one that has eluded the program since 1992.
“Ever since my freshman year, I’ve been playing on varsity,” Snellgrove said at a Wednesday morning practice, as the Gators prepared for their state semifinal game against Monroe Academy. “This year, I just think we’re going to win. It’s just one of them things, you know?”
‘I don’t know what I would do’
EJ Jones, a senior at Pacelli, will have spent his final two high school football seasons with the Vikings when the 2020 season ends.
He has aspirations to play college football and picked up his first offer from Lane College Nov. 3, according to his Twitter account.
“I was hoping, hoping that we would have a season,” Jones said Tuesday night. “Because, if we didn’t, then honestly, I don’t know what I would do.”
Jones battled injuries throughout his high school career, so he never could fully show his potential. This season, he made the transition to running back, and the results have been largely positive.
In six games in 2020, Jones has run for over 500 yards and six touchdowns. He’s eclipsed the 100-yard mark twice this year, according to MaxPreps.
“Thank God football is back!” he tweeted on Sept. 5.
One last ride
The Alabama High School Athletic Association did not delay the start of its high school football season, but the Georgia High School Association did. Muscogee County School District schools did not start organized summer workouts until July 6, nearly a month after GHSA allowed schools to begin practices.
School officials and coaches said the delayed start provided more time for athletes who had not participated in optional workouts to prepare for the season. GHSA football players had over a month to work out in full pads.
Hardaway senior Sayvion Fuller, who plays multiple positions, used the summer to improve personally until team workouts began.
Fuller thought a season would happen and wanted to go undefeated in the region. So far, the Hawks have done just that.
“Worked out hard, practiced hard,” Fuller said. “I just felt like we were going to have (a season).”
But Fuller wanted, more than anything, one final season with his teammates. He considers them “brothers.”
Most of Hardaway’s team has played together for years, from youth football through middle school.
“We’re a brotherhood,” Fuller said. “We’re not only cool here (on the field); we’re cool outside of school. We all hang out.”
The Hawks are undefeated in the region and 7-1 overall. They face Carver this week in a game that could decide the region title. And the Hawks face a good LaGrange team, on the road, to end the regular season.
“(A deep playoff run and region title) would mean a lot to us,” Fuller said Tuesday afternoon. “To all the seniors. We know how bad we want this.”
This story was originally published November 12, 2020 at 11:07 AM.
