By Charles Prince

The North Jefferson News



The votes of our area coaches have been counted and today The North Jefferson News announces the 2007 All-North Jefferson Football team.

Due to ties in the voting, instead of a starting 24 (11 on offense, 11 on defense, a kicker and a punter, the All-North Jefferson team has a starting 40.

Taking top honors this year were coaches Keith Dabbs of Tabernacle and Keith Register of Fultondale.

Dabbs led his Torches to their first ever CFA 8-man football title, posting a 10-1 record.

Register led his Wildcats to the playoffs and won seven games. Fultondale’s trip to the postseason was the Wildcats first since 2002.

Repeating as Defensive Player of the Year is Mortimer Jordan senior defensive end John “Jabo” Burrow. Burrow totaled 136 tackles in 10 games, collected nine quarterback sacks, blocked five punts, blocked six extra points and a field goal, had one interception and batted down 2 passes.

Come National Signing Day next February, Burrow is scheduled to sign a scholarship to play SEC football with Vanderbilt.

The Offensive Player of the Year, Fultondale’s Jonathan Craig had a great sophomore season, leading the North Jefferson area with 1,257 yards rushing on 153 carries for a 8.2 yards average from his fullback position in the Wildcat’s Wing-T attack.

Craig scored 17 rushing touchdowns while helping the Wildcats to the first round of the 2A state playoffs.

As a freshman in 2006, Craig was the punter on the All-North Jefferson team.

Due to a tie in the voting, there are Co-Lineman of the Year’s—Gardendale senior Zac Davis and Fultondale senior J.D. Hood.

Davis a 6-foot-5, 300-pound guard helped the Rocket’s offense average 26.4 points and 333.1 yards per game of total offense.

According to his coaches, Davis excelled at both run and pass blocking.

At Fultondale, Hood, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 272 pounds, saw four years of hard work pay off with a berth in the postseason for the senior and his teammates. Hood worked at center on offense and played defensive tackle on defense.

Hood totaled 55.5 tackles and five quarterback sacks and recovered two fumbles this season.

Joining Davis and Hood on the offensive line is Hayden’s Dalton Newell, who was the leader of the Wildcats offensive front. Newell and his teammates ended the year with a two-game winning streak.

Corner’s Nathan Payne, a four-year starter for the Yellow Jackets played on both sides the ball as an offensive tackle and on the defensive line.

Tabernacle’s Steven White, 6-foot, 258-pound junior, helped the Torches to their first ever state football title as a pulling guard on offense and a nose guard on defense.

Along side of White, senior Tabernacle Mark Hunter cleared the way for a Torches offense that scored over 47 points per game.

Fultondale junior Garrett Godsey, 6-foot, 255-pound tackle, helped clear the way for Craig’s big season.

Mortimer Jordan’s Jack Waldrop rounds out the line. Waldrop, a 6-foot-3, 265-pound tackle, graded out at 78 percent for the entire season and was named the Blue Devil’s Hog of the Week, four times this fall.

In the backfield, Tabernacle senior Daniel Whaley led the Torches to the Christian Football Association 8-man state title while throwing for more than a 1,000 yards for a second consecutive season while completing 64 percent of his pass attempts.

In his final two seasons, he threw for more than 2,000 yards and 39 touchdowns while leading the Torches to a 18-4 record and two playoff berths.

Gardendale quarterback Conner McCain missed half the season with an injury, but his numbers for half a year surpassed the totals of all area quarterbacks in yardage expect Whaley’s.

At running back, Mortimer Jordan’s Brent Nation was second in the area in rushing with more than 1,100 yards while scoring 13 touchdowns.

Gardendale’s Roscoe Ragland gained over 1,000 yards of total offense, when his rushing and receiving numbers are added together. The senior was a marked man by opposing defenses after McCain was injured.

Fultondale’s Chris Barber scored nine rushing touchdowns, in addition to returning a kickoff for a touchdown and averaged over seven yards a carry to help the Wildcats reach the playoffs.

Tabernacle’s Landon Ingle scored 20 touchdowns and could have surpassed the 1,000-yard mark if not for the Torches winning so many blowout games when reserve running backs got into the game will Ingle went to the sidelines.

At tight end, Mortimer Jordan’s Trent Mulvehill caught eight passes, two of which went for touchdowns, but his greatest contribution to the Blue Devil’s offense was as a run blocker, helping Nation to his big season.

At Fultondale, senior Jordan Fowler caught seven passes for 102 yards and three touchdowns, in addition to doing outstanding work as a blocker in the Wildcat’s Wing-T attack.

Tabernacle junior Bradley White led the area in yards per catch average for the second straight season. In 2007, he averaged over 21 yards per reception and nine of his 23 catches went for scores.

At Gardendale, Trey Hilliard was a triple-threat running back/receiver/kick returner.

Hilliard scored 21 touchdowns this season—eight coming on pass receptions, 11 coming on the ground and two more on kick returns.

Hayden’s Jason Warden gained more than 1,500 yards total offense on rushing attempts, pass receptions and kick returns.

Mortimer Jordan’s Tyler Kimbrough went 8-of-9 on field goal attempts this season, including nailing a career-long 51-yard attempt. He also earned a spot in the hearts of Blue Devil fans, when his field goal with just under a minute to play proved to be the winning points against arch rival Gardendale.

Fultondale’s Chris Carlsen, an exchange student from Germany, was 39-of-41 on extra points, scored 42 points and put more than half of his kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks.

On the opposite side of the ball, Tabernacle defensive end Luke Kaetz led the Torches with 9 quarterback sacks, totaled 77 tackles, including 11 for losses and recovered three fumbles.

Gardendale nose tackle Nick Pogue, a 6-foot-4, 285-pound junior, totaled 43 tackles, including a quarterback sack, as he proved to be the Rocket’s leader on the defensive line.

Fultondale’s Christian McCollough, a 6-foot-3, 257-pound freshman, tied for the area lead with 10 quarterback sacks, totaled 79 tackles, recovered two fumbles and scored a defensive touchdown.

Fultondale defensive end Cortez Edison totaled more than 50 tackles and tied McCollough for the area lead with 10 quarterback sacks.

Mortimer Jordan’s Larry Clopton, a 5-foot-11, 215-pound senior nose guard, had 89 tackles, five for losses, four quarterback sacks and recovered two fumbles.

Mortimer Jordan’s Bradley Bouyer, a 5-foot-11, 285-pound senior tackle, had 58 tackles, two quarterback sacks and recovered a fumble.

Hayden’s Owen Hargett was second in the North Jefferson area with an average of 10.2 tackles per game. The Wildcat linebacker also recorded five qaurterback sacks.

Corner linebacker Braxton Horton received the defensive game ball three times this season, as he totaled more than 80 tackles and two quarterback sacks.

Tabernacle linebacker Will Lankford was the Torches defensive leader as he totaled 83 tackles—17 of which went for losses, he added four quarterback sacks and picked off two passes.

Gardendale senior Jonathan Carter, a 6-foot-1, 190-pound inside linebacker, had the second-highest tackle total in the area with 111 stops.

He added three and a half quarterback sacks, two fumble recoveries and an interception.

Gardendale junior linebacker Tyrone Bowie, a 5-foot-11, 225-pound wrecking ball, had 100 tackles and seven quarterback sacks as a second-year starter for the Rockets.

In the secondary, Corner’s Casey Marcrum, a 5-foot-7, 165-pound senior, averaged over nine tackles per game, had three quarterback sacks and intercepted three passes.

Gardednale’s Ethan Powers, a 6-foot-2, 195-pound senior safety, totaled 63 tackles, recorded two sacks, picked off three passes and recovered a fumble as he helped the Rockets reach the postseason.

Fultondale sophomore C.J. Mixon proved to be a triple-threat as he ran for more than 450 yards on offense, returned a kickoff for a touchdown and had more than 40 tackles on defense.

Mixon also intercepted two passes and recovered two fumbles.

Gardendale’s Cameron Brewer, a 5-foot-9, 165-pound senior, may have been the busiest player in the North Jefferson area as he played four positions this fall for the Rockets.

Brewer punted, lined up at wide out, played defensive back and after McCain went down with injury, stepped in as the Rocket’s quarterback.

He punted 32 times for for a 36.3 yard average.

While playing receiver, he caught 17 passes for 261 yards and two touchdowns, including a 55-yard scoring catch.

He ran the ball 23 times for 82 yards, and while replacing McCain, he completed 46-of-81 passes for 629 yards and eight touchdowns.

As a defensive back, he had 17 tackles, broke up five passes and had two interceptions.

In addition to Craig’s second appearance on the team in two seasons, nine players were named for a second straight season—McCain, Burrow, Carter, Mulvelhill, Ragland, Whaley, Bradley White, Kimbrough and Hood.