THE TIMES’ YEAR IN SPORTS: Cullman’s state soccer title highlights top stories of 2016
Published 8:00 am Saturday, December 31, 2016
- Cullman's boys soccer team rushes Miguel Tizapa, second from right, after Tizapa's golden goal to clinch the Bearcats' second state title.
It’s OK to feel blue when you’re a high school sports team in Alabama.
In fact, if you’re Cullman’s boys soccer program, there’s no better feeling.
After 14 years since their first state title, the Bearcats finally brought that oh, so beautiful Blue Map back to campus following a 2-1 overtime thriller over Daphne back in May. Miguel Tizapa delivered the golden goal not even a minute into the extra period, clinching Class 6A state tourney MVP honors and making Casey Harbin one extremely content coach.
“I don’t have a memory of that goal at all, but I saw the keeper jump up and saw my guys running back this way,” Harbin told The Times. “I knew it could only be one thing. I thought, ‘Oh, my God. It’s real. It’s finally real.’ I knew they’d get this done somehow. They always do. I couldn’t be more proud of these guys.”
That pride has likely yet to subside, and neither has the championship’s impact. Cullman’s soccer state title is The Times’ top sports story of 2016.
And to think, Tizapa had only been trying to set up a teammate on his game-winning goal. On this glorious day, however, the sophomore’s cross kick divinely bent in and banged off the post, a fitting end to a dominant season for the senior-laden Black and Gold.
En route to the crown, top-ranked Cullman went 24-4-2 with 18 ranked wins, 14 shutouts and a program-record 125 goals — 33 more than the 2002 squad scored while storming to that year’s 5A title.
“It’s a special, special group of guys,” Harbin said after the match. “I’ve told them over and over again. They’re the best team to ever come through Cullman.”
The Bearcats’ phenomenal soccer run punctuated an insanely special spring for Cullman athletics. The school’s baseball squad staved off elimination time and time again to reach its third straight state final, the softball team used supreme pitching and power to secure a return trip to Montgomery, and Luke Wilson went out as a 6A state golf runner-up before taking his talents to nearby Wallace State.
Owen Lovell and Claire Jenkins gave the ‘Cats a sweep of the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s 6A baseball and softball Player of the Year prizes. Lovell later doubled up as the ASWA’s selection for Mr. Baseball, making Cullman the first program with multiple players to win the award.
In early November, Cullman baseball held its biggest Division I signing day, celebrating and cementing the commitments of Lovell (Mississippi State), Jacob Heatherly (Alabama), Noah Fondren (Alabama), Carter Bowen (Auburn) and Levi Thomas (Troy).
See below for a few of the year’s other memorable sports stories:
MapQuest
Cullman soccer was far from the area’s only team to claim a state title in 2016. St. Bernard’s boys pulled off the feat in track and field and cross country — senior Casey Guthery sped to the individual state title in the latter sport — Addison volleyball survived a five-setter against Decatur Heritage to finish off the program’s ninth championship and first four-peat, and Cold Springs’ boys were the cream of the crop in 2A track and field.
New Sheriff in Town
Triston Chambers didn’t mess around in his last hoops season in a Cold Springs uniform, taking home 2A Player of the Year and All-State first-team accolades, not to mention the county’s coveted Joe Shults Award. The now-Samford freshman finished his high school career with 2,996 points, well more than Cullman County’s previous boys and all-time scoring leaders Jared Hembree and Georgia Myrex.
On a sour note in the same sport, no local teams advanced to the regional stage for the first time since the state switched playoff formats in 1994. The county tournament did produce one heckuva classic, though, with sophomore Brendan Flanigan sinking a 3-pointer at the buzzer to hand Hanceville a four-overtime triumph over West Point. The Dawgs went on to upset Cold Springs for the title, their first since 1998.
Gridiron Gang
Addison’s first undefeated regular season since 2001 and first semifinal appearance since 2005 spearheaded the area’s football highlights. Holly Pond capped off a remarkable turnaround from a 1-29 spiral to its first winning record (6-5) since 2007 and first playoff berth since 2011. After almost three full seasons on the road, Fairview finally returned to Dafford Smith Stadium and gutted out a storybook win over Springville. In the biggest recruiting news of the year, Cullman offensive lineman Hunter Brannon received a long-awaited offer from Alabama and immediately committed.
Hello and Goodbye
The area said so long to a couple of beloved basketball coaches this year. Scott Adams stepped down in the spring after leading Holly Pond’s girls to three Final Fours, three county tournament crowns, and eight straight regular season and area tourney titles. During the fall, Michael Oldacre resigned after 16 seasons with Good Hope’s girls, who sent the consistent captain out with 313 total wins, three county championships, nine area titles and a pair of Final Four appearances.
The year’s most significant local coaching hire belonged to Hanceville. Craig Flanigan was picked as Hanceville’s head football coach in July, making the 1992 Bulldog graduate the first black head coach, regardless of sport, in Cullman County history.
