Thursday, March 8, 2012

Hillcrest High School football schedule released this week

Coach Larry Boykin released Hillcrest High School’s football schedule for the upcoming season last week, and in many ways the schedule looks very favorable for the Jags.

The schedule includes more than a few tough games against teams that usually field good teams. Teams on next year’s schedule that I’d put in that category include Greenville, Washington County, UMS-Wright, Andalusia, Escambia County and Thomasville. Weaker teams on next year’s schedule, based on last year’s performance, include Clarke County, W.S. Neal, Wilcox Central, Monroe County and Sidney Lanier.

In many ways, I found Hillcrest’s game against Sidney Lanier to be one of the more interesting games on next year’s schedule. Lanier has one of the oldest high school football programs in the state. They’ve been playing varsity football since 1910, and some of their former players include such greats as Bart Starr and Tavaris Jackson.

Lanier, which is located on South Court Street in Montgomery and plays its home games in Cramton Bowl, is one of the smallest Class 6A schools in the state. Their average daily enrollment is 740.75 students. Hillcrest’s average daily enrollment is 339.65. In other words, Lanier is more than twice the size of Hillcrest based on average daily enrollment.

Lanier’s size hasn’t helped the Poets much in recent years. In fact, they’ve only had one winning season – a 7-5 showing in 2006 - since 2000. Hillcrest and Lanier have never met on the football field, so it’ll be interesting to see how this game turns out.

Next year’s game against Washington County will also be the first ever meeting between those two teams in football. Washington County is usually pretty decent in football, so this game will be a good early season test for the Jags as they prepare for region play. Washington County hasn’t had a losing season since 1999, so if past performance is any indication, they should be strong again this season.

Hillcrest will be no stranger to the rest of the teams on their schedule, and they’ve got winning records against W.S. Neal and Monroe County. Historically, the Jags have fared well against both of these teams. Hillcrest is 9-8 all-time against Neal, and they’re 12-8 against Monroe all time.

Over the years, Hillcrest has also been evenly matched against their Covington County rival, Andalusia High School. Going back to their first ever game in 1989, the Jags are 10-11 all-time against Andalusia. Hillcrest hasn’t beaten Andalusia though since 2008, so the Jags are due for a big win over the Bulldogs.

Hillcrest usually plays well on homecoming night and this year they’ll face Wilcox Central for homecoming. Hillcrest is 4-4 all-time against Wilcox, but the two teams haven’t met in football since 2001. Hillcrest has actually won four straight against Wilcox and hasn’t lost to their Camden rivals since 1993, that is, before any of the players on Hillcrest’s current team were even born.

In the end, it looks like we’ve got some good games to look forward to, but football fans in the reading audience will have to be patient. Spring training is just around the corner, and then before we know it, the new season will be upon us.

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