Daleville returns only a handful of players with starting experience – and many of those are still very young – and the majority of players that find themselves playing on Fridays this season will be either freshmen or sophomores. Many of those players were also thrown in the fire last season and head coach Will Garner hopes that experience – along with an offseason in the weight room and on the field – will help this young team grow up quickly.

Chris Page, So., Center: Page was forced to start as a freshman at one of the most difficult positions on either side of the line of scrimmage last season and his return to the lineup will add some valuable experience there.

“Chris has helped make us so much better this year,” Garner said. “Chris is a guy that started as a freshman last year and will start this year as a sophomore.”

The five-foot-9-inch, 200-pound Page provides a much-needed physicality to the offensive line.

“We expect big things out of him,” Garner said. “He’s physical and smart and he definitely anchors the offensive line for us.”

Zacorey Culver, So., Offensive Guard/Defensive Tackle: Culver is yet another Warhawk player that was thrown into the starting lineup as a freshman and has been one of the brightest spots on the team since Garner arrived.

“He’s been one of the biggest bright spots for me since I came in January,” Garner said. “Zacorey was a little heavy when we got here and hadn’t figured out the weight room yet and that has completely flipped.

“His body has changed and his mind has changed and he’s turned into our best lineman hands down. He will be a load on both sides of the ball.”

Culver will help anchor the interior of both lines as a guard on offense and defensive tackle on defense. During OTAs in the summer, Culver routinely found himself in the opposing offense’s backfield.

TJ Waller, So., Offensive Guard/Defensive Tackle: Waller is the newest Warhawk and Garner expects him to help anchor down the interior of both the offensive and defensive line alongside Page and Culver.

“TJ walking through the door made us a whole lot better immediately,” Garner said. “Not just because of how good of a football player he is but also how good of a kid he is.

“He’s a hard worker and one of the strongest kids we have in the weight room. He’s only a sophomore and with him and Zacorey anchoring things up front on both sides of the ball we’re in good shape for awhile there.”

Waller brings playing experience from his for

Daleville’s Jalen White was named the Class 2A Back of the Year last week.

The accolades continue to pour in for Daleville senior running back Jalen White as the Alabama Sports Writers Association revealed that he was a finalist for the 2019 Class 2A Back of the Year.

White has already earned USA Today All-USA, The Southeast Sun/Daleville Sun-Courier Elite 11 and Offensive Player of the Year and ASWA first-team All-State honors so far this offseason.

White joins Collinsville quarterback Kaleb Jones and Ohatchee’s Domonique Thomas as the three finalists for Class 2A’s Back of the Year.

Jones rushed for 1,041 yards and 17 touchdowns, while throwing for 1,361 yards and 20 more touchdowns for Collinsville. He also recorded 42 tackles and five interceptions on defense with three more return touchdowns.

Thomas rushed for 2,020 yards and 33 touchdowns for Ohatchee.

White amassed 3,519 yards and 49 touchdowns with 78 total tackles, 10 tackles-for-loss and three interceptions along with a fumble return for a touchdown on defense.

The Back of the Year and Lineman of the Year are giving out annually by the ASWA along with the annual Mr. Football Award, which goes to the state’s overall player of the year.

The winners of each award will be announced at the ASWA Mr. Football/Players of the Year Banquet on Wednesday, Jan. 15 at the Montgomery Renaissance Hotel and Convention Center.

Hybrid Pro Wrestling made its return to Daleville on Saturday, Sept. 7, and headlined its “Southern Brawl” event with a pair of championship matches.

In the semi-main event, AIWF Southern Junior Heavyweight Champion Logan Stevens fought to a time limit draw with challenger Slingshot Shaddox in a high-flying affair.

As the 10-mintue time limit drew closer and closer, the two junior heavyweights grew more desperate to pin the other. Finally, the bell rang and Stevens retained his title because of the draw.

Neither wrestler was satisfied with the outcome and Stevens offered to give Shaddox a rematch at next month’s Hybrid Pro event in Daleville, which Shaddox eagerly accepted.

In the main event, the first Hybrid Pro Heavyweight Champion Cali Man defended his title for the first time against “Mr. Roll Tide” Micahel Enfinger, a Dale County native.

After the pair went at it in a back-and-forth, physical match Cali Man decided he would rather lose via countout than risk losing his title since a championship can’t change hands on a draw, countout or disqualification.

Following the controversial finish to the main event, Hybrid Pro commissioner Scream announced that he was finalizing some “big news” and would announce it at Hybrid Pro’s return to Daleville on Oct. 5.

Scream started off the show by bringing out the tag team of Outspoken – Fatality and Don Yoder – and Scream questioned why Fatality attacked Ryan Phoenix last month when they teamed together.

Fatality said that Phoenix was a “loser” and that he always had been, and that he didn’t need another reason. Scream announced that Fatality would be forced to go one-on-one with Phoenix in the opening match and that Yoder would be banned from ringside.

Just as Phoenix came through the curtain to make his entrance, Fatality jumped him and continued to beat him down for several minutes. Despite having the upper hand for much of the match, Fatality was defeated when Phoenix connected with a Suplex/Neckbreaker combination.

Hybrid National Champion Cameron Thomas was initially expected to defend his title against rival Chase Stevens in their third match in Hybrid Pro, but for an unknown reason Evans never appeared for the match and Thomas was given a countout win.

Following the mysterious Evans no-show, Thomas grabbed a microphone and began to berate all of the fans at ringside, which saw the Daleville crowd shower him with boos and drown him out before leaving.

Next up, the monstrous Kaci Dillon defeated Mackenzie York in a hard-hitting women’s matchup, that saw York almost pull out the win with

Daleville High School officially hired former Early County head coach Trey Woolf on Wednesday afternoon, July 18, to become the new head football coach and athletic director.