High School Sports

The first week of the football season can be tough on some players — for Clements' Seth Bachelor it was the toughest.

Less than a week after his mother, Kathy, was killed in a car accident and two days after her funeral Bachelor delivered with a performance she would have been proud of — and one that earned him Alabama Sports Writers Association defensive/special teams player of the week honors. Montevallo's Kevin Callender earned the ASWA's offensive player of the week award.

Bachelor came through in a 21-13 win over West Limestone on Thursday night with two interceptions. He also caused a fumble as Wildcats were about to score, then came back to the play out of the end zone to recover the ball on the 1. The senior also had six catches for 77 yards and a touchdown.

He edged out two other finalists — Parkway Christian's Rashad White and Vestavia Hills' Patrick Prewitt. Prewitt, a sophomore, had three interceptions with a fumble recovery and a 5-yard touchdown pass in a wild 15-14 loss to Briarwood Christian. White did the job on both sides of the ball in a 21-19 win over Shades Mountain Christian with three touchdowns on a 34-yard interception return, a 75-yard kickoff return and a 9-yard pass from J.R. Crooks with 8:39 left for the game winner.

Callender did it on both sides of the ball as the Bulldogs weathered a fourth-quarter storm in a 46-41 win over Calera. He had 16 carries for 157 yards and two touchdowns, was 12-for-15 passing for 248 yards and four touchdowns and had 12 tackles and an interception on defense.

The other offensive finalists were Geneva's Jo Jo Tolliver and Jamorris Ricks of Colbert County.

Ricks rushed for 251 yards and touchdowns of 31, 37, 50, 48 and 32 yards on 14 carries in 47-0 the Indians, ranked No. 2 in Class 3A, win against Class 5A Muscle Shoals. Tolliver entered the game as the third-string quarterback and left with 149 yards rushing on 20 carries with a touchdown — all in the second half. He also directed a 73-yard drive for a game-winning score with 1:01 left, leading the Panthers to a 28-20 win over Rehobeth and rushed for a two-point conversion after the final TD.

Some 63 players from around the state were nominated by ASWA newspapers across the state, with the winners selected by an ASWA panel. Some of the other finalists were:

• Marcus Washington, Foley: The running back had 19 catches and 134 yards in Foley's 14-3 loss to Murphy — the second-most receptions in AHSAA history.

• Clinton McCrary, Section: The tailback moved to quarterback after a first-quarter injury in a 20-7 win over Valley Head and completed 16 of 40 passes for 287 yards and a TD. He also rushed for 85 yards and two TDs.

• Travis Eakin, Madison Academy: The senior, a transfer who hadn't played since he was a freshman, was 12-for-21 passing for for 361 yards with four touchdowns and an interception as 3A Madison Academy beat 5A Brewer, 28-6.

• Casey O'Toole, Oneonta: The quarterback was 11-for-16 passing for 254 yards and four TDs as the Redskins won a 58-31 shootout with Arab. All four TDs, eight of the completions and 223 yards went to teammate Nolen Smith.

• Tim Simon, Cordova: Simon had 234 all-purpose yards in the Blue Devils 43-6 win over Dora on Thursday. Simon rushed for 162 yards on seven carries, including an 82-yard score, and had 72-yard TD on a punt return.

• Taylor Thrash, Fyffe: The junior running back carried 12 times for 171 yards and four touchdowns (53, 11, 1, 65) as Fyffe earned a 33-14 victory over Dade County (Ga.).

• Coty Blanchard, Cherokee County: The junior completed 14 of 24 passes for 275 yards and two touchdowns in a 34-32 win at Piedmont. He also rushed for 90 yards on six carries with two more scores.

• Adam McCarley, Phillips: Accounted for six touchdowns in Phillips' 80-40 win against Mount Hope. McCarley threw for three scores, ran for two and returned an interception for another.