TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — You can never have enough hugs.
On an afternoon in which the people of Reform made Tuscaloosa their second home, Zev Finch took it upon himself to be the ambassador of good will for the Pickens County High School football team.
Overcome with emotion and nearly speechless following Pickens County’s 38-18 victory against Maplesville in the Alabama High School Athletic Association Class 1A state title game, Finch appeared dazed as his teammates poured onto the field to celebrate the program’s first state championship. The only thing that registered for the senior offensive lineman to do was to hug someone. The first person in his path was sophomore Malek Steele, so Finch wrapped him up in a bear hug that would have made even the closest relative envious.
On this day, Finch, Steele, and all of the Tornadoes were kin, so it didn’t matter if tears were shed or hugs — not handshakes or pats on the back — were used repeatedly to share the accomplishment.
“Every year since eighth grade I went home crying, upset that we didn’t make it,” Finch said. “This year, my whole family got to make it with me. It is a feeling you can’t describe. I don’t even know what I feel inside.”
With 13 seniors, Pickens County started the season focused on using a 42-41 loss to Marion County in the state semifinals as motivation to help claim the elusive crown. In 2011, Pickens County lost to Sweet Water in the third round, so Finch was accustomed to disappointment in the postseason.
But the Tornadoes vowed this season would be different. Sometimes talk of family can become cliche, as players talk and talk about how growing up and playing together made them closer and gave them an edge over other teams. This season, Pickens County (15-0) had that camaraderie and two other special weapons: senior quarterback Devonte Simon and senior running back Jermarcus Brown. While the team chemistry and desire to win a state title kept everyone in line and focused on team, not individual, accolades, Simon and Brown helped fuel an offense that proved Thursday it was one of the best in the state of Alabama.
Brown rushed had 26 carries for 329 yards and three touchdowns. He scored on runs of 2, 34, and 54 yards. The final one came after the Tornadoes lined up to punt the ball, but Brown fielded the low snap and saw a huge opening off the left end, so he used his speed and received a key block down field to help send Pickens County on its way.
“I didn’t worry about that. I was just worried about getting out here and getting to the next level to win a state championship,” said Brown, who has received scholarship offers from South Alabama and West Georgia. He also said coach Patrick Plott is working on getting him an offer from Jacksonville State and that he also has an offer from UAB. “The yards just added up every time I ran the ball and I just couldn’t stop.”
Simon also played a key role with an interception in the end zone in the first half. Even though he was only 3 of 9 for 30 yards and threw two interceptions, Simon came up with one of the plays of the game in the third quarter. Leading 20-12, Pickens County faced a fourth-and-10 from the Maplesville 17-yard line. On the previous play, Simon overthrew Steffon McCoy in the back of the end zone after the wide receiver broke free from coverage. On fourth down, Maplesville flushed Simon from the pocket and forced him right. Another defender charged in as Simon continued toward the Pickens County sideline, but the right-hander took his time and lofted a pass to eighth-grader Cordell Plott, the son of coach Plott. Cordell Plott recognized Simon was running out of room and kept moving to get open and sneak behind the defensive back.
Darrien Latham’s 6-yard run in the fourth quarter accounted for Pickens County’s final points on a day in which it denied Maplesville (14-1) a chance to set the record for points in a season. The Red Devils entered the game averaging 52.4 points per game and 28 points shy of eclipsing Demopolis’ record of 761 set in 2004, but the Tornadoes held them to their lowest output of the season thanks in part to a defense that bent but didn’t break.
On the other side, Brown’s rushing performance was part of a ground attack that finished with 441 yards, the most by a team in a Class 1A state title game. The total shattered the previous record of 369 set by Maplesville against Lynn in 1996.
Brown also set a record for most rushing yards in the Class 1A championship, breaking the mark set by Lynn’s Lee Cable (306 yards) in 1996.
Finch said Maplesville tried to overload sides of the line and shifted defenders in an effort to confuse the Tornadoes. But Finch said the coaches drilled them in practice during a short week and stressed that they needed to focus on their jobs. The push they had off the ball and their communication enabled them to take advantage of the gaps up front in the Red Devils’ defense. With the ends set out wide in an effort to keep Brown and Simon from getting to the edge, the Tornadoes showed they were equally adept at running inside and using their speed to beat the linebackers to those gaps.
“I think a lot of times they over-pursued,” said Simon, who had 15 carries for 100 yards and an 8-yard touchdown run. “Our linemen picked up the blocks when they over-pursued and it opened up holes for us to run through.”
The effort of the offensive line was even more impressive when you consider freshman Myles Gardner came on for senior Chris Hill, who was playing both ways and needed a break, and allowed the Tornadoes not to miss a beat.
Plott, who is in his second stint as coach at the school, experienced the loss to Sweet Water in his first season back. Later that year, he guided the boys basketball team to a Class 1A state title. That same family atmosphere has taken hold of the football team, too, and now both of them can say that they are state champions.
“(Family) brought is a long way,” Plott said. “These guys came together. They spend a lot of time together. We spend a lot of time together. I keep them up there (at the football field) a lot. That is one thing we always talk about, the only way you’re going to win a state championship is you have to come together as a family. You can’t do it by yourself.”
Plott then smiled and said, “Yes” when asked if Finch had found him to give him a hug. Finch also had tracked down Simon to wrap him up and share in the special moment. There are bound to be plenty of more hugs in the coming weeks as the Tornadoes and their extended family bask in the glow of their victory.
“It was a family,” Finch said. “We stayed together. We knew it was going to be a hard fight. We came out and got things done. That is all we had to do.
“When it comes to teams like this, it is not offense or defense, it is the whole thing. We work together on both sides of the ball.
It is something you have to experience for yourself to know what it is like. There are no words to describe what this feels like. Since we started, this was our goal and now we have got it. You just can’t describe that.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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