REFORM, Ala. — The picture on the floor of coach Patrick Plott’s office serves as a challenge.
Last season in his return to the sidelines as coach of the Pickens County High School boys basketball team, Plott led the Tornadoes to a third consecutive state title. The picture shows Plott holding the championship trophy surrounded by celebrating members of his team.
Behind the picture, basketball and football trophies line the wall in anticipation of Plott finding space in the trophy case in the lobby of the school’s gym.
Plott hopes to find space to put a football championship, too.
A year ago, the De’Marko Hall-fueled Tornadoes finished 11-2 and lost to Sweet Water in the third round of the Alabama High School Athletic Association Class 1A playoffs. The loss continued a run of strong seasons and playoff appearances, but left Pickens County without any hardware to show for its performance.
“We enjoyed what we did last year,” Plott said, “but our ultimate goal is to win a state championship. That has been our focus all summer and this fall.”
Even though Plott acknowledges replacing Hall, who moved on to play football at Faulkner University in Montgomery, Ala., will be difficult, he believes his team has the pieces to make a championship run.
Plott said sophomore Jemarcus Brown will be one of a handful of players who gets a shot to produce in place of Hall.
“We like to score points,” Plott said.
Pickens County is coming off a 46-35 loss to Linden in a scrimmage Friday in Reform, Ala.. The Tornadoes led 36-35 with a little more than a minute to play before surrendering the go-ahead score with eight seconds to play. A turnover on the ensuing kickoff and a touchdown accounted for the final margin.
Linden, which is in Region 1, beat Sweet Water 40-7 in the state semifinals and lost to Marion County 23-12 in the title game. Pickens County will play host to Marion County Oct. 19.
Plott said junior quarterback Devonte Simon will have to take on a bigger load if the Tornadoes, ranked No. 6 in Class 1A in the Alabama Sports Writers Association preseason poll, are going to play into December. Simon threw for more than 2,800 yards and 36 touchdowns last season.
“He has the potential to be ‘That Guy,’ ” Plott said. “De’Marko was ‘That Guy’ for us last year. Devonte has the potential to be ‘That Guy.’ He has taken on that role himself. We haven’t put any more pressure on him. He leads by example, by word of mouth, and he is doing it on offense and defense (cornerback).”
Plott said Simon is emerging as more of a vocal leader. He said Simon sets the tone by being the first one at drills. He said Simon’s work ethic has helped him earn the respect of his teammates, so when he talks they listen.
Plott believes his players know the team lost a lot from last season but that it also has a lot coming back. He said the Tornadoes have experience, especially up front on both sides of the ball and at wide receiver, to allow the team to have championship dreams.
On defense, the return of All-State William Stewart, who had 100 tackles and 12 sacks last season, and Terrien Steele will anchor the line. Outside linebacker Raheem Curry and lineman Malik Steele, the brother of Terrien, will bolster a group Plott feels could be the team’s strength.
“I feel like our front seven will be key to us,” Plott said. “All of those guys have experience.”
Plott said Justin Barton and Chris Hill also could play key roles on a swarming, aggressive defense that will set the tone.
Plott said he will have several guys play both ways, but he feels the team has comparable depth to past seasons. As a result, Plott doesn’t think there will be a big drop-off from last season. He said the players carried that mind-set through the offseason and into the preseason.
“They really feel like we have a chance to win a state championship,” Plott said. “We’re confident w can get it done. I told them when the (preseason) rankings came out that that is not for us. We’re not going to talk about it. The only one that matters is the one at the end.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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