Perfection: AHS finishes regular season 10-0

The way things played out last Friday at R. Harold Harrison Stadium, it looked as if the Apalachee High School Wildcats were the team battling for the postseason.

Visiting Salem needed a victory to clinch a playoff spot while AHS had already wrapped up the Region 8-AAAA title and stood at 9-0 overall. However, the host Wildcats played one of their better games of the season on their way to a 37-14 win.


The loss ended the season for Salem while Apalachee will host its first-ever state playoff game this Friday.

“Salem had been playing well of late,” Wildcat coach Shane Davis said. “They had won three in a row and had been scoring a lot of points and hadn’t been scored on that much. Our kids just played really well. We took control of the game with a big score right before halftime. I am proud of how we played because we knew Salem had a good team.”

The score before halftime Davis spoke of came with just six seconds remaining in the opening half. Christian Hoard powered in from five yards out to push the AHS lead to 17-7 following Guy Hunt’s extra point kick.
Two key plays on the drive were passes from Mike Norman to Zack Gentry.

Three second half touchdowns by the Wildcats left little doubt as to the game’s outcome. In the second half, Jon Lee scored on runs of 35 and 32 yards and John Ansley made an acrobatic catch from 15 yards out to seal the deal.

Hoard also finished the game with two scores as he reached the endzone for Apalachee’s first score of the night on a 3-yard run with 11:30 left in the second quarter.

Hunt started the scoring for the Wildcats on a 39-yard field goal at the 8:37 mark of the first quarter.

Once the final horn sounded, the celebration was on for the Wildcats who were officially presented with the Region 8-AAAA championship trophy.


“This is a great feeling,” said lineman Cole Shook. “I’ve never experienced anything like this.”

Norman, who has performed well all season at quarterback for the team, also was enjoying the moment.

“It feels great to finish 10-0,” Norman said. “We’re ready to start the playoffs.”

Nick Donaldson, who serves as the team’s deep snapper on special teams, has been one of the unsung heroes of the team in 2009. Even Donaldson was enjoying the moment of a perfect regular season, however.

“It’s taken a lot of work to get to this point,” Donaldson said. “We’ve been sweating it out every day. We are ready to go five more. This is the greatest feeling you can have as a football player.”

The opening round of the state playoffs begins this Friday for the AHS team as it hosts Starr’s Mill at 7:30 p.m. AHS is guaranteed at least two home games.