Friday Night Lights Shine Bright in Lee County

In anticipation of the moment when that first stadium light shines down and the kicker raises his hand to launch a new season of high school football, all hopes are at the ceiling. Why wouldn’t they be? It’s August — an entire season is laid out in front of us.

“To be honest with you, our expectation is to go win a state title. That’s why we’re here, right?” said Loachapoka head coach Branden Hall. “That’s why we coach. We want to develop these guys as human beings and make them better young men. And on that [point], why wouldn’t you shoot for the main goal? I don’t understand why you’d come up here and say you don’t want to win a state title. That’s my mentality.”

Before that long-awaited moment when all start afresh, 24 high schools from Lee County and the surrounding area took the podium at the seventh annual Fox Sports “The Game” High School Football Media Days at the Bottling Plant Even Center in Opelika on July 23-24.

There was a wide variety of schools in all different leagues, whether it be eight-man football, AISA newbies or veterans, AHSAA rookies or returning powerhouses — and they were all well represented. They made it obvious that high school football in the state of Alabama is rapidly advancing.

Preceding the coaches and players’ press conferences, the directors of both leagues: the AHSAA and AISA, took the stage. The AHSAA is welcoming two new Lee County schools, Glenwood and Lee-Scott Academy, over from the AISA. On the other hand, the AISA is set for its biggest field of teams in recent history with three new additions in the 2024-25 school year.

The ever-evolving landscape of high school athletics will be showcased in Alabama in 2024.

In the AHSAA, Loachapoka, who has become a powerhouse in Class 1A, is making the transition to 2A, Glenwood and LeeScott are joining AHSAA 3A in a region with Beulah, about 20 minutes up the road from each, Reeltown is moving up to 5A from 2A, Tallassee is swapping to 4A from 5A, as well as several others moving regions.

In the AISA, Chambers Academy is moving to 3A after being a top dog in 2A. It will fill at least part of the void left from Glenwood and Lee-Scott, who are leaving after running the floor in AISA 3A the past several years. No matter classification, though, each team will unite under that shared dream of winning a state title, but everyone will take a different path to get there.

Some teams are looking to run it back, some just can’t wait for a fresh slate after a forgettable 2023 season and many are looking to build upon the steps they took last year. But one thing is the same for all — the boys are ready to take their hard work this summer to the gridiron.

“This is the start of my favorite time of year, and I hope y’alls too,” said Lee-Scott Academy head coach Buster Daniel. “I love watching basketball, baseball, golf and all those other sports, but there’s nothing like Friday night football.”