Meet the entire OTMJ 2020 All-OTM High School Football Team. Page 30
Shining Bright
SPORTS
Thursday, January 14, 2021 ❖ OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL
On a Roll: Experienced Rebels enjoying bounce-back season. Page 31
Waugh’s ‘Fabulous’ Season Earns All-OTM Defensive Player of the Year Honor By Rubin E. Grant
The Over The Mountain Journal’s very own Rubin E. Grant is being given the 2021 Mel Allen Media Award for his lifetime contribution to sports as a journalist. Grant will join previous winners Paul Finebaum, Cecil Hurt, Ron Ingram, Tom Roberts, George Smith and John Pruett who hold the award from the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. The award is named for Mel Allen of Birmingham, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1974 after being known as the “Voice of the New York Yankees” for two decades. “I am truly humbled and thankful for this award, that my body of work will receive this kind of recognition,” Grant said. “I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the sports writers who took a
Journal photo by Marvin Gentry
B
riarwood Christian senior Tyler Waugh tried to deflect the spotlight, but it shined on him nonetheless. That’s what happens when you lead the Birmingham metro area with 165 tackles, including 7.5 tackles for losses, make three interceptions, force four fumbles, recover three fumbles and score two defensive touchdowns. And in short-yardage and goal-line situations on offense, you rush for 257 yards and score 13 touchdowns. Over the Mountain football coaches certainly took notice, voting Waugh as the 2020 Over the Mountain Defensive Player of the Year. “He had an outstanding, fabulous year,” Briarwood coach Matthew Forester said. “He’s a gritty, hard-nosed player who plays the game the right way. “He was really our team leader, on offense and defense. He worked incredibly hard throughout the year.” The 6-foot, 195-pound Waugh also was
OTMJ’s Rubin E. Grant Earns ASHOF 2021 Mel Allen Media Award
Briarwood Christian senior Tyler Waugh (30) led the Birmingham metro area with 165 tackles.
named to the Alabama Sports Writers Association Class 6A All-State football first team. Waugh set the tone for the kind of season he
was going to have in the Lions’ season-opening 28-20 victory against Fort Payne, recording 27 total tackles, including 13 unassisted, and scor-
See WAUGH, page 30 Photo special to the Jouranl
Catalyst Oak Mountain’s Smith Unanimous Choice for OTM Offensive Player of the Year
Rubin E. Grant, in a photo taken in 2008 when he was inducted into the Birmingham Barons Hall of Fame, will receive the 2021 Mel Allen Media Award for his lifetime contribution to sports as a journalist in May.
By Rubin E. Grant
Journal photo by Marvin Gentry
C
oming off his worst performance of the 2020 high school football season, Oak Mountain junior quarterback Evan Smith became nearly unstoppable. Smith, a dynamic dual-threat quarterback, finished with only 67 yards rushing on nine carries and completed only 3 of 11 passes for 40 yards in a 42-7 game at Hoover on Sept. 18. After that, Smith exploded, with his most eye-opening performance coming in the first round of the Class 7A state playoffs when he ran for 320 yards and four touchdowns on 23 carries in a 41-28 victory at Austin in Decatur. He followed that with 217 yards and two touchdowns on 29 carries in a narrow 24-21 loss to Hoover in the quarterfinals. The game ended when Smith was stopped on a questionable spot on a fourth-and-1 play at the Hoover 25-yard line with 1:14 remaining in the game. Smith finished the season with 1,719 yards on 171 carries (143.3 yards a game average) and was 44 of 103 passing for 620 yards and six scores. He was the unanimous choice by Over the
Oak Mountain junior quarterback Evan Smith finished the season with 1,719 yards on 171 carries (143.3 yards a game average) and was 44 of 103 passing for 620 yards and six scores.
Mountain coaches for the 2020 OTMJ Offensive Player of the Year.
“I certainly think he’s deserving,” Oak
See SMITH, page 30
young black kid from Montgomery under their wings when he was a student at the University of Alabama and showed him the ropes, men such as Al Browning, Jimmy Smothers, Bill Lumpkin, Alf Van Hoose, Clyde Bolton and John Pruett.” Grant, 63, began his media career as sports editor for the Crimson White at the University of Alabama during Paul “Bear” Bryant’s tenure as football coach. He then spent 25 years covering sports for the Birmingham Post-Herald, where he was prep editor, reporting on local high school football, basketball, baseball and other sports and chronicling such athletes as Bo Jackson, Charles Barkley and Cornelius Bennett and legendary coaches such as Bob Finley and Buddy Anderson. Grant was given the Herby Kirby Award, the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s highest award, in 1981. For his 25 years of covering the Barons, including the year Michael Jordan played for the team, he was inducted into the Birmingham Barons Hall of Fame in 2008. In
See GRANT, page 30
