Herald Fans’ Choice Player of the Week: Jackson Thomas

By DALTON MIDDLETON Sports Editor

The votes are in, and this week’s Herald Fans’ Choice Player of the week is Stanhope Elmore wide receiver Jackson Thomas.

Thomas, a senior and Troy football commit, earned 366 of the 700 total votes. As he earned over half the total votes, Elmore County receiver Jabari Murphy earned 176 votes while Wetumpka cross country runner Gavan Baxley earned 158 votes.

Thomas is the second Stanhope Elmore football player to win this season and it is his first honor of the year.

The star wideout had a stellar game last Friday as he capped off his Stanhope Elmore career. In a 21-7 win over Minor, Jackson scored all three of the Mustangs’ touchdowns. He caught a touchdown pass from quarterback Colton Walls, then scored his other two touchdowns via the run as he lined up in the Wildcat formation.

Stanhope, which didn’t make the playoffs this year, finished the season with a 4-6 overall record and Thomas was a huge part in the team’s success this season. He scored multiple touchdowns in seemingly every game this year, and capped the season with one of his best performances yet.

By DALTON MIDDLETON Sports Editor

Gabe LeMaster is making the most of his two position changes.

LeMaster, a senior on the Edgewood Academy football team, has made a position change both on offense and defense this season. That has helped lead him to a stellar senior season where he’s help lead the Wildcats (6-5) to the second round of the playoffs.

He scored both touchdowns last week as Edgewood beat Banks Academy, 14-7, in the first round of the AISA Class AA playoffs. It was the first playoff win for Edgewood since 2020.

LeMaster currently has nine touchdowns on offense and five interceptions on defense.

“He’s just done a great job of preparing and doing what we ask of him,” head coach Chad Michael said. “We put a lot on his plate and we move him around a lot to a bunch of different positions. There’s a lot for him to know and to learn. He’s smart enough to learn it and know all the positions. That’s hard to do. We can put a lot on him and not overwhelm him.”

It was simple for his position change on offense: get him the ball. LeMaster, in the team’s first two games this season, had four touches. He had three catches in the season opener and one carry in the team’s second game.

Edgewood was 0-2 after the first two weeks.

So LeMaster moved to running back to get more touches and to also help keep running back Bradley Boone healthy. The move immediately worked as LeMaster recorded 13 carries for 175 yards and two touchdowns in his first game in the backfield.

He’s had five games where he rushed over 50 yards since that move, and twice he’s gone over 150 yards rushing. He’s still as prominent as ever in the receiving game as he’s racked up over 50 receiving yards in five of his last six games.

Even better, he’s racked up over 100 receiving yards in three of his last four games. He’s had five catches for 144 yards and a touchdown, two catches for 109 yards and two touchdowns, and three catches for 180 yards and two touchdowns.

“I think the running back thing was more trying to keep Bradley healthy, but he does a great job,” Battles said.

“We weren’t getting him the ball enough early so we had to find a way to do that.

That was a way for him to get more touches and get the ball in his hands up to 15 times a game.”

On the defensive side of the ball, LeMaster was playing cornerback but the team kept giving up big plays in the middle of the field. With LeMaster being the fastest player on the field, Michael moved him to safety and let him patrol the field more.

That worked wonders for his game. The tackles stayed around the same volume for LeMaster, but his interception numbers skyrocketed. He’s intercepted five passes the second half of the season, and he’s helped Edgewood’s defense improve heavily.

Edgewood is allowing 25.5 points per game this year, but most of that came in the first half of the season. The Wildcats have won four of their last five games, and only two teams have scored over 12 points during that span.

Two teams were held to seven or less points.

“Defensively, we were getting beat on big plays a lot early in the season, so we put our fastest guy back there to stop,” Michael said. “Those 75-yard plays were turning into 15-20 yard plays. Putting him back there has made him more free to read the quarterback and he doesn’t have to lock in on specific person. We let him play free and go where he feels the ball is going. That’s letting him have the big plays that he has.”

Edgewood will need LeMaster’s big play threat this week as they take on the No. 1-ranked team in all of AISA. The Wildcats travel to Patrician Academy on Thursday night in the AISA AA semifinals.

Patrician is outscoring its opponents by an average of 32 points per game this season and has not lost a game. They beat Abbeville Christian, 55-13, in the first round.

By DALTON MIDDLETON Sports Editor

The 64th annual AHSAA North-South All-Star football game has released its rosters and three football players from Elmore County have been selected to play in the event.

Brandon Dean, the Director of the Alabama High School Athletic Directors and Coaches Association, made the announcement of the two 37-member rosters on Tuesday morning.

Wetumpka safety Dorion Jackson and kicker Logan Weighall were both selected for the Indians, while Stanhope Elmore tight end Colton Walls was selected for the Mustangs.

The teams were selected by nominations submitted by AHSAA member school coaches. The All-Star selection committee consists of the two coaching staffs participating in the game.

The game, which will be played at Mobile’s Hancock Whitney Stadium on December 16, will kick off at 7 p.m. and will be televised over to the AHSAA TV Network and live streamed on the NFHS Network.

Head coaches for both teams were announced last month, with Opelika coach Erik Spearman heading the south team while Pickens County coach Michael Williams will lead the north.

No coaches from Elmore County were selected.

“We have an abundance of talent in our state each year, and both teams selected reflect that talent,” Dean said in a press release. “We are looking forward to another exciting game this December.”

All three players selected from around the county have had stellar senior seasons.

Jackson, who recently committed to play at Troy University as a safety, has been one of the most versa-