Two-Way Player of the Year: Edgewood Academy’s LeMaster uses intelligence to advantage on field

By DALTON MIDDLETON Sports Editor

Edgewood Academy junior Gabe LeMaster is combining his intelligence and his athletic skills on the football field.

LeMaster, a junior on the Edgewood Academy football team, played all over the field for the Wildcats this season, but mostly served as a running back, receiver, cornerback, and a safety.

To be able to handle all of the different positions he plays, LeMaster has taken to learn every play from each different position on the field. That led to reading both offenses and defenses at a high level, and resulted in a stellar junior season on both sides of the ball.

On offense, LeMaster finished this season with 115 carries for 619 yards and three touchdowns while also catching 24 passes for 594 yards and six touchdowns. On defense, he recorded 72 tackles, five tackles for loss, six interceptions, and 10 pass breakups.

He also starred on special teams and 251 return yards and one touchdown.

For that reason, LeMaster has been named the 2022 Elmore County Two-Way Player of the Year.

“He’s just so intelligent,” head coach Chad Michael said. “He watches a lot of film and he picks up on things. It’s outstanding. As a player, it makes it a lot easier when you know where everyone else is supposed to be.

By DALTON MIDDLETON Sports Editor

Elmore County’s Kyle Caldwell faced a near impossible challenge when he took over as head coach this past offseason.

He inherited an Elmore County program that had not been to the playoffs in over a decade. The Panthers went winless last season, and had only won four games in the last three seasons. But despite that, Caldwell took over the program with a plan to get the team back on the right track. He did that, and more, in his first year as head coach.

Caldwell led the Panthers to a 7-4 record and the first round of the playoffs, their most wins and first playoff appearance since 2011.

For that reason, Caldwell has been named the 2022 Elmore County Football Coach of the Year.

“Coming in, we knew we had some good players,” Caldwell said. “We just had to get our players in positions to succeed. They bought into our plan so all the credit really goes to them. The kids are fantastic here. If anybody else would’ve come in here, they would have had just as good of a shot as I did. The kids did a great job this year executing our game plan.”

It didn’t come easy for Caldwell and Elmore

By DALTON MIDDLETON Sports Editor

Justin Crumbaugh was already one of the best linebackers in the state, but learning from first-year head coach Bear Woods took the talented Wetumpka senior to the next level.

Crumbaugh entered the 2022 football season coming off a 94-tackle season where he earned All-County honors. He made tackles all over the field, and had a knack for being in the right place at the right time.

But when Woods, a former middle linebacker, took over the program fresh off a lengthy playing career in college, the NFL, and the CFL, he was able to teach Crumbaugh the ins and outs of playing linebacker at an elite level.

By DALTON MIDDLETON Sports Editor

Payton Stephenson has always wanted to develop into a better passer, and he was able to do just that under first-year head coach Kyle Caldwell.

Stephenson, Elmore County’s star senior, has started 30 games at quarterback for the Panthers in his career. He’s found success on the ground during his sophomore and junior seasons, but never passed for more than seven touchdowns in a season.

But with Caldwell coming in with his quarterback and offensive coordinator experience, Stephenson was able to find a scheme that helped develop his passing game and elevate him to new heights.

To cap off his Elmore County career, Stephenson completed 129 of 221 passes for 1,890 yards, 22 touchdowns, and 8 interceptions. He set new career highs in every passing category across the board, and he finished the year with a 104.5 passer rating.

He still found plenty of success on the ground as well as he rushed 98 times for 704 yards and 14 touchdowns. He averaged 7.2 yards per carry.

For his success leading the Panthers’ offense, Stephenson has been named the Elmore County Offensive Player of the Year.

“I’ve always wanted to develop

For his play, he has been named the 2022 Elmore County Defensive Player of the Year.

“You can’t coach his intuitive nature of the game,” Woods said of Crumbaugh. “You have to have a knack for it. The timing, the space, the angles it takes, those are things that set him apart. The biggest thing, and it sounds simplistic, is the want-to. He wanted to make 100 tackles. He wanted to lead the team in tackles. He wanted to be that guy and that’s why he was that guy for us.”

Crumbaugh credits his success to into a passer because that’s what being a quarterback is all about,” Stephenson said. “It really was a great season. Coach Caldwell brought in a great offense that fit my capabilities and everyone bought in to the process. I have to give credit to the whole offense for allowing me to achieve everything.”

Stephenson’s passing ability was shown from the start of the season. In the season opener against Marbury, Stephenson passed for 154 yards and four touchdowns. That was just the start of his stellar season.

He went on to pass for over 135 yards in nine of his 11 games this

Crumbaugh already had the intuition and nose for the football, like Woods mentioned, so he had to better him before the snap. That came from studying the playbook, which Crumbaugh had no issue doing. He’s a hard worker, and has the dedication to better himself.

So he took what Woods wanted to teach him to heart, and he improved heavily on the things he knew he struggled at the most.

“I really just helped him with the fundamentals of the game,” Woods said.

There aren’t many high school players who can know and direct everyone’s job on the field, so to have someone like Gabe who does know everyone’s job is outstanding.”

He’s does exceptionally well at reading opposing offenses. The junior started the season out at cornerback, but was eventually moved to safety to allow him to roam more of the field.

At corner, he was stuck only being able to cover one half of the field. He also had to keep his eyes on one specific receiver, and he couldn’t help out covering anyone else. But once he moved to safety at midseason, he was able to react easier and cut off receivers.

He recorded all six of his interceptions after his move to safety, and Edgewood’s defense held three of their last six opponents under 12 points.

“I would really just read the ball from the quarterback,” LeMaster said. “A high school quarterback usually isn’t going to be looking around trying to make the defense go somewhere with his eyes. They’re usually just looking to go to one specific receiver, so you can read his eyes and follow and just break on the ball. Reading his eyes from safety allows me to react everywhere.”

On offense, LeMaster ended up being the team’s top big-play threat. That was especially evident in the second half of the season. After scoring five touchdowns in five games, he turned in a Randy Moss type performance against Hooper Academy.

In the 20-7 win, he recorded two catches for 109 yards and two touchdowns. In the first round of the playoffs against Banks Academy, a 14-7 win, he recorded three catches for 180 yards and scored both touchdowns to lead the Wildcats to a playoff victory.

Their playoff run came to an end in the AISA Class AA semifinals, but LeMaster continued to show what he could do in that game with a touchdown catch and the team’s most offensive yards in the game.

“Offense is all about finding holes and just following your blocks,” LeMaster said. “You have to let things develop and just run and react. I would have some runs where I’d only get a yard or two, but then I’d just have to read the defense and pick up things from each player and figure out what they do. Some are more aggressive than others, and you can pick up on those tendencies and know what they’re going to do in 1-on-1 situations and then beat them at it.”