Another season of high school football kicks off tonight for Conecuh County

Another season of high school football will officially begin tonight when Hillcrest High School and Sparta Academy kick off their regular season schedules, and both football programs will pass a few milestones this year.

This year marks the 44th season of football at Sparta Academy and tonight’s game at Southern Academy will be the 461st official game in the history of Sparta football. It will also be the 234th road game in the history of Sparta football and the tenth all-time game between Sparta and Southern. It’ll mark the fifth time that Sparta has faced Southern in Greensboro.

Tonight’s game will also mark the first official game for young head coach Justin Chandler, an experienced assistant coach who is getting his first crack at being a head coach. Chandler is the 19th all-time head football coach at Sparta, which goes through a head coach about once every 2.3 years.

Chandler will be out to top last year’s 3-8 record and to keep Sparta’s playoff streak alive. The Warriors have made the playoffs two years in a row and a trip to the playoffs this year will be Sparta’s 16th all-time trip to the state playoffs.

This year also marks the 26th season of football at Hillcrest High School and tonight’s game at Monroe County High School will be the 261st official game in the history of Hillcrest football. It will also be the 151st road game in the history of Hillcrest football and the 23rd all-time game between Hillcrest and Monroe County. It’ll also mark Hillcrest’s 12th all-time trip to Tiger Stadium in Monroeville.

Tonight’s game will also mark the start of Larry Boykin’s fifth season as head coach at Hillcrest. Boykin, who is a lock for the AHSAA Hall of Fame one day, is the sixth all-time head coach at Hillcrest and enters the season with a 21-21 record at Hillcrest.

I think it’s worth noting that Boykin was in his fifth year at Southern Choctaw in 1998 when he began to put that program on the map in a big way. In the four seasons prior to that, he was 15-27 overall, including a 1-9 season in 1995. However, in 1998, Southern Choctaw went 15-0, won the Class 2A state title and garnered Boykin the 2A Coach of the Year Award. His teams at Southern Choctaw would repeat again as state champions in 1999 and 2002.

I say all that to say that you shouldn’t be surprised if Hillcrest becomes a big winner this season. Last year, the Jags won a school record seven-straight games, and this year’s team could be poised to do even better. Only time will tell, but I won’t be surprised if this year’s team turns out to be one of the best in school history.

In the end, everyone at The Courant is wishing both teams all the best as they enter their respective seasons, and we hope that they have all the success they can earn this season.