DAILY Photo by Gary Cosby Jr. The Priceville High Bulldogs have 16 starters back from a team that went 5-5 last season.

A Bulldog of a challenge
With 16 starters back, Priceville faces move to 4A

Twelfth in a series.

By Kyle Veazey
DAILY Sports Writer
kveazey@decaturdaily.com · 340-2460

Just about the time the Priceville High football program had gotten settled in, this had to happen.

Priceville, which has had a varsity program only since 2002, when high school grades returned to its campus, jumps from Class 2A to Class 4A this fall.

DAILY Photo by Gary Cosby Jr. Donald Weeks enters his first season as the Bulldogs' head coach.

"It's a big jump," first-year head coach Donald Weeks said. "It's big to jump two classes because I know the level of competition is big. We just have to step up."

The Bulldogs finished 5-5 last season under Marty Chambers, playing a in 2A region that included teams like Cold Springs, Falkville and Holly Pond. The Bulldogs' new 4A region includes North Alabama powers like North Jackson and East Limestone, along with area schools Ardmore and East Lawrence.

To compete in that loaded region this season, Priceville will rely on 16 returning starters from last year's team. But the Bulldogs will miss one of those who isn't returning, quarterback Hunter Teague, the most.

Weeks will hand his starting quarterback duties over to Will Stevens, who was Teague's backup. Weeks said the offense won't change much.

"Per se, it won't," he said. "We will add the spread offense to try to increase our ability to pass the ball."

A group of receivers led by junior Aaron Sawyer and seniors Lonny Sutton and Lance Hughes are capable of leading that passing attack, Weeks said. So is senior tight end Rand Hutchison.

Senior Trevor Maxwell returns as the starting fullback, and juniors Eli Allen and Jayson Hamilton will compete for time at tailback.

Weeks is also excited about his offensive line, where four of five starters return.

Sawyer, Sutton and Hughes will also add their talents to the secondary. Will Hallbrooks will be relied upon at middle linebacker, and Weeks says to expect big things from Hamilton at another linebacking position and Heath Parker on the defensive line.

"This team's strong point is we have a lot of returning starters on both sides of the ball," Weeks said. "I'm worried mainly about depth."

In addition to the region foes, Priceville plays Class 5A Brewer in the opening weekend in a game that has significance. When Brewer opened as a high school in 1972, it consolidated five rural Morgan County schools, and Priceville was among them.

For 30 years, Priceville's grade school fed its students into Brewer.

But a new region hasn't been the only uncertainty in Priceville. Weeks is the team's new head coach after Chambers posted a 17-18 record in four varsity seasons.

But it wasn't until sometime in the summer that Weeks was named the team's head coach after a process that also included, at least briefly, the name of NFL Hall of Famer John Hannah.

Weeks and another assistant, Phillip Banks, led practices and workouts throughout the summer and senior quarterback Will Stevens said it didn't affect the team.

"We take it like we had a head coach the whole time, because we did," Stevens said. "We just tried to get better the whole time. Not a whole lot changed."

Priceville schedule, '05 results

Sept. 1 Brewer

Sept. 8 East Limestone*

Sept. 15 Columbia*

Sept. 22 at North Jackson*

Sept. 29 at Danville

Oct. 6 at DAR*

Oct. 13 Madison County*

Oct. 20 at Ardmore*

Oct. 27 East Lawrence*

Nov. 3 at Falkville

*-Class 4A, Region 7

at Hanceville L, 6-3

vs. Lamar County L, 25-12

vs. Holly Pond L, 14-7

at Oakman W, 34-12

vs.Danville W, 21-12

vs. Cold Springs W, 21-7

vs. Falkville L, 28-14

at Cordova L, 41-0

at Cleveland W, 42-14

at West Limestone W, 28-24

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