I’ve had an interesting summer.

It was my first being married to my lovely wife Bethany. We were married last October, and she’s been my rock.

She helped get me through my first colonoscopy right after Memorial Day, making sure I did all the prep correctly.

A few weeks later, she helped calm me down after I almost lost my wedding band. There I was at Piedmont’s 7-on-7 football scrimmages talking to Spring Garden assistant coach John Wilson. I made a forward hand motion, and my ring just went flying off into the grass. After looking what seemed like an eternity looking for it, I found it unharmed on a hash mark.

By the way, a shout out to Coach Wilson for helping me look for it. During a break for lunch, he even brought a metal detector just in case I didn’t find it. Also, a special thanks to all the players and coaches from Spring Garden, Handley and Ranburne who helped me look for it.

After that near debacle, I turned 47 and we celebrated with friends and family. Then we went to Florida for a few days.

The summer fun continued up until last weekend.

On Saturday, I got to meet Alabama basketball point guard Mark Sears at The Venue in Gadsden during a collectibles show. I got his autograph on a jersey.

And on Monday afternoon, Bethany and I received a nice card in the mail from Donald and Melania Trump (no fooling), congratulating us on our marriage (hey, better late than never).

But now the summer is over. It was fun while it lasted, but now it’s time to get back to covering some high school football and bring you another year of ‘What In the World Is Shannon Fagan Thinking?’

Sand Rock at Spring Garden

We get started a day early with a heck of a county rival matchup to begin the 2024 season on Thursday night. Both the Wildcats and Panthers have a lot returning, and I expect both to be forces to be dealt with come region play.

After last week’s jamborees, one of the stats reported that raised my eyebrows was the night turned in by Spring Garden quarterback Noah Barber. He threw for 170 yards and two touchdowns and also ran in for a score at Ranburne.

If Barber can do that consistently, coupled with a strong Panther running game, then look out. Here’s thinking Barber and the Panthers have similar success this week against Sand Rock.

The pick: Spring Garden.

Donoho at Gaylesville

Not much has gone well for either of these programs of late.

Donoho has lost 12 games in a row. The Falcons’ last win came back on Oct. 6, 2022 against Talladega County Central in a 48-18 blowout.

Gaylesville’s only win last season came by forfeit. Their last win on the field also came against Talladega County Central in 2022, a 54-14 thrashing to close out the 2022 season.

The Trojans came close to winning their scrimmage game last week against Gaston. They fell by point in a rain-shortened contest. Here’s thinking they can get over the hump behind strong rushing performances from Alex Baty and Karrson Ray, spoiling the debut of new Falcon head coach Bill Smith.

The pick: Gaylesville.

Cedar Bluff at Valley Head

For just the second time in school history, Cedar Bluff is making the move up to Class 2A. While that will be a challenge in itself, the Tigers open the season with a challenging contest against a Valley Head team that made the second round of the 1A state playoffs last season.

In their meeting last year, Cedar Bluff’s defense had a problem stopping Valley Head’s rushing attack of Nate Bain and Tytan Blevins.

Bain accounted for three scores, and Blevins ran for over 300 yards and four touchdowns in a 44-20 victory.

While I don’t think the duo will churn out quite as many yards and touchdowns as they did last year, I still think they produce enough for Valley Head to top the Tigers.

The pick: Valley Head.

Piedmont at Cherokee County

Life after Jacob Cornejo officially begins for Cherokee County on Friday. But like Warrior head coach Jacob Kelley said in our football preview story, “We’ve got four or five guys who are their own monster in themselves.”

Tae Diamond and Keyshawn Woods were the ‘monsters’ in last week’s abbreviated scrimmage against North Jackson. Like last season, Woods showed flashes of potential, while Diamond delivered both Warrior scores.

Speaking of potential, Piedmont’s all-purpose threat Rollie Pinto was off to a potentially huge 2023 season before he suffered a knee injury a month into the season. He’s back healthy now and should give the Bulldog offense a boost, especially with him being paired with a seasoned Cole Wilson at quarterback and receiving threat Ishmael Bethel.

There’s no doubting the talent both teams will feature on the field Friday night. I feel like we’re all in for a treat of a game, but I think the Warriors still have the edge in this latest chapter of the Battle of Highway 9.

The pick: Cherokee County.