By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director
GAYLESVILLE – Gaylesville junior running back/inside linebacker Jack Sentell knows the football cleats Alex Baty left behind are going to be hard to fill.
In just nine games last season, Baty led the Cherokee County area with 1,828 rushing yards on 190 carries with 26 touchdowns. He set a new Alabama High School Athletic Association state rushing record in a game with 535 yards on 43 carries and six touchdowns in the Trojans’ season-ending 62-28 Class 1A Region 8 victory over visiting Woodville back on Oct. 25.
Baty eclipsed the old mark set by Parrish’s Tony Dixon against Hubbertville back in 2003 (21 carries for 531 yards).
Baty also eclipsed another Gaylesville great Jerry Stancil’s rushing mark in a single game, which is now fourth on the state’s all-time list. Stancil ran for 470 yards on 23 carries against Spring Garden in a 48-28 Trojan win back in 2004.
Indeed Baty left behind some big shoes to fill.
“Alex was a great player. He did a lot for us,” Sentell said. “We’re going to do the best we can to do what he did on the field.”
Sentell won’t be the only running back to shoulder the offensive load for the Trojans in 2025.
Gaylesville coach Brian Knapp feels the Trojan run game might be more efficient this season because he’s “got four or five guys that can tote it” in order to replicate what Baty’s numbers on the field last season.
“We’ll be able to spread the wealth,” Knapp said. “Last year we were really big up front. Obviously we had a really big running back and there was no doubt where we were going. We’d block down and kick out. There was no pulling, no kick out. It was just big boy football.
“We had the personnel to do that last year, but our personnel is a little bit different this year. We’ll block more angles. We’ll block more traditional wing-T stuff. Jack will get most of the totes, but we’ll spread the wealth a little bit more this year, and we may put it up a little bit too.”
Joining Sentell in the backfield is fellow juniors Aydn Heinrich, Timmy Dawson and Ben Henderson. Sentell will also see some time as a Wildcat quarterback, in addition to lone senior Bryson Thompson.
“I’m leaning on Bryson to take the snap and manage some of it,” Knapp said. “That’s probably a big question mark, who we settle with. Bryson will be the traditional quarterback, the old timey snap underneath, but Jack will be the Wildcat quarterback who will take it out of the gun and still run at Wing-T.”
Thompson said he’s spent the offseason working on his skills to prepare.
“At first I was kind of nervous because I’d never played that position before, but after getting coached by Coach Knapp, it’s getting easier. I’m not as nervous,” Thompson said. “At the 11-on-11 (at Chattooga), I got to work on my quarterback skills a lot, mainly focus on the running plays and making sure I could get those down. My goal is to try not to fumble this year.”
“He’s not quite as timid as he was,” Knapp said of Thompson’s development. “I have coached him really hard and he hasn’t flinched. I commend him on that. I think that will pay off in our games. All I’m asking him to do is just distribute the ball and run the play.”
While who’s playing quarterback is one question Gaylesville has this season, perhaps a bigger question is who will be blocking for the Trojan playmakers.
Knapp does have a few pieces of that puzzle in place in sophomore right tackle Carson Angle, freshman center Gunner Walters, freshman guard Gabriel Davidson, and junior tight end Jared Butts.
“We’re pretty good at tight end, and I think we’re pretty good at strong side guard and strong side tackle, but the other guys we’ll plug in, that’s a question mark,” Knapp said.
The Trojan offensive starters will also double on defense.
“We have four returning starters on both sides of the ball. That gives you an idea of what we’re facing,” Knapp said. “That means there are seven spots that have got to get valuable experience on the fly. We have one senior and 10 juniors. That’s 11 upperclassmen, and that’s good for a school our size. We’ll obviously have to depend heavily on our sophomore and freshman class. I’ll probably dress out two eighth graders and have 23 (players).”
Even though the Trojans are small in numbers, they embrace the role as underdogs.
“This team doesn’t say a whole lot. They just roll up their sleeves and do what I ask them to do,” Knapp said. “Our approach is get to the fourth quarter with a chance. What we’ve done in the offseason we feel like we have a great opportunity to win the ball game.”
“We came up short (of the playoffs) last year, but it came down to the wire,” Sentell said. “We’re going to try and get over that hump this year. We’re ready for the season to start. It’s time for a lot of us to step up and get after it.”
Following a jamboree at Gaston on Aug. 15, the Trojans open the 2025 season at non-region opponent Donoho on Aug. 22. Gaylesville’s first home game is Aug. 29 against Class 3A Asbury. The Trojans open Class 1A, Region 8 play at home against Valley Head on Sept. 5.
Gaylesville has picked up a 10th game this year. The Trojans will travel to Notasulga on Halloween to end the regular season.
The Notasulga game will have special significance for Knapp.
“My dad (Buddy) coached there from about 1968-76. The football field is named after him and Coach Dwight Sanderson, and they’re supposed to honor those two men that night,” Knapp said. “That’ll be neat for me to take my team down there to play them.”
2025 Gaylesville Trojan Football Schedule
Aug. 22 at Donoho
Aug. 29 Asbury
Sept. 5 Valley Head
Sept. 12 at Appalachian
Sept. 19 OPEN
Sept. 26 Verbena
Oct. 3 Ider
Oct. 10 at Spring Garden
Oct. 17 Ragland
Oct. 24 at Woodville
Oct. 31 at Notasulga
