Two Players From Fort Payne High School Selected for the AHSAA North-South All-Star Football Classic

All-Star Teams Selected for 66^th annual
AHSAA North-South All-Star Football Classic

Game set for Dec. 13 at Mobile’s Hancock Whitney Stadium

MONTGOMERY – North-South all-star squads for the 66th AHSAA North-South All-Star Football Game have been selected. The two 37-member teams will square off at Mobile’s Hancock Whitney Stadium on Friday, December 13.  The Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Classic is scheduled for the next day, Saturday, Dec. 15, also at Hancock Whitney Stadium, marking the first time both all-star football games are being played in the same week on consecutive days at the same stadium.
      J.T. Lawrence, Director of the Alabama High School Athletic Directors, and Coaches Association (AHSADCA) made the announcement of the two 37-member squads Friday.
     Head coaches were announced earlier for this year’s North-South clash. Kenny King of Daphne High School will serve as the South head coach while Sam Adams of Oxford High School will serve as the North head coach.
      The two 37-player rosters were selected by the AHSADCA All-Star Selection Committee. The AHSADCA administers the game each year in a partnership with the Mobile Sports Authority, the City (and County) of Mobile, and the University of South Alabama. All players selected are 2023 seniors.
      The game, scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m., will be televised live over the AHSAA TV Network and live streamed over the NFHS Network. Vince Earley of WOTM TV is the executive producer.
      “We have an abundance of talent in our state each year, and both teams selected reflect that talent,” said Lawrence. “We are looking forward  to another exciting game this December.”
       The All-Star selection committee, consisting of the two coaching staffs participating in this year’s game, chose the teams from nominations submitted by AHSAA member school coaches. “We thank our member schools for their nominations,” said Lawrence. He also praised Mobile for hosting the contest each year.
        “We look forward to our time in Mobile and appreciate  for the City (and County) of Mobile, the Mobile Sports Authority and the University of South Alabama for their continued interest and support of this all-star event,” he said.
       The 2024 South roster is anchored by two of the top quarterbacks in the AHSAA, Auburn’s Jackson Kilgore and Central-Phenix City’s Andrew Alford. Alford led the Red Devils of Coch Patrick Nix to a perfect 13-0 season in 2023 passing for 3,587 yards and 45 touchdowns on the way to the Class 7A state title. This year he has completed 99-of-169 passes for 1,541 yards and 19 TDs this season for the Red Devils  (6-2).  Kilgore has guided Auburn (8-0) to the Class 7A, Region title this season with his clutch play, especially in the big games. Among the receivers on the team is Reeltown High School’s Tae Martin. He has caught 25 passes this season for 677 yards and 11 TDs – and is also a big-play man on returns. Montgomery Academy’s Derrick “DJ” Vinson is a strong 6-oot-4, 198-pound receiver who h caught 51 passes for 1,072 yards and 14 TDs this season. He has 145 career catches for 3,191 yards and 33 scores.
       Saraland running back Santae McWilliams headlines a talented group that includes Florala’s Rayshon Coleman, Vigor’s Carlos Benjamin, and Carver-Montgomery’s Trevon “Trey” Berry. On defense, Elba linebacker Caden Adkins, Highland Home defensive end C.J. May and Vigor linebacker Kentonio Kelly are having strong seasons in 2024.  Place-kicker/punter Blayne Munson of Baker High School is averaging 39.7 yards a punt with 11 kicks inside the 20-yard line this season. He is also 10-of-13 kicking field goals with a long of 45 yards. He has had 21 of his kickoffs sail into the end zone for a touchback this season.
      Adams’ North team features quarterbacks Dax Varnadore of Fort Payne and Max Beason of Hoover. Varnadore  burst on the scene as a junior when he opened the 2023 season with a 27-of-43 passing performance for 457 yards and four TDs in a 56-51 loss to Scottsboro. He has thrown for 5,328 yards and 48 touchdowns over the last two years and is 138-of-223 for 1,670 yards and 17 touchdowns this season. Beason has led Hoover (7-2) to the Class 7A, Region 3 title this season on the heels of a junior year where he thew for 2,089 yards. The North receiver corps is also strong with Parker’s Clarence Taylor and Pleasant Grove’s Tremell Washington two of the best in the state. Running back T.J. Worthy of Gadsden City set the Titans’ school record for career rushing yards last week, and Clay-Chalkville’s Aaron Osley helped his team win 21 games in a row.
     Helena’s Austin Lewis will be handling the punting and placekicking go the North. He is 6-for-6 on field goals this season with a long of 53 yards. He’s averaging 36.9 yards per punt on 26 kicks.
     The South won last year’s game at Mobile 31-28 on a late field goal and improved its lead in the series to 35-28-2. The first North-South Game was played Tuscaloosa in 1948. The North and South are now each 2-2 in games played at Mobile.
The classic remained at Brynt-Denny Stadium through 1984 – with a second game for Classes 1A and 2A at Auburn. The North-South Classic was discontinued in 1985 and reinstated as part of the AHSAA All-Star Sports Week in 1997. From 2010-2019 the game was played at Montgomery’s Cramton Bowl as part of the AHSAA and AHSADCA All-Star Sports Week. The game was cancelled due to the COVID Pandemic in the summer of 2020 and seniors of 2021 battled  in the first game of the series played in December of that year. This year’s game will be the fifth classic played at Hancock Whitney Stadium in the North-South Game’s long history. The game was played at Cramton Bowl from 1997-2004, and then moved to Troy University for two years and Huntsville’s Alabama A&M University from 2007-2010. It returned to Montgomery in 2011.
      The complete rosters for both squads are below.