CULLMAN – The Alabama Sports Writers Association’s (ASWA’s) All-State Football Team was released Saturday night and several local stars appeared on the list. The teams are broken down by classification and each classification has a first and second team offense as well as first and second team athletes. Each classification also includes a list of honorably mentioned players.
Senior offensive lineman Deakon Hembree and junior running back Hunter Persall both found spots on the 5A first team offense. Persall ran for the most yards in 5A this season with 2,153 including a 300-yard performance against Fairview in the “Brandin’ Iron Bowl.” All those yards came thanks in large part to Hembree and the rest of that Warriors’ offensive line. Hembree has been a starter for West Point up front for three years, opening up holes for Warrior backs.
Cullman’s Tyler Nunnelley was selected for class 6A’s second team offense. The senior offensive lineman has started all four years for the Bearcats and has more football coming up in the future. On Dec. 20, Nunnelley signed a scholarship to play football for Coach Mark Elder and the Eastern Kentucky Colonels.
Meek’s standout running back John Mark Abercrombie was selected to Class 1A’s first team offense after leading his team into the postseason in 2017. Abercrombie was the Tigers’ offensive workhorse all season starting in week one when he carried the ball more than 40 times against Phillips.
Addison saw several young players find spots on this year’s All-State teams. Junior Zayne Guthrie was selected as a first team athlete for Class 1A. Guthrie did a little bit of everything for the Bulldogs this year. He led the team in passing and was one of the team’s leading rushers. Guthrie led his team on a strong play-off run from his quarterback spot and finished the year with 29 total touchdowns, but he was also one of the team’s leaders on defense as a starting safety.
Guthrie got a lot of help up front from his junior offensive lineman Hayden Ray. Ray’s performance this year won him a spot on the 1A second team offense. Ray helped open holes all season for a very effective running game and will return next season to put together another powerful running game and hopefully another play-off run.
Bulldogs’ sophomore linebacker Matthew Harris made his way onto the class 1A honorable mentions list after a stellar season defensively. Harris has a lot of football left to play at Addison, but if he continues to build on this season, the Bulldogs will have a stingy defense for years to come. With several All-State selections returning in 2018, Addison doesn’t appear to be going anywhere in Class 1A.
Rounding out the local selections for this year’s teams is Holly Pond sophomore quarterback Kyler Chaney. Chaney earned a spot on the class 3A honorable mentions list as an athlete after a big year as the Broncos’ centerpiece on offense. Chaney seemingly never came off the field this season as the sophomore led the team as a passer, a punter and a punt returner. Chaney was also one of the biggest parts of the Broncos’ running game this season while also coming up with turnovers in the secondary. Chaney brings a lot of value to Holly Pond’s team going forward thanks to his experience at several positions.
With half of this year’s All-State selections returning for football in 2018, there should be plenty of competitive local teams next season and plenty of All-State honors to talk about one year from now.
Copyright 2017 Humble Roots, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
