GOOD HOPE, Ala. – It’s that time of year again and that means it’s time for the Good Hope Raiders to hit the field. It’s been a fun few years to be a Good Hope fan. The Raiders have posted a record of 27-9 over the last three seasons and they plan to do more of the same in 2021. Raiders Head Coach Alan Scott is entering his seventh season on the sidelines at Good Hope and he’s happy to report that this year’s summer workout was both productive and a welcome return to the normal preseason process.
“I thought we had a good summer. The vast majority of our guys made 80% or more of their workouts and we want them to have a summer, you know. I hope they go on vacation with their families and go to church camp and be a kid but other than that if they’re in town we expect them to be here and participate. So, the vast majority did that and that attitude was really good,” Scott said. “We had a few competitions. We hosted one and we went to Russellville, Fyffe and Danville to compete and I thought we got a lot of good things out of those. Yesterday we had two practices to start the fall off and we’re just trying to get things focused for the fall and trying to answer some questions and fill some gaps that we have to fill this year so overall it’s been a good start.”
After a heavily limited summer program in 2020, Scott and his team were able to go through a much more normal summer program this time around and get a better idea of where his team stands going into the fall.
“It was great. Everybody kind of had to stay at their own school last year so we couldn’t go and compete with anyone else, and you can get a lot out of that but it’s also good to see other people and use that as a measuring stick. It gives you a chance to see if you are where you feel like you are and maybe you are and maybe you’re not,” Scott said. “So, it was good to see some of the coaches that I enjoy seeing every year. After doing this as long as I have, you have a lot of friends that coach at different places, so it was good to go see them. It’s been a good summer.”
Good Hope will have some familiar faces returning this fall, most notably All-State Quarterback Tanner Malin. He’ll be joined by several other returning playmakers and Scott is looking forward to having great leaders at key positions this season.
“Ethan (Anderson), Tanner (Malin), Jager (Burns), Morgan Cook on the line, Clayton Herring was an All-State lineman for us on defense last year and in the secondary Paydon Bagwell has had about two years as a starter, so we’ve got several guys back that have played a key role over the last couple seasons,” Scott said. “It’s good to have leadership and they’ve done a great job for us this summer.”
Positions in the offensive backfield and in the defensive secondary will have some experienced names stepping in but Scott and his staff will be looking for new names to step up on the line of scrimmage and fill those roles as well.
“We’re definitely filling some spots on the offensive and defensive lines and at linebacker. We’re trying to fill some holes there and really shore up the secondary and just work on anything you can think of to improve,” Scott said. “It’s just a matter of finding the right combination of guys that understand what we’re trying to do and can execute it.”
After averaging nearly 10 wins per season over the last three years, hopes and expectations are high for another great year at Good Hope. This year’s group of seniors has a lot of big game experience under their belts and Scott knows that will experience will be valuable later in the season, but his primary concern is just seeing his guys become the best versions of themselves through the sport of football.
“What we want is for our guys to be their very best, whatever that looks like. We don’t want to compare ourselves to any other team, we don’t want to put on any added pressure to try and attain a certain outcome, we just want to do our best but at the same time I believe that’s easier when you have established a little bit of a tradition over the last few years,” Scott said. “So, with that being said I do think it is a good thing that our guys have gotten to experience those big games at home and on the road so hopefully if we get in those situations again, we’ll be able to come through.”
2021 Good Hope Football Schedule
Aug. 19: West Morgan
Aug. 27: @ West Point
Sept. 3: Ashville*
Sept. 10: @ Haleyville
Sept. 17: Hanceville*
Sept. 24: Addison
Oct. 1: @ Etowah*
Oct. 8: Fultondale*
Oct. 15: Dora*
Oct. 22: @ Oneonta*
2021 Good Hope Football Roster
#1 Braxton Marshall
#2 Callahan Lindsey
#3 Ethan Anderson
#4 Jager Burns
#5 Tyler Cone
#6 Tyler Black
#7 Kmal Bell
#9 Tucker Malin
#10 Landon Bagwell
#11 Tanner Malin
#12 Logan Self
#13 Matt Self
#14 Paydon Bagwell
#15 Colten Whatley
#16 Ryker Gonzales
#17 Brenton Agee
#18 Hank Hudson
#19 Connor Clark
#20 Briley Mattox
#21 Zeb Smith
#23 Jed Clements
#25 Robert Rodriguez
#27 Kason Smith
#28 Kakry Keller
#30 Drew Easterwood
#31 Gabe Owen
#32 Josh Reburn
#33 Kaleb Jones
#34 Corey Cummings
#35 Taz Bartlett
#41 Charlie O’Neil
#44 Dylan Williams
#50 Brody Witcher
#51 Tristan Hibbert
#52 Colin Speegle
#53 Paxton Buchanan
#54 Gannon Bowerman
#55 Seth Loggins
#56 Landon Lowery
#57 Guillermo Alday
#58 Clayton Herring
#60 Russ Wooten
#61 Jared Blakely
#62 Caleb Willis
#63 Eli Clements
#64 Matthew Simmons
#65 Jude Johnson
#66 Jorge Estudillo
#68 Morgan Cook
#69 Wyatt Jones
#70 Bradley Russell
#71 Jathan Smith
#73 Jacob Wright
#76 Jet Swann
Good Hope Varsity Cheerleaders
Allie Sartin, Audri Patrick, Mahayla Dillard, Cori Stevens, Madison Lee, Decia McClure, Paris Stricklin -captain, Kayla Quick, Raven Adams, Ashlin Hamm, Kailey White, Lexi Doss, Rileigh Ray, Natalie Scott.
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