OPELIKA BOYS BASKETBALL COACH RESIGNS

John Wadsworth has been preparing for the 2011-12 basketball season since March, after last year’s team finished the season at the Regional Playoffs in Montgomery with 20 wins. That all changed last week. Last Tuesday night Wadsworth turned his letter of resignation to OHS principal, Dr. Farrell Seymore. The statement was short and to the point, he stated he was stepping down due to "family issues".  I talked with Coach Wadsworth for a long time Tuesday night. He told me that he had resigned his position as Head Basketball Coach. My reaction was that he was joking, he has a great sense of humor and always keeps me laughing. The conversation continued and I realized John was serious.

 

Coaches spend alot of time away from home because of teaching, practices and games which are all played at night.  Basketball season is in the middle of Thanksgiving and Christmas and continues into March.  As the Head Coach of a 6A program, the head coach has a lot of responsibilities, including helping make sure you are working with the other basketball coaches including Girls, JV and 9^th grade and scheduling all of the practices and games.

 

Coach Wadsworth stepped down as Head Basketball Coach after 4 seasons, 75 wins, a Region Championship, Region Tournament Championship, three straight trips to the State Playoffs, a school record 28 wins- finishing in the final 8-and missing the Final Four in 09-10 on a last second shot in double overtime, 7 straight wins over Rival Auburn High and never getting a Technical foul during his tenure to spend time with his family.

 

WOW!........What a huge decision by one of the youngest and best Basketball Coaches in OHS history.

Many fans and supporters wonder why he quit a week before the first game. Wadsworth said he thought about that and figured it would be better to go ahead and step down now instead of doing it during the middle of the season.

He did a great job of Coaching and representing Opelika. His teams hustled, played hard and with class. Wadsworth stressed academics and made sure each player made good grades. Most of the time, every player played in each game.

 

I want to Thank John Wadsworth for the job he did running our Basketball team and representing our program with Class! Good Luck!

 

Assistant Coach Brian Moore will take over as interim coach for the 2011-12 season. Brandon Johnson has been moved to assistant coach on the varsity.  Coach Brian Blackmon will help coach the 9th grade team.  Athletic Director Brian Blackmon and principal Dr. Farrell Seymore said that they will open the job up after the school year and hire a full time Basketball Coach to replace Wadsworth.

 

COMPETITION CHEERLEADING

The Opelika High School Competition Cheerleading Team placed 3rd in their first competition in over 13 years.  The Alabama High School Athletic Association sponsored competition was held at Wallace State Community College in Hanceville Alabama.

Opelika High School has not been to a State Competition since Mrs. Emily Severin was Head Coach. OHS Head Coach Brandy Riddle was a cheerleader and member of that team. "It was a bitter sweet experience for me to be there with my hometown team coaching and not being on the mat competing. I have accomplished many things in past at other competitions either cheering or coaching but nothing as great as this! It was great to see this program back to where I left off as a cheerleader. As a Coach, there is nothing better than the look on your team’s face after a performance like they did. It just doesn't get any better than that!" said a happy Brandy Riddle after the meet.

 

The team’s next competition will be December 11 at the Southern Regional at Bartow Arena at UAB.

TEAM MEMBERS

SENIORS

Competition Captain-Rachel Canada

Competition Co-Captain-Shelley Campbell

Kelsey Clark

Cari Driver

 

JUNIORS

Martevia Driver

Cayla Driver

Megan Fuller

Carami Garrett

Marcus Morgan

Shelby Prestridge

 

SOPHOMORES

Caitlyn Daniel

Destiney Laro

Tori McIntire

Mauri Scott

Railey Smith

Brittany Vallely

 

FRESHMAN

Mallorie Jenkins

Emily Rajan

 

NEW FOOTBALL REGION

The AHSAA issued new Regions last week after meeting with the Central Board of Control.

Every two years the AHSAA checks the average daily attendance of every school in the state. The Athletic association does this to keep track of which schools are growing or getting smaller so they can keep the school in the correct classification so everyone has a fair chance.

This year the AHSAA decided to change the Regions according to size.

Opelika will be in Region 3 with, Auburn, Smiths Station, Central, Jeff Davis, Lanier, Robert E. Lee and Carver. This will give the Dawgs 7 region games and 3 non-region games.

The last several years Enterprise, Northview and Dothan were in our region. They have been matched up with 5 schools from the Mobile area.

The Bulldogs have tried to get non region games with Benjamin Russell and Valley. Benjamin Russell has turned Opelika down while it appears Valley could be on the OHS schedule next season. This is not official yet.

 

BASEBALL

The Opelika High Baseball program will start selling Boston Butts for Christmas. The Boston Butts will be between $25-30 dollars. Coach Scott Sullivan is getting things in order and the players will have tickets to sell soon.  You can call the OHS main office for more info, 334-745-9715.

 

OPELIKA ALL-SPORTS BOOSTER CLUB

The Annual "MEET THE BULLDOGS" for winter sports will be December 18th at 3 p.m. at the Sports Arena.  The 9th grade, Junior Varsity and Varsity Basketball, wrestling and Cheerleading Competition team will be introduced.  The public is invited and the cost is free.