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Fort Payne cracks state rankings

By Lew Gilliland
The Times-Journal

Published October 28, 2009

Fort Payne is back in the Alabama Sports Writers Association state football rankings for the first time since midway through the 2008 season.

The Wildcats broke in at No. 9 in Class 5A this week following a 38-14 victory over Scottsboro last Friday. With the win, Fort Payne (8-1) clinched a share of the Region 7 championship and assured itself of being seeded No. 1 for the playoffs.

Ironically, Fort Payne’s opponent this week, Gadsden City, broke into the 6A poll at No. 9. The Titans (7-2) wrapped a region title with a 28-19 upset of then No. 7 Clay-Chalkville last week.

“It’s an honor,” Fort Payne coach Paul Ellis said. “It makes for a fun or exciting football game for this Friday, with them being ranked now and them being region champions and us being region champions. It makes for a good story in football. The bottom line is how each team plays on Friday night. With them being 6A, it speaks volumes for them and for us as well in our classification.”

Not much has come easy for the Cats this season. Fort Payne hung on for tight wins over Arab and Boaz, overcome a big deficit to win at Etowah and won on a trick play in the last 90 seconds at North Jackson.

Fort Payne’s only loss came to Southside on a night when field conditions were horrible, thanks mainly to a storm that moved through Gadsden about 30 minutes before game time.

“After we played Southside down there in the mud … the kids are down and out, and the coaches are depressed, and we’re sitting there staring North Jackson and Boaz in the face. It was a daunting task. We’ve proud of how our kids have responded to adversity all season,” Ellis said.

Fort Payne was ranked for one week last season after beating then-4A, No. 1 North Jackson. A loss to Boaz knocked the Cats out of the rankings the next week.

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