“It started good for us as we won our first two games,” Boren said. “We then had a complete disaster against Alexandria and followed that up with a game that just killed us against Hokes Bluff. “That was an unnecessary loss in my opinion.”
SCCHS then defeated Leeds and was 5-3 headed into the final two weeks of the season.
But back-to-back losses to close out the season ended any hopes of the Saints advancing to the state playoffs for a third consecutive year.
With 23 seniors returning, Boren hopes experience will go a long way in getting the Saints back to the state playoffs in 2010.
Coach Boren
Boren is starting his fifth year as coach of the Saints. He has been an assistant coach or head coach throughout Alabama for the past 28 years.
Boren’s first head-coaching position was at Midfield and he led the Patriots to a five-year record of 41-19 from 1993 to 1997, winning the region each year.
From 1998 through 2003, Boren was head coach at Montevallo High School. They made the state playoffs the first two years before struggling some in the final years. His record at Montevallo was 27-21.
When Boren arrived at Bibb County High, they had won only two games in the previous three years. Boren led Bibb County to an 11-10 record in two years and a trip to the state playoffs that first year.
After a 3-7 season at SCCHS his first year, the Saints went 9-3 three years ago. Two years ago, the Saints were 7-4. Last year, the Saints finished 5-5. Boren’s record at SCCHS in his first four years is 24-19. His overall record is now 103-70.
Last year
The Saints were all over Moody in the first game of the season beating them 34-7. St. Clair coach Charlie Boren picked up his 100th victory as the Saints beat Ashville 44-0.
SCCHS tasted defeat for the first time as they lost to Alexandria 42-14. They dropped their second game of the season against Hokes Bluff 22-13.
The Saints got back in the win column in a huge way the following week as they defeated Leeds 19-14 and ended the Green Wave 19-game winning streak.
They then lost to top-ranked Cherokee County 50-7.
The Saints got back in the win column with a 26-0 victory over Locust Fork, then followed up that win with a 32-15 victory over Jacksonville.
St. Clair’s bid for a playoff berth faded when they lost to Oneonta 17-7 in week nine.
The season ended for the Saints with a 20-13 loss against John Carroll.
They ended the season with a 5-5 record.
Key players lost
Boren said there were only 7 seniors from last year’s squad. Linebacker Garrett Taylor was a three-year starter and Boren called him a huge loss. Some other key players included Jacob Garrison and Dee Franklin.
Key players returning
Boren said the offensive backfield look great with three-year starting quarterback Tez Goldsby and three-year starting running back Sequoah Humes returning for their senior season.
The offensive line produces four seniors including Justin Washington and Steadman Poe.
Boren mention Damien Lee, a kid they are extremely high on who has 10 football games under his belt.
“He might be one of the most natural receivers I have ever been around,” Boren said. I’ve coached seven All-State receivers in 16 years and he has the potential to be just as good as any. He is just raw because he only came out for football last year after playing basketball his first two years. But, it is like he has been playing football all his life. He is a big weapon for us offensively.”
Boren said many of the lineman will be playing on both sides of the ball and they have a transfer coming in from California— Naz Abdulla.
Also, Myles Hicks is a three-year starter and Brandon Presswood has been moved from defensive end to inside linebacker. Jared Lee is in the secondary as is Daniel Fortner.
“We are expecting some big things from our 23 seniors,” Boren said.
Class 4A, Region 6
SCCHS is in Region 6 along with Springville, Alexandria, Anniston, Cleburne County, Jacksonville, Locust Fork and Oneonta.
“I’m sure there are some other good regions, but this has to be one of the toughest regions in the state,” Boren said. “It is really hard to say who the team to beat is because there are a handful of teams we do not know about like Cleburne County and Anniston. In my mind right now, simply because they defeated us the past two years, Alexandria is the team to beat. They have a lot of players back.
Boren said there are six perennial playoff teams stacked in this region that are used to being in the playoffs.
Of the six teams, two of them are not going to the playoffs,” Boren said. “It’s a tough region.”
Team strengths
Boren said one of the strengths is at the offensive line positions.
“We are not that big,” Boren said. “We are averaging our offensive line being 6-foot, 220-pounds. It’s not a big offensive line but they are a good cohesive group that has a lot of good core strength. They are very good in the weight room. It’s a good strong group and I think they make up for lack of size by having played together.”
Keys to success
Boren said his team must get off to a good start in region play.
“Of course, we open with Moody and then jump right into region play against Springville,” Boren said. “This county rival is now also a region game and it is going to be huge.”
Goals
Boren said they want to win the county games.
“We want to beat Moody and Springville,” he said. “We do not have a formal county champion but our first goal is getting into the state playoffs. We do not talk about first, second, third or fourth — we just want to make the playoffs. Obviously, we do want to finish as high as we can. I think this region is good, top to bottom, and a team that finishes even third or fourth could go deep into the playoffs.”
Coaching staff
Boren basically has the same staff as last year, including Alan Lee, Gene Mitchell, Carl Mims, Marty Caldwell, Jeremy Mitchell, Matt Hicks, Lance Smith and Brian Allred.
“I feel we have a tremendous staff here,” Boren said.
SCCHS opens the season at home against Moody on Thursday, Aug. 26.
Contact Gary Hanner at ghanner@thestclairtimes.com.
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