High school football season is over after this week’s MHSAA state championship games, and with basketball and soccer seasons well underway, I figured it would be nice if we went back and acknowledged some teams that deserve accolades from our neck of the woods.

Week in and week out, our local prep football players spend countless hours of practice to prepare for the Friday night lights, and they put their bodies on the line so parents, faculty and alumni of their respective schools can be entertained. Every so often, those sacrifices churn out a special season.

Not every team named here accomplished the exact same thing, nor did they necessarily meet every goal they had coming into the 2019 season. Still, each one is worthy of recognition.

•Russell Christian Academy — We’ll begin with a team in Lauderdale County. The Warriors entered 2019 coming off two-straight state championships in the Alabama Christian Education Association’s eight-man football league. Gone were Jared McMullen, Taylor Wood, Austin Gibson, Vincent Reynolds and Brayden Price, all of whom graduated from RCA this past spring. Head coach Andy Braddock used the talking point of no one giving the Warriors a chance to three-peat as a motivational tool during the offseason.

If it wasn’t the perceived slight from those outside the program, it was a special group of players for whom Braddock grew fond. Throughout the season, he constantly talked about the blue-collar approach the players took, and it was clear the Warriors’ head coach was impressed with their work ethic.

RCA finished 11-1 and defeated Tabernacle out of Gardendale, Alabama, for the ACEA title, the program’s third in a row. A few weeks later, tragedy struck the school as long-time volunteer assistant Lee Littrell — who also donated time and resources to construct various upgrades to the football and softball fields at the school — died suddenly. You can’t replace a man like Littrell, but you can reflect on his impact, and the coaches to whom I spoke at RCA stressed how much of a hand he had in the school’s athletic success and the development of teenagers into young adults. No doubt the Warriors will aim for title No. 4 in 2020 in part to honor Littrell’s memory.

•Newton County — Football success has been difficult to come by for the Cougars in recent history, but year two of the Bobby Bass era saw some significant steps in the right direction. Not only did Newton County reach the eight-win mark, but it also advanced to the Class 4A state quarterfinal round, beating Lanier 18-14 in round one and Moss Point 29-22 in the second round.

The Lanier win was big in that it was the school’s first playoff victory since 2008, when Newton County was still a Class 3A team. It also marked the first time the Cougars made the playoffs since 2014. The Cougars fell to Lawrence County 13-7 in overtime in the third round to end their season, but a sizable junior class will be seniors next fall with playoff success under their belts, so Newton County could be a team to watch in 2020.

•Quitman — Coaching changes are difficult, and the first year a coach is on the job is often met with tempered expectations as players are adjusting to new systems, new styles of practice, new demands from their coaches, etc. Rashad Gandy came to Quitman with an expectation to win immediately, and his Panthers did just that.

After a 1-3 start to the season, Quitman rattled off seven straight wins, five of which came against Region 5-4A competition, giving the Panthers a district championship and a No. 1 seed going into the playoffs. It was Quitman’s first district title since 2013 — not bad for your first year on the job.

•Philadelphia — Great expectations surrounded the Tornadoes going into the 2019 season, and Philadelphia certainly didn’t wither under the weight of their goals. Following an opening-night loss to Center Point out of Alabama, Philadelphia edged West Lauderdale 29-21 in Week 2 and didn’t look back, rattling off nine more wins in a row to capture the Region 6-2A crown and the No. 1 postseason seeding.

After opening the playoffs with a 41-14 win against Heidelberg, Philadelphia blew past Perry Central 42-8 to set up a big showdown at Class 2A powerhouse Taylorsville. Unfortunately for the Tornadoes, Taylorsville got the best of Philadelphia that night with a 47-30 win, ending the Tornadoes’ season with a 12-2 record. Still, it marked the third year in a row the school made it to the 2A quarterfinals, and 12 wins marked the fourth time the Tornadoes reached that mark this decade.

•Neshoba Central — For a team that began the fall 0-3, the Rockets shook off the slow start in a big way. Neshoba Central rattled off 10 straight wins after Week 3’s 24-6 loss at Tupelo that included a 7-0 record in Region 2-5A. That set up the Rockets for a first-round showdown with Grenada in the Class 5A playoffs, the team that beat Neshoba Central 30-20 in Week 1.

This time, the Rockets came out on top with a 26-24 win after falling behind early. Neshoba Central followed it up with a 36-28 win against Lake Cormorant in the second round of the 5A playoffs, sending them to West Point for the North State title game.

West Point got the best of Neshoba Central on Nov. 29, 20-7, but it was the first time the Rockets had been to the state semifinals since at least when MaxPreps.com began keeping records. The players had to fight through some tough seasons when Patrick Schoolar first took over the Rockets in 2016. That year, Neshoba Central went 5-7 and followed it up with a 4-8 season in 2017. The Rockets turned the corner with a 10-3 record in 2018, and this fall saw them finish 10-4 with a district championship and a state semifinal berth, proving Neshoba Central was one of the best teams in Class 5A.

•Enterprise — I saved the Bulldogs for last because of just how profound the turnaround was at Enterprise this past fall. In my first two years at The Star — I started in 2014 — Enterprise went 8-4 twice in a row, so it wasn’t like the Bulldogs hadn’t been successful in recent history. Following a 6-5 year in 2016, Enterprise went 4-9 and 1-11 the next two seasons, which is naturally going to be demoralizing for any player involved.

But the 2019 Bulldogs were something special. After winning just one game the year prior, Enterprise rattled off seven straight wins to open the season before a 55-18 loss at Taylorsville on Oct. 18. Instead of letting the loss linger, though, Enterprise recovered to beat Bay Springs and Puckett to finish second in Region 2-5A. 

The success didn’t stop there, as Enterprise edged Lake 18-12 in the first round of the postseason and beat Wesson 6-0 in the second round. Scott Central ended the Bulldogs’ season in the third round, but Enterprise still won 11 games, the first time it reached that mark this decade and only the second time since 2007. The Bulldogs fielded just two seniors, so most of the team will be back next fall, and no doubt the taste of success has the school wanting more in 2020.

Drew Kerekes is the sports editor at The Meridian Star. He can be reached at dkerekes@themeridianstar.com.