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Jones (right) as a player in 1987 with fellow seniors Will Solomon (left) and Rusty Baynes

A Century of THS Football
Part X - A New Millenium

By Michael Butler

The Tallassee High School football program ended the 1900s with arguably its best season in 80 seasons of football. The 1999 team broke the single-season record for wins going 13-1. And, the team reached the semifinals for just the second time in school history.

However, a new millenium meant change in more ways than just entering the 2000s. The head football coach was leaving.

Mark Rose accepted the head coaching position at North Jackson after just two years in Tallassee.

"They basically put an offer that I could not refuse," Rose said. So, he left for the northern part of the state.

Jared Jones became the choice as Rose's replacement. He was an assistant on Rose's staff. A THS grad, Jones played from 1984-86.

"I went through spring training with coach (Marc) Rice. As summer weights started, he called us in and told us he was moving to Muscle Shoals," Jones said of his time as a player in the 1980s. "Coach (Steve) McCord came in mid-summer. He was here one year. Coach (Billy) Beck was here for two years."

After his college years at Troy, Jones was working in the Tallassee Industrial Park when the opportunity to return to THS and join Woody Weaver's staff came in 1992.

Jones lifting state champ DJ Rivers with Mask during Tallassee's state champion season in 2014. Rivers was a standout in football as well and played in the AHSAA All-Star Game.

"I was working third shift," Jones remembered. "Rob Johnson called my mom and got my number. He said, 'We've got a position. It doesn't pay a lot - teacher's aide.' I said, 'I'll take it.' Coach Weaver moved over to the third/fourth grade wing to be the administrator while he was the head coach. I helped with his classes. I helped coach Goodman with junior football and started coaching wrestling."

Like with baseball under Ronnie Baynes and John Goodman in the 1980s and 90s, wrestling would take off with Jones and John Mask in the 2000s. The two served as co-head coaches for some of that period.

"I think the (program) started in 1985," Jones said. "Coach (Rodney) Dollar asked me one time, 'Why is wrestling so successful here?' I think the biggest thing is since '92 when I came, to 2020, there have been two coaches - me and coach Mask. Parents know what they're getting. We both relate well with kids."

From 1993-2020, Tallassee wrestlers have placed in the state finals 112 times. There have been 30 individual titles during that span. Tallassee won the overall team state championship in 2014.

"Coach Jones was the new head (football) coach and AD when I was interviewing," Mask said of when Jones brought him aboard in 2000. "I remember him asking me if I would help with wrestling. I said, 'What's that?'"

State Championship Moment in 2014 (left to right): Mask, Josh Epperson, Robi Rygiel, B.J. Thomas, Greg Bianchi, D.J. Rivers, Davontae McKenzie, Drew Baker, Jones.

Mask believes that success on the mats correlates on the football field.

"Most did play football," he said. "John Madden and Ray Lewis and different players and coaches will tell you that wrestling really helps out with football. I try to use that to recruit. You're the best open-field tacklers if you can wrestle. I think they go hand in hand."

Jones concurred.

"When you get the bigger, more athletic kids out for wrestling it makes them better football players - especially defensively. They're so good with their hands. They're such good tacklers because a double-leg takedown in wrestling is basically a tackle in football."

 

THS Wrestling
State Champions

 

 

Weight

Name

Grade

Class

1997

 

 

 

130

Brian Freeman

12

1A-4A

140

Brandon Reddon

11

1A-4A

2001

 

 

 

135

Brandon Rigsby

11

1A-4A

140

Justin Harris

9

1A-4A

275

Eric Cagle

11

1A-4A

2002

 

 

 

145

Justin Harris

10

1A-4A

275

Eric Cagle

12

1A-4A

2003

 

 

 

119

Jonathan Webb

 

1A-4A

2004

 

 

 

119

Jonathan Webb

 

1A-4A

160

Mack Farrow

12

1A-4A

2006

 

 

 

160

Jonathan Haynes

10

1A-4A

2009

 

 

 

215

Sharod Person

12

5A

285

John Stuckey

11

5A

2010

 

 

 

145

Chris Adams

11

5A

2011

 

 

 

160

Chris Adams

12

5A

285

T.C. Robinson

12

5A

2012

 

 

 

120

Josh Epperson

10

5A

2013

 

 

 

126

Josh Epperson

11

1A-4A

285

Jesse Rowlen

12

1A-4A

2014

 

 

 

126

Kennon Reese

11

1A-4A

132

Josh Epperson

12

1A-4A

152

D.J. Rivers

12

1A-4A

160

B.J. Thomas

12

1A-4A

182

Drew Baker

12

1A-4A

195

Davontae McKenzie

12

1A-4A

2015

 

 

 

132

Kennon Reese

12

1A-5A

2016

 

 

 

285

Jake Baker

11

1A-5A

2017

 

 

 

285

Jake Baker

12

1A-5A

2020

 

 

 

126

Zak Haynes

12

1A-5A

So, how did the head football job come for the head wrestling coach and football assistant?

"Coach Rose said, 'Look coach, I want you to have this. I'm not going to have a say in it, but they're probably going to wait until after spring training.' So, I did spring training - kind of on-the-job training. They made the decision a couple of weeks after spring training. I remember telling the seniors to just pray that the best decision is made. It worked out."

Following the special 13-1 season from a year prior was a tough act to follow, Jones admitted.

"It was a good crew coming back, but we had lost a lot of talent too."

One of the returning players for Jones was Eric Cagle, who was a starter in ninth grade.

"When coach Rose came in I was a freshman," Cagle said. "It was eye opening. I've never been in better physical condition. I went into the Air Guard after high school. When I got to basic training, I can honestly say it was a cakewalk.

"(1999) was a fun season. The season was the reward. We had already paid the price for the season well before it got there. Today when I see the guys that were on that team, I have a different respect for them. When you work hard for something it does pay off most of the time. You appreciate it more. That's what that season was about."

Cagle talked about the 2000 and 20001 seasons under Jones as an upperclassman.

"Coach Jones did a good job. The old saying that you can't make chicken salad without chicken, you just can't. After a lot of our skill guys left, we had a lot of injuries. We were down to fourth and fifth string quarterback. I really enjoyed my last two years there."

Jones spoke of the transition.

"We had our ups and downs. We had some big wins that season but some really close and sometimes bad losses. The one that haunts me the most was the Handley game."

Tallassee lost at Roanoke 17-14 in overtime.

"Coach (Bruce) Dean did a lot of playcalling for me that year," Jones said. "We probably had 350 yards rushing. (We) were inside the 20 four times but only had 14. We fumbled inside the 1. That was probably the most devastating loss to me. That game ended up costing us the playoffs."

James Holley was Handley's head coach, who had some consoling words for Tallassee's first-year skipper.

"He avoided everybody and came up to me. He knew I was a young coach. He said, 'Coach, I just want you to know, y'all deserved to win this game.' I remember that feeling. Then we came back and beat St. James and Trinity who were ranked at the time."

Tallassee was 5-5 in Jones' first year. The 26-7 James win over St. James might have been the most impressive in the 2000 season.

"That was probably my favorite win with that team as head coach," said Jones. "That was homecoming. Dan Wilbanks, John Denton and some of that crew came and spoke to that team after the pep rally. After the game, four or five of those guys met us at the fence coming into the locker room. Dan said that's the first game he had been to in years. That was so exciting to me because I remember as a kid watching Dan and them play. Then they're coming and celebrating with the team."

The "Cru" of '92's banner on the THS campus for homecoming week in 2001

The following season, the Tigers were 5-5 again under Jones but did make the playoffs.

"We were probably not as talented that year. We were 4-1 at the mid-part of the season. We had a really good running back with Kelvin (Anderson). Britt Clayton moved over to quarterback. Britt got hurt later in that year. It was not a good time for him to be hurt. We ended up beating Lanett, who was ranked in 3A."

In addition to the 7-6 victory over Lanett, the Tigers also won against Central Hayneville with a late field goal by German exchange student Niko Wurth.

"He had never been a part of football," Jones said. "He might have been living with one of our former player's parents. They brought him up and introduced him to us. He just started kicking extra points for us, but he did end up kicking a field goal late in that game. That was huge for him."

Reaching the post-season is always a goal, but the Tigers would face the No. 1 team in UMS-Wright in Mobile.

"We had the long trip to UMS," Jones said. "That didn't end well."

Tallassee lost 61-7, giving up the most points ever by a THS team. The Bulldogs went on to win the Class 4A state title.

Cagle's game program photo

Cagle was named first-team all-state as an offensive lineman. A four-year varsity player, he also won two state wrestling titles.

"He should've been a three-time champion," Jones added. "His sophomore year he lost in double overtime in the semifinals. We talk about every time we get together. He lost to Harold Wisdom who went to Jacksonville State to play linebacker. Harold Wisdom's son wrestled this year. I ran into Harold. I said, 'Did you wrestle for Deshler?' He said, 'Yeah.' I said, 'I'm from Tallassee.' He started laughing and said, 'You coached Eric Cagle.' I made a picture with him and sent it to Eric and said, 'This is your biggest nemesis.'"

Cagle talked about the title that eluded him his sophomore season.

"I met Harold in the semifinal at state. We went into double overtime. The first takedown wins then. I ended up getting a takedown on him. Everybody jumps up and is happy that I won. They teched me because when I got behind him my thumb got caught in (his) singlet. They gave him a point. I lost the match. It was disappointing, but I came back the next two years and got it done. Could've been a three-time, but you know how that goes - shoulda, coulda, woulda."

There was a reunion for Cagle with a former teammate after his high school career.

"When I got to Huntingdon and started playing ball there, guess who came in to be DB's coach my second year there? Derrick Ansley. I came out of playing with Derrick in high school to him graduating from Troy and being a coach down at Huntingdon. I said, 'Now look, don't think you're going to tell me what to do.' All those guys on that team, all 30 of them, if I had to go to war I think I'd call all 30 of them and they'd be my choice to this day - Derrick included. Derrick's always been one of my favorite guys. I still talk to him about once a month. He's a great guy."

Ansley is now the defensive coordinator at the University of Tennessee. Cagle has gone the coaching route as well at Tallassee.

"In 2008, I met with coach (Rodney) Dollar. He asked me to help with the defense. That's how it got started. Then I coached with coach Jones and coach Battles. I put ten years in and wouldn't trade it for the world. Last year, I coached a girl's son who went to school with me. You know you're getting old when that happens."

Get your programs here!

2001 ended Jared Jones' two-year stint for the moment at Tallassee. But like Weaver who hired him and McCord, whom he played and coached with, Jones would return to the sidelines for the purple and gold.

Jones joined the staff at Oak Mountain for four years. Coach Phil Lindsey, his replacement at Tallassee, gave him an opportunity to rejoin his alma mater in 2006.

"Dr. (Kenneth) Varner called me and said, 'We're going to have an opening at the middle school.' He said he had talked to coach Lindsey. Coach Lindsey and I had spoken a couple of times. (He) needed a line coach. It was an opportunity for me to come back."

Jones served on Lindsey's staff and afterward with head coach Rodney Dollar. He returned to the head coaching position on an interim level in 2011.

"I was actually on the (hiring) committee," Jones remembered. "We just didn't have a lot of really good applicants. The one that we felt like would be a good choice was (Jeff) Foshee. He ended up dropping out. We went to meet and make a decision. Dr. (Jim) Jeffers asked me to excuse myself. He came back and said, 'We would like to do this again next year. Would you do this for one year?' That's kind of how that ended up."

Mike Battles took over the next season.

"Battles asked me to stay on and coach D-line. I decided to step back and do junior high."

Jones took a position shortly after with Norman Dean at Elmore County. He also took over the Panthers' wrestling program.

"When I did coach against Tallassee I definitely wanted to win. There was never any hatred there. Coach Mask and I are still real good friends."

Jones retired from the education system in June. He is now working again with one of his former coaching assistants, Bruce Dean.

"I'm selling mobile homes for Coach Dean now," he said. "We reminisce a lot. It's fun. Both of us have places on the lake. We still hang out."

Jones returned to his alma mater and led the Tigers on the field for the first game in the newly renovated and expanded O'Brien Stadium vs. Benjamin Russell on Aug. 27, 2010. Tallassee won 19-17.