Faith Academy Rams (3-3)      vs.    Vigor Wolves (6-0)        

AHSAA TV Network/ WOTM Game of the Week

Unbeaten Vigor Hosts Faith Academy at Ladd-Peebles Stadium Thursday  

       MONTGOMERY – Class 5A Faith Academy (3-3) and Class 4A Vigor (6-0) step out of region play Thursday night and meet at Mobile’s Ladd-Peebles Stadium at 7 p.m., in this week’s  AHSAA TV Network/WOTM TV Game of the week.
      The game is being produced by WOTM TV with Vince Earley serving as the executive producer. Veteran announcers Mickey Shadrix and Gerhard Mathangani, both with WEAC TV 24, will be handling the play-by-play and color commentary for tonight’s game. The battle will be televised live over the AHSAA TV Network and livestreamed over the NFHS Network. WOTM TV has put together a strong network of cable affiliates across Alabama. It will be live on WOTM TV as well as UTV 44 in Mobile.
      Faith head coach Jack French said it was easy to see that Vigor was on the verge of  becoming an outstanding team with both met last year. “They were much improved last year and were getting better each week. Now they are a truly outstanding  team.”
     The Wolves, coached by John McKenzie, are off to their best start since 2018 after closing the 2020 season at 5-5. Ironically, it was a first-round 32-20 playoff loss to eventual Class 4A state champion Handley that sent Vigor into the off-season with a lot of excitement.
    “We set our goals coming into this season to be playing on December 3 (date of the 4A state finals) and to beat our rivals Blount.” The Wolves downed the Leopards 22-13 in the first game of the season. “We still have a chance to accomplish both those  goals.”
     French said his team, which went 12-2 and reached the 5A semifinals for the first time in the Rams’ history, have a lot of players who didn’t get a lot of playing time last year.
    “We have some good players, but so does Vigor.”
   Faith has won the last two meetings with Vigor 35-8 in 2019 and 41-7 a year ago. Prior to that, the Wolves had won 10 of the previous 11 meetings. This year, the Rams’ three losses have come by a combined 12 points. Faith’s three losses to Andalusia (21-20), St. Paul’s (10-7) and UMS-Wright (34-26) by a combined 12 points. The Rams had a 20-0 first-half lead on UMS last week before watching it slip away in the final two quarters.
  Leading Faith is linebacker/running back/receiver Shemar James, a Florida commitment who plays a number of offensive and defensive positions for the Rams. Quarterback Colton Wood is also playing well. James scored two touchdowns on runs of 2 and 16 yards in last week’s loss to UMS-Wright and Wood was 13-of-17 passing for 161 yards.
    Vigor is coming off a 46-0 win over Escambia County and is 4-0 in Class 4A, Region 1. Quarterback Anthony Mix Jr. completed 4-of-8 passes for 55 yards and a pair of scores – 17 yards to Abraham Daniels and 27 yards to Brennan Maye-Jordan. On defense, Michael Towner had a 22-yard interception return for a TD, Kristopher Agee had an 80-yard interception return and Maye-Jordan had a 52-yard fumble return.
     A total of 19 games are set for tonight with 16 set for the NFHS Network. Among them are two Class 6A battles of note: unbeaten Helena (6-0) hosting Calera (4-2) in Region 3 and Mountain Brook (5-1) hosting Briarwood Christian (6-0) in Region 5.

                         130 Games on Tap for NFHS Network Friday
    On Friday, the NFHS Network is set to live-stream 130 varsity football games over its NFHS Network School Broadcast Program.
   The AHSAA Radio Network’s Scoreboard Show will also air across the state Friday night. Go to www.ahsaaradionetwork.com for network information.
    To access the AHSAA Game of the Week over the NFHS Network, go to the following link
https://www.nfhsnetwork.com/events/ahsaa/gamd6897bd53c

    To access the AHSAA Game of the Week over WOTM TV and its network of cable affiliates, go to AHSAA TV Network at the following link:
https://www.ahsaa.com/media and click on the AHSAA TV Network link.
    A complete list of all varsity football games set for tonight and Friday can be found at:
https://www.ahsaa.com/sports/football/2021-football-season-schedule
    Regional standings through last week’s games can also be found at:
https://www.ahsaa.com/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=2UayjTZDL1A%3d&portalid=0&timestamp=1632342344234