Hokes Bluff Eagles (0-0)     vs.      Southside-Gadsden Panthers (1-0)

AHSAA TV Network Game of the Week

Hokes Bluff Visits Etowah County rival Southside-Gadsden Tonight at 7 p.m.

       MONTGOMERY – One of the state’s top rivalries kicks off the AHSAA TV Network Game of the Week series tonight with Hokes Bluff traveling to Southside-Gadsden.
      The two schools have met annually each year since 1970 except for two years (1990 and 1991) and will be meeting for the 71^st time tonight at 7 p.m.
      The Etowah County battle will be televised live over the AHSAA TV Network and livestreamed over the NFHS Network. WOTM TV will once again produce both games with Vince Earley serving as executive producer. WOTM TV has put together a strong network of cable affiliates across Alabama. The NFHS Network link for tonight’s game is:
https://www.nfhsnetwork.com/events/ahsaa/gam070791c58d

      To check out the cable channel availability, go to the following link:

https://www.ahsaa.com/Portals/0/WOTM-Coverage-2019_1.jpg    
   
     Hokes Bluff (0-0), coached by Mike Robertson, has won the last three games versus Southside (1-0), coached by Gary Nelson. The Eagles hold a 39-28-3 edge in the series, which was first played in 1937. The series has had 24 shutouts overall with Hokes Bluff winning 17, Southside 6 and the two teams tying 0-0 once in 1941.
     “This has been a good rivalry for both schools for a long time,” said Robertson, who has been the head coach since 1996 and is in his 25^th season at Hokes Bluff. His 161-110 overall record makes him by far the winningest football coach in school history. “It will be two teams with distinctively different styles. I am old school. We are going to run the football. Southside is more wide open offensively.”
     Nelson, in his first year as the Panthers head coach, was 30-16 in four years as Montgomery Academy’s head coach. Southside opened the season last week with a 41-27 win over Lincoln.  Carnell Davis rushed for 212 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries in the win.
    “We are excited about having the opportunity to be on statewide television this week,” said Nelson. “Our kids have really worked hard all summer and did a great job getting prepared last week. We really appreciative.”   
      Robertson guided Hokes Bluff to the Class 4A state title in 2001. His teams won 30 games in the last three years, including all three battles with the Panthers. Southside, however, won the six previous meetings.
     Southside, through its NFHS Network School Broadcast Program, will also live-stream the game over its school link. The NFHS Network has 153 AHSAA high school events scheduled this week – with eight high school and 10 middle school football games set for tonight as well as 49 varsity football games set for live-stream in Friday.
   The NFHS Network will feature 17 AHSAA volleyball matches tonight through the NFHS Network School Broadcast Program as well. Football games, including JV, freshman and middle school contests, account for 80 events. Volleyball matches account for 73.
    The AHSAA TV Network Game of the week Sept. 3 will be Greenville vs. Charles Henderson at Troy University’s Veterans Stadium. In addition to the WOTM TV network of cable affiliates, that game will also be shown on Troy Cable on Channel 10. Sparkman and Grissom play at Huntsville’s Milton Frank Stadium on Sept. 10. That game will air on Huntsville’s ETV as well as Comcast channel 17 and WOW channel 3 and on WHIQ channel 25.5.
  The remaining games of the week for September at Shades Valley at Mountain Brook on Sept. 17, and Fairfield at Jackson-Olin in Birmingham on Sept. 24.
    The AHSAA Radio Network’s Scoreboard Show will also air across the state Friday night. Go to www.ahsaaradionetwork.com for network information.
    The AHSAA TV Network and WOTM TV broadcast three games last week: the Kickoff Classic games: Pike Road over Montgomery Catholic 63-34; Prattville over Wetumpka 40-10; and the GO Gold Bowl battle won by Thompson over Oxford 56-34.
    The complete log of AHSAA events being live-streamed this week can be found at:
https://www.ahsaa.com/Portals/0/2020%20Season%20Week%201%20%282%29.pdf