Shelby players named all-stars
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, November 18, 2003
Four football players and a coach will represent Shelby County teams in the Alabama Independent School Association’s East and West All-Star Game.
The contest will be played Dec. 5 at Selma’s Ralph &uot;Shug&uot; Jordan Memorial Stadium.
AISA coaches nominate individual players from their
own team, then vote for the all-stars from the list of nominees, according to coach DeWayne Kervin, who will make his fourth trip to the game as a coach.
Shelby Academy will send three representatives to the contest. Along with Kervin, quarterback Andrew Elm and his twin brother, running back Ryan Elm, were voted to the team.
&uot;We knew (Ryan) was going to have to carry 18-20 times a game for us to be successful this year,&uot; Kervin said. &uot;My biggest concern was with his durability.&uot;
But the 5-foot-six, 150-pound running back held up &uot;extremely well&uot;, Kervin said,
rushing 205 times for 1,387 yards and 22 touchdowns this season.
Andrew Elm will join his brother Ryan in the backfield for the West team.
&uot;Andrew has been a big leader for this team,&uot; Kervin said. &uot;He has been the person on offense that’s made it all happen.&uot;
Andrew carried 127 times for 759 yards and 13 touchdowns, despite missing several games early in the season due to injury.
Coosa Valley Academy will send offensive/defensive lineman Brandon Nix.
&uot;Brandon really worked hard this off-season to increase his strength and speed,&uot; said Coosa Valley coach Jim Stomps.
The six-foot-four, 270-pound senior made 84 tackles on the defensive line, even though many teams purposely avoided running to his side of the field, Stomps said.
Nix also recorded 5 sacks and blocked 3 field goals on the season.
&uot;And he was real consistent on offense,&uot; Stomps said. &uot;We lined him up at guard and pulled him a lot.&uot;
Nix, a four-year starter for the Rebels, made a verbal committment to play football for Mississippi State University.
Also selected to the team from Coosa Valley as an alternate was linebacker/running back John Kress.
&uot;Kress was one of our captains and he did pretty much everything,&uot; Stomps said.
Cornerstone Christian School will be represented at the AISA all-star game by fullback/linebacker Jeremy Walden.
Walden had more than 1,000 yards rushing and more than 10 touchdowns for the Chargers this season.
&uot;We’ll miss his leadership and what all he brought to this team,&uot; said Cornerstone Coach Tim Smith. &uot;It’s hard to replace that.&uot;
Walden (6-0, 241) had five 100-yard rushing games and made nearly 80 tackles on defense with four sacks, despite missing several early-season games with a leg injury