By Staff
The stars have aligned to send both of our local high school football teams to the playoffs again this year.
Both the T.R. Miller and W.S. Neal football teams and their coaching staffs should be proud of their accomplishments this year. Nowhere was their hard work more evident than in the Battle of Murder Creek just more than a week ago, which led to a hard-fought overtime victory for the Neal Blue Eagles.
But football, as we should all know by now, is about far more than winning. It's about learning to work as a team, learning a work ethic and learning to persevere through tough times.
High school football in Alabama has taken some licks in recent weeks, as the scandal at Hoover High School in Jefferson County has taken many people by surprise with its sordid details about grade changing and academic favoritism for athletes. But what happened at Hoover does not necessarily happen at any other school - and we certainly hope it isn't happening anywhere else. No sport, no game, no win is worth damaging the reputation of a school or player or coach.
But at its best - including here in Brewton and East Brewton - football, like all sports, is a great teacher. Football in our state tends to be king, but all athletic events - from volleyball to cross country to softball to baseball to basketball - challenge young people to rise to the occasion not only on the field or the court but also in the classroom and in life.
We wish Neal and Miller players well as they travel their road to the postseason, and we look forward to cheering from the stands for many more games to come.