Eighteen Baldwin County football players named to all-state teams

Seven each on offense and defense, four athletes recognized by Alabama Sports Writers Association

By Cole McNanna
Sports Editor
cole@gulfcoastmedia.com
Posted 12/18/22

It’s no secret that Baldwin County is home to some of the top football players in the state and the Alabama Sports Writers Association recognized that by naming 18 student-athletes to all-state …

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Eighteen Baldwin County football players named to all-state teams

Seven each on offense and defense, four athletes recognized by Alabama Sports Writers Association

Posted

It’s no secret that Baldwin County is home to some of the top football players in the state and the Alabama Sports Writers Association recognized that by naming 18 student-athletes to all-state teams for the 2022 season.

Ten schools from Baldwin County were represented on the all-state lists where three landed on the first-team, nine were second-team selections and six were honorably mentioned. Seven players were on offensive teams, seven were on defensive teams and four were recognized as total athletes.

The Foley Lions led the way with three total selections with one each on the first-team, second-team and honorable mention.

The Fairhope Pirates, Daphne Trojans, Spanish Fort Toros, Gulf Shores Dolphins, Bayside Academy Admirals and St. Michael Catholic Cardinals all had two honorees and the Elberta Warriors, Orange Beach Makos and Snook Christian Eagles all had one all-state representative.

Snook’s Kareem Harris became the school’s first all-state selection and Cason White became just the second player from Elberta named all-state.

Here are all of the local all-state representatives by team with stats from MaxPreps followed by Baldwin County’s all-state selections by classification.

Foley Lions

WR Perry Thompson: first-team offense; OL Logan Joellenbeck: second-team offense; DL AJ Prim: honorable mention

Thompson, an Alabama commit, broke Foley High School’s single-season reception record and helped the offense score 360 points, the most since 2014. Joellenbeck and Prim held things down in the trenches to help the Lions secure the first Class 7A Region 1 title since 2007 with four straight region wins to close the season.

Fairhope Pirates

QB Caden Creel: first-team athlete; WR Ben Moseley: honorable mention

Creel, a Jacksonville State commit, eclipsed 3,000 total yards this season to help Fairhope have its highest-scoring season since 2014. Moseley caught 718 of Creel’s passing yards and 6 of his touchdowns on 65 receptions. He also had 35 rushing yards, 281 kick-return yards and 40 punt-return yards for 1,074 all-purpose yards.

Daphne Trojans

DL Tyler Durant: second-team defense; RB Nick Clark: honorable mention

Durant helped lead Daphne’s defensive front and racked up 73 total tackles, third highest on the team, with 52 solos and 31 assists to go along with 9 tackles for a loss, 5 sacks and a field-goal block recovery. Clark carried the load in the Trojans’ offensive backfield and ran for 1,028 yards and 12 touchdowns as well as caught 13 receptions for 100 receiving yards.

Spanish Fort Toros

WR Jacob Godfrey: second-team athlete; DL Cole McConathy: honorable mention

Godfrey, a UAB commit, lined up at running back and multiple receiver positions to record 1,475 all-purpose yards and score 15 touchdowns before he served as the placeholder for the point-after tries and field goals.

McConathy set an Alabama record with 7 sacks in Spanish Fort’s Oct. 7 win over McGill-Toolen. The junior already holds offers from UAB, Long Island, Tulane, Colorado and Austin Peay.

“The AHSAA Record Book has no previous listing and neither does the NFHS National Record Book,” wrote David Holtsford on Oct. 11. “The national record was set in 2014 when Cesar Chavez High School of Laveen (AZ) beat Maryvale (AZ) 61-6. Chavez had 18 sacks in the game, according to published reports and 6-foot-4, 210-pound linebacker Hamilcar Rashed registered 10.”

Gulf Shores Dolphins

RB/DB Ronnie Royal: first-team athlete; P Will Langston: second-team defense

Royal, an uncommitted junior, led the team in rushing (1,147) and receiving yards (876) as well as total touchdowns (32) between 24 on the ground and 8 through the air. Langston booted 26 punts for 1,021 yards for an average of 39.3 yards per punt where 7 landed inside the opponents’ 20-yard line.

Royal has represented Gulf Shores on an all-state team the past two seasons and Langston became the Dolphins’ eighth all-state selection overall.

Elberta Warriors

OL Cason White: honorable mention

White, a five-year starter for Elberta, has helped establish the Warriors’ program at the Class 5A level and set the standard in the locker room. White is Elberta’s second all-state player after Nathan Steiner was an honorable mention last year.

St. Michael Catholic Cardinals

LB Clay Barr: second-team defense; LB Tyler Cella: honorable mention

Barr and Cella served as a pair of leaders in St. Michael’s defensive second level and finish their high school seasons as all-state selections. The pair of linebackers mark the fifth Cardinals named all-state in school history.

Cella collected 98 total tackles with 6 tackles for a loss, 2 forced fumbles and an interception and Barr racked up 87 tackles with 14.5 tackles for a loss. Both players have earned offers from Birmingham Southern College.

Bayside Academy Admirals

DL Graham Uter: second-team defense; PK Joey Jones: second-team offense

Uter, an uncommitted two-way lineman at 6’ 5” and 280 pounds, collected 45 tackles against double and triple coverage, 14 tackles for a loss, 3 sacks, 3 forced fumbles and 2 pass breakups to help Bayside Academy to a fourth straight postseason appearance.

Jones, an all-state soccer player, connected on a 20-yard field goal in the final minute of the Admirals’ Class 4A Region 1 contest against St. Michael that served as the game-winning points and ended up helping decide the playoff tiebreaker for the group.

Orange Beach Makos

RB/S Chris Pearson: second-team athlete

Pearson, the University of Houston’s newest commit, was a first-team all-state defensive back last year and was recognized as an athlete this season following major impacts as a running back, safety and returner.

He helped Orange Beach earn the school’s first state ranking this season before he represented the Makos as MVP of the AHSAA North-South All-Star Football Classic.

Snook Christian Eagles

WR Kareem Harris: second-team offense

Harris becomes Snook’s first all-state representative after his 913 receiving yards on 47 receptions with nine touchdowns helped lead the Eagles’ offense to its highest-scoring season in school history. He also carried the ball 28 times for 79 rushing yards and completed 4 passes for 16 yards for 1,008 total yards on the season.

ASWA All-State team

AHSAA Class 7A

First-team offense

WR Perry Thompson – Foley

First-team athlete

Caden Creel – Fairhope

Second-team offense

OL Logan Joellenbeck – Foley

Second-team defense

DL Tyler Durant – Daphne

Honorable mention

RB Nick Clark – Daphne

WR Ben Moseley – Fairhope

DL AJ Prim – Foley

Class 6A

Second-team athlete

Jacob Godfrey – Spanish Fort

Honorable mention

DL Cole McConathy – Spanish Fort

Class 5A

First-team athlete

Ronnie Royal – Gulf Shores

Second-team defense

P Will Langston – Gulf Shores

Honorable mention

OL Cason White – Elberta

Class 4A

Second-team offense

PK Joey Jones – Bayside Academy

Second-team defense

DL Graham Uter – Bayside Academy

LB Clay Barr – St. Michael Catholic

Second-team athlete

Chris Pearson – Orange Beach

Honorable mention

LB Tyler Cella – St. Michael Catholic

AISA

Second-team offense

WR Kareem Harris – Snook Christian