The Alabama High School Athletic Association is hosting the 64th annual North-South All-Star Football Classic tonight at the University of South Alabama’s Hancock Whitney Stadium in Mobile.

Eight athletes from Baldwin County earned spots on the 37-man roster and three coaches were named to the nine-coach staff and will look to help the South All-Stars improve on its 32-29-2 overall lead in the series.

Stay tuned for coverage from Abraham A. Mitchell Field leading up to the 7 p.m. kickoff but until then, here are a few storylines to watch.

Former playoff opponents turned teammates

Fairhope’s Caden Creel and Auburn’s Clyde Pittman dueled in the first round of the state playoffs but now will take turns quarterbacking the South All-Star squad.

Both signal-callers surpassed 1,800 throwing yards on the season where Creel collected 1,822 passing yards and 13 touchdowns, to go along with 1,186 rushing yards. Pittman finished with 1,804 passing yards and 16 touchdowns as the Tigers fell to the Thompson Bobcats in the Class 7A state final.

They’ll be throwing to receivers the likes of Spanish Fort’s Jacob Godfrey, McGill-Toolen’s Anthony Eager and Tre Kimmerlin and Mikel Johnson from Enterprise.

Daphne’s Blackshear added to roster

Stephon Blackshear will represent the Daphne Trojans and when he was added to the roster, he brought the total number of Baldwin County schools involved to six.

Although he served as a key cog in Daphne’s offensive machine this year as both a receiver and quarterback, Blackshear is listed as a defensive back for the all-star contest. The 6’, 185-pound athlete collected nine tackles on the season for the Trojans between five solos and four assists, according to MaxPreps stats.

Pearson to announce commitment tomorrow

Orange Beach’s first athlete named to the AHSAA All-Star Classic, Chris Pearson, is set to have some news shared tomorrow afternoon.

After he originally committed to the UAB Blazers over 10 other Division I offers July 29, Pearson reopened his recruitment Nov. 30 and set his new commitment date of Saturday, Dec. 17, at 4 p.m.

The University of Central Florida and Liberty joined UAB in his top three choices that were revealed June 27. Those offers were in addition to those from Alabama A&M, Arkansas State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Louisiana-Monroe, Marshall, Memphis and Minnesota.

Since then, he’s added offers from the University of Houston, SMU, Western Kentucky and Alabama State.

Foley Lions following a path

After Harrison Knight represented Foley football at the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Classic last week, Cameron Schultz and AJ Prim, as well as head coach Deric Scott, will be the next Lion representatives at Hancock Whitney Stadium.

The pair of players mark the first Foley All-Stars since 2020 when kicker/punter Forrest Taylor was named to the contest.

Toros, Tigers extend streaks

The Lions are joined by Spanish Fort in having the most Baldwin County representatives at the game with two players and one coach. Godfrey and Yorell Williams earned roster spots and Chase Smith was named to the coaching staff. The two Toros named to the roster marks the third straight year a pair of players represent Spanish Fort at the Alabama all-star game.

Baldwin County High’s Mark Heaton will serve on his second straight AHSAA All-Star coaching staff and this year will be joined by defensive back DJ Jackson in representing the Tigers.

Follow along on social media (@GCMSportsAL) for updates throughout the contest as well as coverage following the game.

Local players in AHSAA All-Star Football Classic

QB No. 1 Caden Creel – Fairhope

WR No. 2 Jake Godfrey – Spanish Fort

DB No. 15 Stephon Blackshear – Daphne

DB No. 21 Chris Pearson – Orange Beach

DB No. 23 DJ Jackson – Baldwin County

OL No. 51 Cameron Schultz – Foley

DE No. 83 AJ Prim – Foley

DT No. 90 Yorell Williams – Spanish Fort

Local coaches on AHSAA All-Star coaching staff

Deric Scott – Foley

Chase Smith – Spanish Fort

Mark Heaton – Baldwin County