County High-Gardendale Playoff Preview

The Tuscaloosa County High Wildcats (8-2) will begin their playoff run against the Gardendale High School Rockets (7-3) Friday night at Wildcat Alumni Stadium.

Coach Lee Gibson’s team heads into post season play with momentum on their side after finishing the regular season on the road against the Pell City Panthers with a 34-14 victory. In the Wildcat win, Tyler Gates threw for over two hundred yards and a pair of touchdowns; one to Allen Cooks and Tylan Perry.

Perry, who also added a rushing touchdown in last Friday’s matchup with Pell City has been one of the major storylines for County High in 2012. After beginning the year at receiver, Perry began to carry more of the load offensively by making a move into the backfield. The move immediately paid dividends for County High when he made the move against the Northridge Jaguars, rushing 27 times for 196 yards and the Wildcats have not looked back since.

Defensively County High has been strong as all season long, pitching four shutouts on the season and giving up over 20 points in a game just one time this season (28 to the nationally ranked Hoover Buccaneers).  The defense, led by senior linebacker Ted Colburn, will play a key role in County High’s playoff push.

The Rockets of Gardendale High school also come into Friday’s contest riding a winning streak after beating Buckhorn High School in their regular season finale 32-6.  The Rockets, have been led all season by a balanced attack on offense with quarterback Hunter Crook (1217 yards passing on the season, 7 touchdowns and 3 interceptions) and running back Jordan Howard.

Howard is the headliner on offense, rushing the ball 160 times on the season for 1270 yards and 19 touchdowns, including a 15 carry, 277 yards and 3 touchdown performance against Hewitt-Trussville on October 19^th. Defensively the Rockets are as good as any when it comes to taking away the pass with 12 interceptions on the season, including 5 by senior Jesse Blackburn.

County High and Gardendale will kick off Friday, November 9^th at 7:00 pm. Join Mick Gillispie, Ryan Fowler and Chad Haynie with pregame coverage at 6:45 on Tuscaloosa’s Sports Authority 99.1 WDGM.