Wetumpka doesn’t have to wait any longer.
The 2024 high school football season begins this week, and Wetumpka will host Class 5A Beauregard in its season opener at 7 p.m. Friday at the Wetumpka Sports Complex.
The Hornets are coming off a 2023 season where they went 6-5 and reached the first round of the Class 5A playoffs before losing to eventual state champion Gulf Shores. Beauregard is led by fourth-year coach Justin Jones, who has a 20-13 overall record and a 2-1 record in season openers.
Wetumpka coach Bear Woods is entering his third year with the Indians. He has a 12-10 record and is coming off a 5-6 season and playoff appearance.
“You can tell their staff has been together for a few years,” Woods said. “They play very sound and very physical football. With how they play, they’re going to be a very tough challenge for our home opener.”
Many of Beauregard’s players are returning starters. Included in that is sophomore quarterback Cub Jones, who completed 60 of 102 passes for 638 yards, 7 touchdowns and 4 interceptions last year.
After a full offseason going into his second year of starting, Jones is a threat to throw the ball anywhere on the field.
“They have a young quarterback who is very good,” Woods said. “He has a good football IQ and throws a good deep ball. We saw them at 7-on-7 this summer and he looked good. The entire team looked good. They had good skill players who had a lot of speed.”
Joining Jones in the backfield is a plethora of running backs who are tough to tackle. At 5-foot-9 and 207 pounds, Running back Tae Foreman rushed for 344 yards and 4 touchdowns on 54 carries, almost a 7 yards per carry average.
ZJ Grady, who is also one of the top linebackers in the entire state of Alabama, plays running back as well and rushed for 251 yards and 3 touchdowns, averaging 6.8 yards per carry.
“We have to tackle,” Woods said. “On film, you don’t see many guys running untouched for seven or eight yards. It’s mostly a missed tackle somewhere between 1 and 7 yards. We have to play sound defense. Our challenge is making tackles.”
Grady is a three-star linebacker who is currently one of the Top 50 players in the state of Alabama’s Class of 2025.
Last season, Grady recorded 75 tackles, 5 tackles for loss and 2 sacks. His linebacking counterpart, Caleb Piner, had 127 tackles, 9 tackles for loss and 2 more sacks.
“Grady can do anything on the field and will be a challenge for anyone who plays Beauregard this year,” Woods said. “We have to line up in formations that will neutralize those linebackers, but this is the first game of the season. You have to stick with who you are and what you worked on all spring and summer. The teams who are most fundamental and sound, the ones who don’t have drive killing penalties and make tackles win in Week 1. That’s what we’re focused on this week. We have to play well ourselves.”
