#HSFT20 Stop #26 — Aliceville Yellowjackets

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ALICEVILLE, Al. (WCBI) — Just to be in the stadium and actually see the smiling faces whether it’s players or its fans,” Aliceville head coach Melvin Pete said about returning to football this fall.

Besides the smiling faces, the Aliceville Yellowjackets have plenty to look forward to heading into the 2020 season.

The yellowjackets return following an 8-3 year; however, Pete wants his team to learn from last year’s losses.

“Don’t think that everybody can play with you and you can turn on the light switch when you get ready. That was our biggest mistake as far as last year. We kind of got into a dogfight. We ended up coming up short because they did a great job of playing keep away,” Pete said.

Every down mean’s something for Pete and his team. One player he doesn’t have to reiterate that to: sophomore quarterback Ty Williams.

In his freshman season, Williams threw for over 1100 yards, and 16 touchdowns. According to coach Pete, he’s already eager to do more.

“This is a guy who actually will call me in the middle of the night, ‘coach I just got through watching some film. Why did you hold back on play calling against Gordo?’ I said, man, I was trying to protect you. ‘We’re not going to do that this year coach. I’m gonna be ready.’ Man, you’re talking a lot but let’s see,” Pete said.

While the yellowjackets can count on Williams to take care of the pass game, Aliceville has to replace running back Zavien Wilkins, who accounted for nearly 1500 yards rushing for the jackets in 2019.

“I don’t think the running game will be a problem because I’m relying on the guys upfront with that. My guys upfront have been together at least two years. I’ve just never been where we had our o-line, I’ve kind of had to rebuild every year. This is the first time we’ve had a solid group coming back and returning,” Pete said.

As the season approaches, Pete is also focusing on building a strong defensive line.

“There’s some real big time players, our corners. The other thing is we have a guy by the name of Kobe Sparks that’s returning at defensive end. Our biggest challenge this year is trying to find the other end. We’re trying to find some more D-lineman…we have some that have experience. We’re just trying to toughen up our front,” Pete said.

Aliceville kicks-off the season against Greene County on August 21st.