Prattville High School Football Team Wins State Championships
bill clark, football, prattville high school, prattville lions, recreation, state championships,
Few things bring a community together like high school football. There are the banners around town, the hype on local radio and, of course, the homecoming parade. And whether your daughter is a baton twirler or your cousin is the quarterback, everyone seems to know someone connected to the team, which is why a team’s success can mean so much to the school and the town.
In Prattville, football means a lot.
Carrying the state’s longest win streak at 30-0, the Prattville High Lions finished the 2007 season with a second consecutive Alabama Class 6A championship title. Prattville was ranked No. 1 throughout the 2007 season in Class 6A, and by season’s end the team’s impressive record resulted in national praise, with USA Today ranking the Prattville Lions No. 2 in its high school poll.
The success begins with head coach Bill Clark, who first came to Prattville as a scout in the early 1990s and was immediately impressed with the community support.
“I tell everybody it’s a big family,” says Clark. “Our stands are always full.”
Winning seven games in his first season and reaching the playoffs in his second, Clark began to establish a dominant force in Alabama prep sports, leading the Lions deeper into the playoffs each season, eventually capturing the state titles in 2006 and 2007.
“To see us culminate the whole deal was just unbelievable,” says Clark.
But winning isn’t his single-minded focus. Clark and his staff have developed an overall school program teeming with talent, both on and off the field, boasting huge numbers of participants.
“Right now we have 70 freshmen,” says Clark. “Our numbers are unreal. It’s a credit to our coaches.”
These truly are remarkable and important numbers, says Clark, when you consider student athletes are generally more likely to maintain discipline in the classroom. Plus, there are students who continue their education through football. Prattville’s championship squad of 2006 sent 14 players to college teams. Several players from the 2007 championship squad will follow suit.
It all goes back to the coaches, who not only monitor academic progress, but also develop videos of game-play to send to college coaches.
“The coach’s job is to sell the players,” says Clark. “What we stress is going to school in some way. And if football is the way to get you there, then the more the better.”
Clark considers himself and his coaches surrogate parents. That role means preparing the young men for their future off the field, a goal that he admits is a lot easier to reach with the winning tradition Prattville has established.
“The winning gets them excited and helps us teach them about the community,” says Clark. “There’s that old story that it’s better to teach after a loss. But I’d rather teach after a win.”
With the roll the Lions are on, he can do a lot of teaching.
Story by J. Brandon Lowe
Photo by Wes Aldridge
