Escambia County Athletics Reshuffled by Isaias: T.R. Miller at Jackson, Escambia at Excel Move to Monday

BREWTON, Ala. — Hurricane Isaias has forced a series of Escambia County athletics changes, moving two key Week 9 football games to Monday, rescheduling the Class 3A, Area 1 volleyball tournament and canceling Flomaton’s homecoming activities. Escambia County Schools and Brewton City Schools have been closed all week after the storm left major damage across Escambia and neighboring counties on Friday night, Oct. 9.

Isaias made landfall near Destin, Fla., as a Category 2 hurricane and moved north into Alabama. Brewton, the Escambia County seat, has been described by local officials as the hardest-hit community in the state, and roads, schools and athletic facilities across the county are still being cleared.

Area volleyball tournament moves to Saturday

The Class 3A, Area 1 volleyball tournament, originally scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 13, at T.R. Miller, will now be played Saturday, Oct. 17. The area includes all four public high schools in Escambia County: T.R. Miller, Escambia County High, W.S. Neal and Flomaton.

The top two teams from the area tournament move on to a sub-regional match scheduled for Monday, Oct. 19, and the winner of that match advances to the Super Regionals. With the area tournament pushed back four days, the Escambia County teams will have a quick turnaround between Saturday’s matches and Monday’s sub-regional round.

T.R. Miller’s region showdown at Jackson moves to Monday

T.R. Miller has rescheduled its important Class 3A, Region 1 football game at Jackson for 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 19. Jackson’s Aggies are 5-0 in region play. T.R. Miller is tied for third place in the region with W.S. Neal, with both teams at 3-1.

With the regular season entering its final weeks before the Alabama High School Athletic Association playoffs, the game carries major implications for region seeding and playoff position.

“We greatly appreciate Jackson working with us as we continue to recover from the storm,” Brewton City Schools Superintendent Kevin Wieseman said. “I think this is fair for everyone and gives us a chance to continue to get the community settled a bit after everything.”

T.R. Miller was able to return to practice Wednesday, Oct. 14.

Escambia County Schools shuffles its Week 9 slate

The Escambia County School System also made changes to its Week 9 football schedule:

• Escambia County at Excel: Moved from Friday to 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 19.
• Wilcox Central at Flomaton: Stays on Friday, Oct. 16, but kicks off at 5 p.m. instead of the usual 7 p.m. Flomaton’s homecoming activities are canceled.
• W.S. Neal at Opp: Remains at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 16.

Escambia County Superintendent Michele Collier said the Flomaton game was moved up so the visitors from Camden, the Wilcox County town that is home to Wilcox Central, can travel home in daylight.

“That game was moved up a couple of hours so the folks from Camden can get home earlier and get off the roads, hopefully before dark,” Collier said.

Why W.S. Neal’s trip to Opp stays put

Collier said school officials checked the route before deciding to keep W.S. Neal’s road game on Friday night.

“We have checked the roadways between W.S. Neal and Opp,” Collier said. “We think they will be OK by then and, of course, we will have a police escort so that will certainly help.”

That game was also difficult to move, she said, because Opp is hosting the popular Little Big Horn Band Competition on Saturday at Channell-Lee Stadium.

Back to practice after road closures

Collier said Escambia County’s athletic teams were allowed to return to practice Wednesday after staying off the roads Tuesday, when county roads were closed.

“We had been restricted,” she said. “They told us we couldn’t travel on the roads. The county roads were all closed so we shut everything down for kids coming into practice. We let them practice Monday before the advisory came out so we just went ahead and asked for forgiveness on that one. We didn’t practice Tuesday, but we will let them practice this afternoon. I think most of them may be at the schools now and hope to finish by 5 p.m.”

Escambia County officials said earlier this week that most county-maintained roads were passable, but that “passable” meant emergency vehicles and response teams could get through, not that conditions were back to normal. Debris still lines the shoulders of many rural roads, and drivers have been asked to slow down and use extreme caution.

‘In some areas, it’s like a war zone’

Collier said schools plan to reopen next week, and maintenance crews have spent the week getting buildings ready.

“We have about 25 of our guys working, trying to clean things up,” she said. “In some areas, it’s like a war zone. We have a couple of roofs to put some temporary roofing on, and the cafeteria is damaged at McCall (Junior High) so we have some work we’ve been trying to do. Cleaning up debris is really right now what our team is doing. We are trying to make sure our buildings are ready to open Monday.”

Collier earlier estimated about $6 million in damage across the county school system, with Pollard-McCall and W.S. Neal Middle School the most heavily damaged campuses. Escambia County Schools are scheduled to reopen Monday, Oct. 19.

Brewton City Schools will stay on its previously scheduled fall break Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 19 and 20. Students return for a normal day Wednesday, Oct. 21. Wieseman has said the city system’s buildings remained structurally sound, with about $2 million in damage districtwide.

‘A little sense of normalcy’

Wieseman said he has seen communities go through this kind of recovery before. When deadly tornadoes tore across Alabama in April 2011, he was the athletic director at Huntsville City Schools.

“When the 2011 tornadoes hit, I was the athletic director at Huntsville City Schools,” Wieseman said. “When things like this happen, you don’t worry about games immediately. You worry about life, making sure kids are taken care of, families are taken care of. You worry about life things. We still have kids who are concerned about those things. But, hopefully, returning to athletics will give us a little sense of normalcy back.”

Isaias disrupted South Alabama high school sports even before it arrived. Ahead of landfall, many Week 8 football games across the region were moved up to Thursday, Oct. 8, and a few were pushed to Monday, Oct. 12, while cross country meets and other events around the state were canceled or rescheduled.

If you go: Escambia County schedule changes

• Friday, Oct. 16, 5 p.m.: Wilcox Central at Flomaton (football; homecoming activities canceled)
• Friday, Oct. 16, 7 p.m.: W.S. Neal at Opp (football)
• Saturday, Oct. 17: Class 3A, Area 1 volleyball tournament at T.R. Miller, with T.R. Miller, Escambia County, W.S. Neal and Flomaton
• Monday, Oct. 19, 7 p.m.: T.R. Miller at Jackson (Class 3A, Region 1 football)
• Monday, Oct. 19, 7 p.m.: Escambia County at Excel (football)
• Monday, Oct. 19: Volleyball sub-regional for the area’s top two teams

Fans traveling to games should allow extra time, watch for debris and utility crews on rural roads and check school social media pages for any further changes.