Lawrence County High School Football History

09/18/2026

84 years ago tonight on September 18, 1942, the Red Devils, under new head coach John Bludworth, opened the season with a 7-0 win at home over Cherokee.
After fullback Roy Free's touchdown run gave Lawrence County an early 7-0 lead, a tough LCHS defense kept Cherokee backed up all night.

09/18/2026

28 years ago tonight on September 18, 1998, the Lawrence County Red Devils beat Haleyville for the first time since 1973, snapping a 14-game losing streak to the Lions with a 48-12 win at Herman "Bubba" Scott Field in Haleyville. It was the Red Devils' first road win at Haleyville since 1950, when the eponymous "Bubba" Scott was a Haleyville assistant coach still three seasons away from his first season as head coach. In a game that's margin was never within single digits after the second quarter, the Devils never turned the ball over, while more than doubling the Lions in total offense 486-239 and forcing three Haleyville turnovers. Bradley Frost rushed for a career-high 78 yards on just four carries, two of them touchdowns, and quarterback Bradley Smith ran for a touchdown and connected with Zach Fletcher for two touchdown passes in the Devils' rout. Billy Stover led the LCHS rushing attack with 113 yards on 14 carries.

09/18/2026

Looking back 39 years to September 18, 1987 and the Red Devils' second straight win over Danville.
Special teams miscues led to two Danville scores and an 8-0 lead, but the Red Devils' sluggish offense awoke in the second half to battle back into the game, with two Oscar Echols touchdown runs sending the game to overtime at 14-14.
Echols carried the ball to the one in the overtime period, where Randall Proctor scored the winning touchdown.
The win was the first road win in Coach Mike Bates' only season at the Devil helm, and the first road win for the Red Devils in over a year. It was also the second in a string of five straight victories that would propel the Devils to the first playoff berth in school history and their only playoff appearance for over a decade.
Echols and Proctor would both receive All-County honors at season's end.

We look back 35 years to September 18, 1987 and the Red Devils' second straight win over Danville. Special teams miscues led to two Danville scores and an 8-0 lead, but the Red Devils' sluggish offense awoke in the second half to battle back into the game, with two Oscar Echols touchdown runs sending the game to overtime at 14-14. Echols carried the ball to the one in the overtime period, where Randall Proctor scored the winning touchdown.
The win was the first road win in Coach Mike Bates' only season at the Devil helm, and the first road win for the Red Devils in over a year. It was also the second in a string of five straight victories that would propel the Devils to the first playoff berth in school history and their only playoff appearance for over a decade. Echols and Proctor would both receive All-County honors at season's end.

09/18/2026

45 years ago tonight on September 18, 1981, the Red Devils used a 241-yard rushing performance (including 157 on 24 carries by sophomore Lymos Young) to outlast Hatton, 20-14.
Touchdowns by Young, Keith Jackson (on a pass from Steve LaFevor), and Patrick Echols gave LCHS a 20-7 lead with 4:11 left before the Hornets began a late rally. Hatton cut the lead to six points on a touchdown pass from Keith Evans to Steven Kerby, held the Red Devils, and in the game's final minute drove to the LC 29-yard line where a desperation pass fell incomplete at the goal line.

09/18/2026

79 years ago tonight on September 18, 1947, Lawrence County traveled to Double Springs and continued their winning streak, winning their seventh consecutive game and their third in the 1947 season on their way to the school's first perfect 10-0 season.
Clayborn Ligon led the way for the Red Devils, accounting for three touchdowns (two rushing and one passing) in the 32-0 win.

09/17/2026

50 years ago tonight on September 17, 1976, the Red Devils travelled to Hartselle and gave the Tigers a "Homecoming scare" before falling, 17-7.
The game is best remembered for the unusual spread formation LCHS employed to open the game, putting tailback Lawson Fletcher in sh***un formation, four Red Devils in the middle with Fletcher, and the rest lined up near the sideline. After Fletcher gained one first down from the unconventional set, his long touchdown pass to Frank Taylor was nullified by an illegal procedure penalty on what would be the Devils' greatest early threat.
Hartselle scored following a second-quarter interception, and again to open the second half, taking a 14-0 lead before Fletcher's four-yard touchdown made the score 14-7 entering the fourth quarter. The Tigers iced the game with a late, 14-play drive and a game-sealing field goal.

09/17/2026

27 years ago tonight on September 17, 1999, Billy Stover scored three second quarter touchdowns to put the Haleyville Lions away early at Red Devil Stadium.
Stover came off the bench in the second quarter to rush for 81 yards on just four carries, including two touchdown runs, and also made a touchdown reception as the Devils rolled out to a 41-0 third quarter lead, before coasting to the 41-6 win. Lawrence County outgained Haleyville 405-210 and also intercepted three Lion passes in the game.
The win was the 16th regular-season victory in a row for Coach Tim Gillespie's fifth-ranked Red Devils, who also won back-to-back games in the LCHS-Haleyville series for the first time since 1950.

09/17/2026

A look back 44 years to September 17, 1982 and the Red Devils' 10-0 shutout at Hatton, the Devils' fifth (of an eventual) 11-straight wins over the Hornets.
After a scoreless first half, Junior tailback Lymos Young scored the game's only touchdown on a one-yard run. Young was the Devils' workhorse in the game, rushing for 95 yards on 21 carries. Senior Sheldon Wallace's PAT, followed by his 36-yard field goal in the fourth quarter, gave the Red Devils their final margin of victory. The LCHS defense shone in the win, forcing four turnovers while holding Hatton to just five first downs and 59 yards of offense (including only 18 yards rushing, and 41 yards on 15 pass attempts).
Coach Andy Montgomery's 1982 LCHS Red Devils would go 6-4 - the only winning LCHS football team of the 1980s - and boasted one of the best LCHS defenses in the last 50 years. Their 11.9 points-allowed-per-game is the third-least by a Red Devil defense since 1970, behind only the 1974 (8.6) and 1999 (10.5) teams.

09/17/2026

After not meeting for 15 years, the second era of the Lawrence County-Hatton series began 67 years ago tonight on September 17, 1959. Hatton, still winless in their second season of resuming 11-man football, travelled to LCHS Stadium (which the Hornets were also using at the time as a home stadium for out-of-county competition) and fell behind 12-0 before running an offensive play: R.C. Borden capped the opening drive with a one-yard touchdown run; LCHS recovered an onside kick; and Garland Murphree reached the end zone from 23 yards out. Touchdown runs by Don Wade, Hal Terry (two), Murphree, and Greg Richardson followed as the Red Devils scored in every quarter of the 38-7 win.

09/17/2026

72 years ago on September 17, 1954, the Red Devils traded touchdowns early before a 276-yard rushing performance and some timely defensive stops helped them pull away from the Haleyville Lions for a 26-12 win.
Quarterback Sonny Smith and halfback Arnold Coffey each rushed for two touchdowns for the Devils, who outgained the Lions without ever completing a pass.