How much does Alabama defensive tackle D.J. Dale hate Pinson Valley High School?
“A lot,” Dale said, which might require some explanation.
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Before the Crimson Tide, Dale played at Clay-Chalkville. In Dale’s freshman season, the Cougars crushed Pinson Valley 65-10 on their way to the AHSAA Class 6A championship game. The next season, the Indians defeated Clay-Chalkville 21-14 in double overtime.
In 2017, when Dale earned the first of his two All-State selections, the 6A Region 6 rivalry got really serious. Pinson Valley gave Clay-Chalkville its only region loss 34-32, then eliminated the Cougars 37-7 in the 6A semifinals.
In Dale’s senior year, Clay-Chalkville lost only twice – 28-21 in the regular season and 28-20 in the 6A semifinals again to Pinson Valley.
“I will give them some credit,” Dale said. “Man, we went at it a lot. My freshman year, I was able to play varsity, so we beat them pretty bad. But every year after that, it never went that way. Obviously, they had a lot of great talent with Bo Nix, Kool-Aid, Tez (Johnson), who’s at Troy. He just transferred to Oregon with Bo Nix, so that’s going to be scary.
“But I don’t like them at all. I like some of the people there. Kool-Aid McKinstry, that’s family. I’ve known him for a long time. Watched him growing up, so I love him to death. But that school – I can’t stand that school.”
Dale will be back on the football field on Saturday, when he plays in the Reese’s Senior Bowl in Mobile.
No one from Pinson Valley will be opposing him, but six more players from five Alabama high schools will join Dale. The former state prep stars at the 74th annual Senior Bowl are:
· Troy offensive lineman Jake Andrews (Stanhope Elmore)
· Maryland cornerback Jakorian Bennett (McGill-Toolen)
· Louisville quarterback Malik Cunningham (Park Crossing)
· Alabama defensive lineman DJ Dale (Clay-Chalkville)
· Troy linebacker Carlton Martial (McGill-Toolen)
· Appalachian State running back Camerun Peoples (Central-Clay County)
· South Alabama wide receiver Jalen Wayne (Faith Academy/Spanish Fort)
Andrews has been putting his high school experience as a wrestler to work in his football career, including the effect of his loss in the 6A 285-pound state semifinals as a senior when he was the division’s defending champ.
“Obviously, the physical side of it – leverage, weight distribution, being quick on your feet, quick up top mentally,” Andrews listed as the benefits of wrestling. “I think to me it’s one of the best sports to build character, mental toughness. You talk about a sport that will humble you in a heartbeat. It humbled me my senior year in the state championships. I had a match that didn’t go the way I thought it was going to go, and a whole lot of people didn’t think it was going to go that way either. I think without that, I probably wouldn’t be half the person I am. That’s probably one of the most pivotal points in my life so far, just kind of making me who I am.
“Wrestling’s one of my favorite sports, and if I’m ever blessed enough to have a son, I’ll definitely make sure he wrestles because I learned way, way more lessons from that than I’ve learned from anything, so I’m really grateful that I did that.”
Four of the 2023 Senior Bowlers from Alabama high schools continued to play football at state colleges. But they aren’t the only players from Alabama college programs in Saturday’s game. There are eight more, including five teammates of Dale’s and one of Wayne’s.
The other players from Alabama colleges in Saturday’s Senior Bowl are:
· Alabama offensive tackle Emil Ekiyor Jr.
· Auburn defensive lineman Derick Hall
· Alabama defensive back DeMarcco Hellams
· Alabama tight end Cameron Latu
· Auburn linebacker Eku Leota
· South Alabama defensive back Darrell Luter Jr.
· Alabama offensive lineman Tyler Steen
· Alabama defensive lineman Byron Young
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There would be more, but Alabama defensive back Jordan Battle and linebacker Henry To’oTo’o and Auburn linebacker Owen Pappoe could not play because of injuries.
The Alabama roots don’t stop with the players this year, but extend into the coaching staffs:
· New York Jets offensive assistant Pat Bastien played at UAB. Bastien is serving as the American team’s running-backs coach.
· Pittsburgh Steelers defensive-backs coach Grady Brown played at Wenonah and Alabama A&M and has coached at Alabama A&M, Alabama State and Birmingham Southern. Brown is serving as the National team’s defensive coordinator.
· New England Patriots defensive-line coach DeMarcus Covington played at John Carroll Catholic and Samford and has coached at UAB. Covington is serving as the American team’s defensive coordinator.
· Detroit Lions defensive assistant Shaun Dion Hamilton played at Carver-Montgomery and Alabama. Hamilton is serving as the American team’s defensive-backs coach.
The Alabama, Auburn and South Alabama players are teammates on the American team. The Troy pair of Andrews and Martial are on the National team, along with Bennett, Cunningham and Peoples.
The 74th annual Reese’s Senior Bowl kicks off at 1:30 p.m. CST Saturday in Mobile. NFL Network will televise the game.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
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