The first week of the football season can be tough on some players – for Clements’ Seth Bachelor it was the toughest.

Less than a week after his mother, Kathy, was killed in a car accident and two days after her funeral Bachelor delivered with a performance she would have been proud of – one that earned him Alabama Sports Writers Association defensive/special teams player of the week honors. Montevallo’s Kevin Callender earned the ASWA’s offensive player of the week award.

Bachelor came through in a 21-13 win over West Limestone on Thursday night with two interceptions. He also caused a fumble as Wildcats were about to score, then came back to the play out of the end zone to recover the ball on the 1. The senior also had six catches for 77 yards and a touchdown on offense.

He edged out two other finalists in Parkway Christian’s Rashad White and Vestavia Hills’ Patrick Prewitt. Prewitt, a sophomore, had three interceptions with a fumble recovery and a 5-yard touchdown pass in a wild 15-14 loss to Briarwood Christian. White did the job on both sides of the ball in a 21-19 win over Shades Mountain Christian with three touchdowns on a 34-yard interception return, a 75-yard kickoff return and a 9-yard pass from J.R. Crooks with 8:39 left for the game winner.

Callender did it on both sides of the ball as the Bulldogs weathered a fourth-quarter storm in a 46-41 win over Calera. He had 16 carries for 157 yards and two touchdowns, was 12-of-15 passing for 248 yards and four touchdowns and had 12 tackles and an interception on defense.

The other offensive finalists were Geneva’s Jo Jo Tolver and Jamorris Ricks of Colbert County.

Ricks rushed for 251 yards and touchdowns of 31, 37, 50, 48 and 32 yards on 14 carries in 47-0 the Indians, ranked No. 2 in Class 3A, win against Class 5A Muscle Shoals. Tolver entered the game as the third-string quarterback and left with 149 yards rushing on 20 carries with a touchdown -- all in the second half. He also directed a 73-yard drive for a game-winning score with 1:01 left, leading the Panthers to a 28-20 win over Rehobeth and rushed for a two-point conversion after the final TD.

Some 63 players from around the state were nominated by ASWA newspapers in Birmingham, Centre, Cullman, Dothan, Florala, Florence, Gadsden, Gardendale, Huntsville, Jasper, Mobile, Montgomery, Oneonta, Scottsboro, and Troy, with the winners selected by an ASWA panel. The other finalists were:

OFFENSE

Marcus Washington, Foley: The running back had 19 catches and 134 yards in Foley's 14-3 loss to Murphy – the second-most receptions in AHSAA history.

Drew Phillips, Boaz: Rushed for 231 yards on 27 carries and a touchdown in the Pirates 21-10 win over Guntersville.

Clinton McCrary, Section: The tailback moved to quarterback after a first-quarter injury to the starter in a 20-7 win over Valley Head and completed 16-of-40 passes for 287 yards and a TD. He also rushed for 85 yards, two TDs and a two-point conversion.

Travis Eakin, Madison Academy: The senior, a transfer who hadn’t played since he was a freshman, passed for 361 yards on 12-of-21 attempts with four touchdowns and an interception as 3A Madison Academy beat 5A Brewer, 28-6.

T.J. Gurley, Madison County: Completed 14-of-16 passes for 199 yards with two TDs and rushed 10 times for 124 yards with one TD as Madison County routed Columbia, 57-13.

Demetric Price, Parker: Although his team lost to McAdory in a 40-20 shootout, he threw for 366 yards on 21-of-41 passing with two touchdowns and ran for a third. He had eight passes to Joshua Smith for 209 yards.

Reginald Aaron, Carver-Montgomery: Making his first start for Carver, Aaron completed 10-of-11 passes for 248 yards and three touchdowns in less than three quarters as the Wolverines downed Jeff Davis, 50-7. Aaron had a pair of 63-yard touchdown passes, a 37-yard strike and scored on a 1-yard run.

Casey O’Toole, Oneonta: The quarterback was 11-for-16 passing for 254 yards and four TDs as the Redskins won a 58-31 shootout with Arab. All four TDs, eight of the completions and 223 yards went to teammate Nolen Smith.

Tim Simon, Cordova: Simon had 234 all-purpose yards in the Blue Devils 43-6 win over Dora on Thursday. Simon rushed for 162 yards on seven carries, including an 82-yard score, and had 72-yard TD on a punt return.

Taylor Thrash, Fyffe: The junior running back carried 12 times for 171 yards and four touchdowns (53, 11, 1, 65) as Fyffe earned a 33-14 victory over Dade County (Ga.).

Daryl Norris, Fairhope: Led his team to a 46-20 win over defending 5A champ St. Paul’s with 16-of-28 passing for 271 yards and four TD passes with an interception.

Coty Blanchard, Cherokee County: The junior quarterback completed 14-of-24 passes for 275 yards and two touchdowns in a 34-32 win at Piedmont. He also rushed for 90 yards on six carries with two more scores for the Warriors.

Adam McCarley, Phillips: Accounted for six touchdowns in Phillips’ 80-40 win against Mount Hope. McCarley threw for three scores, ran for two and returned an interception for another. He finished with 141 yards passing and 117 rushing.

DEFENSE/SPECIAL TEAMS

Keldrick Evans, Williamson: Had a 60-yard interception return for a touchdown with two pass break-ups in a 36-28 OT loss to Vigor.

Cody Baggett, Sparta Academy: Had an 82-yard punt return and 92-yard kickoff return for touchdowns and caught two TDs in 44-20 victory over Wilcox Academy.

Jessie Green, Russellville: Returned an interception 25 yards for a score in the second half that tied the game and sent Russellville to a 26-14 win against Class 4A No. 1 Deshler.

Dusty Owens, Lowndes Academy: Owens had six tackles and two interceptions in Lowndes Academy's 45-12 win over Abbeville Christian.

Trey Littlefield, Spring Garden: In a 21-6 win over Appalachian, the junior running back/defensive end returned an interception 36 yards for a score, had two tackles for losses, had two quarterback hurries and finished with four total tackles. He had all three Spring Garden touchdowns and rushed for 163 yards on 19 carries.

Colby Harvey, Appalachian: Harvey had 15 tackles and a sack in a 21-6 loss to Spring Garden on Friday and scored his team’s only touchdown.

Tyrone Bowie, Gardendale: The senior linebacker had 13 tackles, two sacks, one pass break up in a 27-7 loss at Hoover.

Tana Patrick, North Jackson: The linebacker/tight end had 13 tackles and a fumble recovery in a 25-7 win over Scottsboro. He also had three receptions for 14 yards and threw a 40-yard pass completion. Teammate Zach Hammontree added 17 tackles.

Christopher Goode, Madison Academy: Had 14 tackles in a 28-6 win over Brewer.

Morgan Faulkner, Hooper Academy: Had 11 tackles and returned an interception 30 yards for a touchdown in Hooper Academy's 43-2 win over Kingwood. He also rushed for 201 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries.

Craig Sanders, Ariton: Sanders had 10 tackles, two fumble recoveries and caught a 9-yard touchdown pass in a 34-12 Purple Cat win over Headland.