Piedmont football defensive coordinator James Blanchard is running out of fingers to put his rings on.

Blanchard was recently honored by the Alabama Football Coaches Association as their Class 3A Assistant Coach of the Year in Montgomery. The association started the awards in 2006 for a head coach and an assistant in each classification.

Blanchard, the uncle of Cherokee County senior quarterback Coty Blanchard, helped guide a Piedmont team which gave up an average of 14.6 points and around 225 yards per game in 2009. The Bulldogs (13-2) claimed the Class 3A state championship in December with a 35-38 overtime victory against Cordova at Tuscaloosa’s Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Blanchard, who’s been an assistant at Piedmont since 2006, received a plaque and ring at the ceremony for his award. He said he’s humbled by the honor.

“The rewards are in the winning,” Blanchard said. “It’s like we tell our kids all the time, if you win, then the awards will come.

“It’s been a magical year with us winning a state championship. It’s been wonderful for our community and our fans. We knew we had a special team this year. I’m still living a dream. Every time I look at a picture, or this ring, or the players, it’s like ‘Man, we just won a state championship.’”

Blanchard said the ceremony was made even more special because he got to share it with his family (wife Rhonda and children Bailey and Meg) and several members of the Piedmont coaching staff.

“We had a great time down there, and to share something like that with them, it’s icing on the cake,” Blanchard said. “Coach (Steve) Smith, Coach (Aaron) Studdard, Coach (Fred) Taylor and Coach (Everett) Kelley went down there to support me, and that meant a lot to me. We’ve got a real close coaching staff. We all get along well. Coach Smith is like a brother to me. He lets me do what I want to do on defense. It just means the world to me to know he trusts me that much.”

The three-day event also gave Blanchard the opportunity to get a jumpstart on plans for next season’s defense.

“I got to listen to South Alabama’s defensive coordinator Kurt Crain, who played at Auburn,” Blanchard said. “He was a real good linebacker when I was growing up. I listened to some of the things he does on defense. They run a 3-4, just like we do. A lot of the things they do, we do. I got a couple of things from just listening to him that we can implement in the defense we run.”

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The Class 1A, Area 12 girls and boys basketball coaches recently announced their All-Area basketball team.

Beginning with the girls, Spring Garden had three selections in guards Jordan Sides and Kelsey Turner and forward Tara Mullinax. Cedar Bluff had a pair of selections in guards Jessica Brannon and Mechelle Adams. Collinsville also had two members selected in center Kristen Ford and forward Marissa Solomon. Gaylesville guard Krysta Nichols rounds out The Herald’s coverage area selections.

Gaston had the most selections on the All-Area team with four, including Most Valuable Player Morgan Beaird. Joining Beaird is Kris Lawson, Lori Pagilone and Lauren Lowery.

Asbury is represented by Destin McClendon.

Cedar Bluff’s Tyric Scales leads the Class 1A, Area 12 All-Area boys team. Scales was selected by the coaches as their Most Valuable Player. Joining Scales is teammate Marcus Reese.

Spring Garden had a pair of selections in Casey Steward and Jake Scott. Gaylesville also had a pair of selections in Luke Murphy and Zack Cavin. Collinsville is represented by Tyler Tidmore and Shon McElrath.

Gaston had three selections in Jared Bogle, Darius Lewis and KaDyrian Morris. Asbury is represented by Derrick McCoy.

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Weightlifting is a vital part for any athlete’s journey to become the best at any sport.

At Cedar Bluff, football coach Jonathan McWhorter tries to give his athletes a little extra motivation to make it more than just something his Tiger athletes have to do.

McWhorter has set up a board in the Tiger weight room to show his athletes’ weightlifting progress. The board is divided into Most Improved and Tiger Index categories. The Most Improved category is the number of pounds an athlete has improved between August and December. The Tiger Index takes an athlete’s body weight total of bench, squat and clean.

McWhorter also honors those athletes who have a combined lifting total weight of 800 pounds and over in bench, squat and clean. Those athletes are recognized with 800-pound club T-shirts.

“Our kids understand what it is to work hard and why that’s important,” McWhorter said. “It’s not necessarily how much you bench and squat, but it really matters when you get out on the field of competition.

“Regardless of what sport you’re playing, you’re constantly working to better yourself for whatever team that we put on the court, track or field. It’s like they say, ‘There’s no staying the same. You’re either getting better or you’re getting worse.’ That’s part of what we expect here. You’re not doing the least amount of what’s expected. You’re trying to push yourself past a ceiling every time and continually get better and better.”

Members of December’s Most Improved, Tiger Index and 800-pound club photos can be found on Page 2B of Wednesday’s Cherokee Herald.

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With basketball sub-regionals now set, the Northeast Regional Tournament isn’t that far away.

For those of you wishing to see all the action, the Alabama High School Athletic Association Northeast Regional Tournament week-long passes are on sale through Thursday. The passes are on sale at the Jacksonville State University Campus Bookstore located in the Theron Montgomery Building.

The tournament pass, which allows an individual admittance into every game, is available for $30. The passes must be purchased in person as the pass includes a photo ID.

Tournament parking passes can also be purchased for $10 for each vehicle. They are also available at the JSU Campus Bookstore in the Montgomery Building.

The JSU Campus Bookstore is open from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. (Closes at 2 p.m. on Fridays).

For more information, please contact Mark Jones at (256) 782-5072.