Game of Regions: Contentious school merger spawns champion
At Central of Clay County High School in Alabama, small-town football is thriving. According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, the number of participants in Alabama high school football in 2018-19 increased by nearly 1,000 from the total recorded in 2014-15. Clay Central has been a modest contributor: There were three scholarship players on FBS rosters this season who went to Clay Central, including North Carolina defensive back D.J. In 2012, Clay County High School in Ashland and Lineville High School in the neighboring town were merged in brand new buildings. Danny Horn, who had coached Clay County through its most successful period in the 1990s, was lured back his old community.