The #2 Daphne Trojans play the #1 Hoover Bucs Friday night at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn for the Alabama High School Athletic Association 2010 Championship. Both teams come into this game at 14-0 while the Bucs look to repeat from one year ago as champions, the Trojans look to reclaim the trophy where they won it all back in the 2001 season.

Both teams won dominating semi-finals games and look to this game with a lot of momentum. Hoover defeated Mountain Brook 44-14 and Daphne defeated Davidson 47-14. While Hoover won the state title last season, Daphne turned in a 4-6 record last year but turned that around quickly this season. "Last year we played nine teams ranked in the top of the state in Alabama and Florida," said Trojans Head coach Glenn Vickery. "To our credit, our kids didn't get down and loose confidence on not winning last season. When summer came around we had a good summer program with our seven-on-seven competition and knew that we had some skill guys that could throw and catch it. We hired a new defensive coordinator and basically we had to catch up on defense. We came together and hit the ground running. The kids did great on our buy in and had a great work ethic and that was the key to this season."

Defense wins championships and both of these teams have them. Daphne leads the state in scoring defense at 9.8 points per game. Linebacker Michael Pierce anchors the Trojans defense. "Michael is a big kid that can run," added Vickery. "He has great instincts, great hips and feet and really is very explosive to the ball." Defensive lineman Ryan Anderson has been a run stopper and looks to put pressure on the Bucs passing game. Defensive lineman Eric Lee is another run stopper on the other side of the line.

The Daphne offense is averaging 37.6 points per game. Quarterback Russ Mosley leads the Trojans offense. Last week against Davidson, Mosley completed 9-of-16 passing for 224 yards and 5 TD's. "It's a great feeling to win, but we have to go back to work," said Trojans quaterback Mosley. "It's going to be tough to win a state championship, but were going to try to light it up at Jordan-Hare."

Mosley has a lot of skilled players around him. Tyrell Holloway (senior, 5-9/170) and T.J. Yeldon (junior, 6-2/205) are the running backs and either one can take a handoff and go 80 yards at the blink of an eye. If your defense is looking to stop those two, you have wide receiver Israel Lamprakes (senior, 5-10/160) who can go deep, catch crossing routs or take a handoff in the backfield. If you need some more offense, you have wide receiver Justin Jackson (senior 6-3/180) that can stretch the defense. "It's awesome going to Auburn," said Jackson. "We had been talking about it since the season started, we knew that we have a great team this season and we have worked hard in practice."

The Hoover Bucs have plenty of offense. Senior Ryan Carter leads a solid attack. The Bucs quarterback has completed 179-of-278 passes for 2,444 yards and 22 touchdowns and only 5 interceptions. In two years, Carter has thrown for over 5,500 yards in two years for Hoover. Running back Justin McArthur leads the way in the running game with 1,435 yards with a 6.2 yard per carry average and 25 touchdowns. Fullback Brandon Cochran is a good lead blocker that can run and catch it along side McArthur.

The receivers have been steady this season with Jaylon Denson. The Auburn commitment 63 catches for 1,059 yards and 12 touchdowns. Inside of him is everything Caleb Sims. Sims has 40 catches for 539 yards and five touchdowns. Running the wildcat, the junior receiver has 265 yards and five touchdowns. Also, Sims plays a big part on the punt return game. The Bucs have been pretty balanced on offense this season rushing for 2,685 yards and throwing for 2,580 yards.

On defense, Hoover gives up only 10.1 points per game. The Bucs give up only 81 yards on the ground and 122 in the air for 203 total yards per game. Defensive end Tyler Roberts has 99 tackles, eight tackles for loss, and 13 sacks. Next in line is Marcus Matthews. The Bucs linebacker has 82 tackles, two tackles for loss, and two sacks. Defensive backs Preston Sanford (7 interceptions) and Montez Carlton (4 interceptions) have locked down receivers all season. With the play in the secondary, the front seven have been able to stop the run and put pressure on the opposing quarterback and take out the running game.

This game features two great defenses and a lot of skilled guys on both teams. The Bucs come into this game with a 21-game winning streak on the line along with a state championship to defend. Daphne will have a chance in this game if their front line can stop the running attach and force some pressure on Carter, but the Bucs quarterback has played well the last four weeks in the playoffs and has been their before. The Bucs will have to stop Lamprakes from making the big plays for Daphne if they want to win this one.

Good luck to both teams and lets sit back and enjoy a great football game between two great schools.