Andalusia junior returns to field, selected as POW

For more than two weeks, Ashton Elmore made it his main goal to get back on the gridiron after suffering a high ankle sprain prior to the start of the season.

The Andalusia junior linebacker got his first chance last week and put together a good performance in the Bulldogs’ 33-15 region victory over Trinity Presbyterian in Montgomery.

Elmore talked seven tackles (5 solo, 2 assists) and had one sack for a loss of 10 yards. His play at Boykin

Field earned him The Star-News Player of the Week honors.

“It was great,” Elmore said about playing for the first time this season.

Getting back to playing shape wasn’t easy for Elmore, who said he first started running 20 yards forward and 20 yards back peddling to try and work his injury out for two weeks. Every night, he said he iced his ankle.

“It wasn’t getting much better so eventually we went to physical therapy,” Elmore said. “I would go home and do it at home (therapy). Sometimes I would ice it four times a night — 20 minutes on and 20 minutes off.”

Before the T.R. Miller game, the defender who also plays on the offensive line, said he tried to get back out on the team, but as soon as he hit somebody, “it just about rolled again.”

For the next two weeks, Elmore sat on the sidelines watching the Bulldogs fall to TRM and then to UMS-Wright in Mobile.

“It was awful,” Elmore said about not being able to play. “It’s hard just sitting there knowing that you can’t do anything.”

What enabled Elmore to have such a good game for AHS last week against Trinity was a good game plan set by the coaches, he said.

“We were working on 11-30 — 11 players to the ball every time and three and out,” Elmore said.

Andalusia trailed 7-6 after the first half, but the Bulldogs regrouped at the break and came out a different team, outscoring Trinity 27-8.

Elmore said collectively, the defense played real well.

“We all had to get out there and keep on giving effort,” he said. “Then, we eventually tried to wear their offense down. We pretty much stopped the run.

“The defensive line, they played an amazing game,” he said. “Props goes to them. They keep the linemen off of me so I can have free reign out there.”

Elmore, whose twin brother, Colton, also plays for AHS, has been playing football since the fourth grade.

When asked why he likes football, Elmore said it’s all about the “team.”

“It’s a team effort, plus you get to hit somebody,” Elmore said. “It’s not an individual sport. All 11 people have to do their job every play to be successful.”

Elmore and the Bulldogs will travel to play Ashford this week to continue in Class 4A, Region 2 play.

Elmore is the son of Clay and Jill Elmore of Andalusia.