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Written by Stephen Dawkins | Photos by Jeremy Raines

A year ago, the outlook wasn’t looking very promising for Helena’s two third grade youth football teams. Helena Black had concluded their season with a record around the .500 mark, and Helena Blue had failed to win a single game.

But in November, at the culmination of a year of hard work by the now-fourth grade football players and the support of a large group of people committed to seeing the teams succeed, the teams completed dramatic turnarounds. Helena Black made it all the way to the championship game before falling, and Helena Blue won its championship game against the only team it lost to in the regular season.

Coaches Tyler Rollin and Justin Brown, respectively, said no small part of the teams’ success was their willingness to work together to improve.

“It was just, ‘Here’s what we have to do to be successful,’” Rollin said. “Starting off the year, it was tons of work. But the parents were bought in, and the kids were bought in. Everybody had the same focus: Every practice, come out here and get better.”

With about 36 players at the same grade level, the group had to be split into two teams for the third grade season. Helena Blue competes in the American Division, and Helena Black competes in the National Division, which is intended for more experienced players and teams.

Instead of relying on one or two players, which can be common at this level of football, Helena Black had a bevy of playmakers, Rollin said. “We had multiple people that at any point could do something special. Most teams can key on one kid, but we wanted to spread our skill guys out so the defense would have to honor everything.”

One of the biggest offensive lines in the league opened up holes, and the skill position players were also good blockers when they didn’t have the football. Running back Grady Anderson led the team in scoring.

The defense, meanwhile, was consistently excellent, firing off the ball and showing a love for tackling. With leading tackler Jackson Ansley, Helena Black posted multiple shutouts throughout the course of the season. “Our defense, every single game we knew they would give us a chance,” Rollin said.

And Helena Black boasted a kicker, Bryce Baird, who converted a large percentage of his extra point tries—a rarity in the league.

Helena Black was undefeated until it met up with a Vestavia Hills team that had not lost a game in three years. Vestavia won the regular season matchup, and then—of course—the two teams met again in the division championship, with Vestavia again coming out on top.

The performance on the season was “light years” ahead of the previous year. “It’s just a mindset that they decided that they didn’t want to be mediocre. They wanted to be great,” Rollin said.

Brown, meanwhile, knew there should be improvement in Helena Blue’s second season because of the enhanced experience level and “football IQ.” “Having a year under your belt, a year to gel with your teammates, it makes a big difference,” Brown said. “We reiterated to our kids and parents that tackle football is a grind. You start out the first of August, and we counted 45 practices through the championship game.”

Like Helena Black, Helena Blue primarily utilized a spread offense with a shotgun snap. But Helena Blue employed more power runs by quarterback Liam Jones, who led the team in touchdowns. The team’s reception leader was Ethan Upshaw.

The Helena Blue defense led by Reid Brown, Lawson Brown and Ky Rodriguez also pitched several shutouts throughout the season—and came up big in the championship game against Oak Mountain. A safety in the first half by John Brown was the only score of the game as Helena Blue won the championship, played at Larry Simmons Stadium in Alabaster.

Upshaw also played defense and recorded five interceptions on the season.

“We didn’t blow out anybody, but we fought and won,” Brown said of the team. “We had to overcome a lot of adversity and get a winning mindset established. They bought in, came to practice every day and earned it. Our message was always, ‘Win, lose or draw, be a good teammate, keep putting in the work and good things will happen.’”

The coaches said the support from the community and other levels of football in the city has been crucial. Middle school and high school coaches have been willing to discuss their schemes, Helena High School head coach Richie Busby has allowed the youth teams to use facilities, and some of the high school players have shown their support by attending games.

Throughout their turnarounds, Helena Black and Helena Blue have both lined up against each other on the practice field and had each other’s backs. “Any time you compete with another team, you get better. It drives the competition level up a little bit,” Brown said.

“We would practice against each other, but we would pull for each other. If we had an off day, we would go support them. We’re split into two teams right now, but one day they’re going to be together on the same team. That was a big part of the success was having everybody work together,” Rollin said.