Jeff Lebo called his 2009 group of signees one of his best since arriving at Auburn and, after a few practices, expressed some pleasant surprise about their physical style of play.

The goal for both Auburn High cross counttry teams going into Thursday’s Class 6A-Section 2 meet at Kiesel Park was to run fast and qualify for state.

The brothers were both immovable objects and unstoppable forces for the Rebels since transferring from LaFayette before the season.

Golfer Glenn Northcutt and gymnast A.J. Mills have been selected to receive the highest awards an Auburn student-athlete can receive, the Cliff Hare Award and the Leah Rawls Atkins Award.

HOOVER — Beauregard’s boys cross country team claimed third place at the AHSAA Class 5A-Section 3 meet at Spain Park on Thursday.

These perceived “free wins,” like the one that’s coming Saturday against Furman, don’t come cheap.

Gene Chizik calls the first few months for his freshmen players a “whirlwind.”

In the weeks before the AHSAA’s realignment proposal for the 2010-12 seasons, Beulah coach Steve White expressed concern about his team spending the next two years in Class 4A.

On a fourth-and-goal from the 3, Patrick Lockhart crashed through the line, sacked the quarterback — jarring the ball loose — then picked up the fumble and ran it 90 yards the other way.

Rodney Dollar has been pulling every string he can, asking around, using every connection in the coaching world he can think of to find out what kind of Gulf Shores team will be heading into J.E. “Hot” O’Brien Stadium to take on his Tallassee Tigers on Friday.

TUSCALOOSA — T-Bob comes to the Mount.

A look at Friday night’s AHSAA Class 3A-5A area playoff games.

It couldn’t have gone much better the last time Auburn High’s cross country teams ran at Kiesel Park, their home course.

ORANGE BEACH — Katy Frierson picked up a pair of assists to help Auburn earn up its first win in a SEC Tournament match since the 2005 postseason as Auburn downed Ole Miss, 2-1, on Wednesday at the Orange Beach Sportsplex.

A look at former Auburn players in the NFL.

As if back-to-back region championships and a trip to the state semifinals last year wasn’t enough motivation for Reeltown’s opponents, here’s something else to pile on.

Zac Etheridge arrived at the East Alabama Medical Center early Saturday afternoon with something to prove — something to relieve the flood of emotions overtaking his parents, who were already stationed next to his hospital bed.

With the few bodies coach Gene Chizik has at his disposal in Auburn’s secondary, there’s no other choice, he said, but to put the best four players on the field.

TUSCALOOSA — It started as a gimmick, another wrinkle an opponent had to prepare for.

Will Garner doesn’t want it to end.

The game’s finally here.

ICSGA, AISA, 1A-2A Playoff Capsules

Auburn opens the SEC Tournament at 2:30 p.m. today against No. 3 seed Ole Miss.

Three days ago, Zac Etheridge laid face down on the Jordan-Hare Stadium turf, unable to feel anything below his neck. Today, he mustered up the courage and strength to talk to us reporters about the horrifically scary neck injury he sustained against Ole Miss.

Chambers Academy running back Chris Ashford came up about a yard short of completing a 2-point conversion in overtime and making sure the Rebels’ season — and his high school career — didn’t end last Friday.

Before the season, a number of Auburn’s defensive players talked a lot about getting their “swagger” back — whatever that is.

Safety Zac Etheridge was released from a Birmingham-area hospital Monday, an apparent major step forward in his path to a full recovery.

Gene Chizik started with his seniors when he doled out praise following Saturday’s upset victory over Ole Miss.

TUSCALOOSA — Alabama coach Nick Saban calls it the biggest game of the season — not because LSU visits Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday, but because it’s the next one on the schedule.

Just two weeks in, Oregon’s season looked deader than dead.