School days and school friends
Students in Mrs. Crowe’s fifth grade class at Lakeview Elementary School pose for their class photo in November 1954.
Citing family as the sole reason, Paul Ellis stepped down as the head football coach at LaFayette High School on Friday.
Ellis said he made the decision specifically with his daughter in mind as she is set to be a senior next year.
“There’s nothing wrong on my end, but I just feel like this is what I need to do as a dad,” Ellis stated.
Ellis informed his coaching staff early Friday before meeting with his players later that morning. He added that he planned to continue to teach at LHS throughout the remainder of the current school year.
“I love everybody here and I can’t say how much I appreciate everybody here, from (LaFayette principal) Mrs. (Maggie) Stultz to all the principles and administration,” he continued. “I love all my coaches and all the kids. My coaches are fantastic and I have absolutely nothing negative to say. That’s from the bottom of my heart. I just wish we could have won a few more games for the kids and the community, but that’s all on me.”
Ellis went 12-18 in three seasons with the Ramblers. LaFayette went 5-5 in his first season and 3-7 in 2019. Last year saw the Ramblers go 4-6 overall, but 4-3 in their first season in Region 6-AAA, earning themselves a fourth-place finish and the program’s first postseason berth in 27 years.
The school announced the resignation on a press release on social media.
“He wll be greatly missed on the Rambler sideline,” the release stated. “Our sincerest best wishes go with Coach Ellis and his family. We thank him for his leadership of Rambler Football over these past three years.”
Stultz added that she supported Ellis’s decision and thanked him for helping get the program back on track, adding that he “had a heart for the Ramblers”.
“He helped bring back that excitement to Friday Night football,” she said. “He created that passion and excitement back in our community and our kids. They believe that they can win and he’s been an incredible coach. He will certainly be missed and I’m sad to see him go. I wanted him to stay as long as I was going to stay.”
Before coming to south Walker County, Ellis enjoyed a very successful stint as head coach at Class 6A Fort Payne (Ala.) High School where he went 109-48 in 14 seasons and left as the all-time winningest coach in Wildcat history. His Wildcat teams made the playoffs 12 times in his 14 seasons as head coach and claimed six regions championships.
He had spent his entire coaching career in Alabama before coming to LaFayette. He was the head coach at Valley Head for one season in 1992 and was later hired at Section in 1998 where he coached for three seasons.
“I’ve been blessed my whole life,” Ellis said. “I came from a good job and then I got (to LaFayette) and it was the same thing. This is a great job and everyone here has treated me fantastic.”
The LaFayette offense scored 314 total points in 2020, becoming the first Rambler team to top 300 points in a season since 2011 and just the fifth LaFayette team to do so since the program began in 1923, according to the Georgia High School Football Historians Association.
“My hope Is that we moved the program forward,” he explained. “I think every Friday night we tried to put a good product on the field. Even in some of our loss
es, we played tough. We (had some games) where we were down pretty big and we were able to come back and I just think our kids are starting to understand and figure out that (they) can win tough games against good opponents.
“All of my memories are going to be fond memories. Thankfulness and blessings to this school and community and kids. I can’t say enough good things.”
Stultz added that the school will soon begin the hiring process, starting with accepting applications. She said the plan is to hopefully have a new coach in place by April.
“We’ll start that process very quickly to find someone who can pick it up to where Paul got us to and hopefully continue to move us in the right direction,” she said. “
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga trio Eboni Williams, Abbey Cornelius and Bria Dial earned post season honors the Southern Conference announced last Tuesday afternoon.
Williams and Cornelius were named to the All-Conference Second Team and the league’s All-Defensive Team by the SoCon Coaches. Both were also named to the Southern Conference Sports Media Association (SCSMA) All-Conference Second Team and Dial earned a spot on the SCSMA All-Conference Third Team.
The three rank among the league’s best in multiple statistical categories. Williams leads the team in scoring, Cornelius is tops for rebounding and blocked shots while Dial is the team’s top 3-point shooter.
Williams, a two-time SoCon Player of the Week, has a team-best 12.7 points per game and is second on the rebounding list with 7.9 per game. The Hoover, Ala., junior has five double-doubles and scored a career-high 30 points along with 10 rebounds against Georgia State earlier this season.
She has a team-high 40 steals and has 17 blocked shots and 40 assists. She is closing in on 900 career points and is nine points shy of 300 points this season, a single-season best for the forward.
Cornelius earned SoCon Player of the Week honors once this season and was twice the league’s StudentAthlete of the Week. She has five double-doubles on the year and leads the Mocs in rebounding with 8.5 per game. She is third on the team in scoring and is shooting a team-best 53.2 percent from the field.
The Knoxville junior recorded a career-high 18 rebounds against Vanderbilt while matching her all-time high for blocked shots with five against the Commodores. She is second on the team in assists and leads the Mocs with 40 blocked shots.
Dial earned her second straight all-conference selection after being named to the preseason all-conference team along with Williams.
Dial leads the Mocs from the 3-point line with 47 and is shooting 33.1 percent from beyond the arc. She is second on the team in scoring with 11.8 points per game and has 18 blocked shots. She is second for 3-pointers made in the SoCon standings and ranks fourth in the league for minutes played.
In the NCAA standings, Cornelius is 30th for blocked shots and 43rd for rebounding. Williams ranks 61st for rebounding while Dial is 60th in the nation for 3-pointers made and minutes played.