UMS to take on undefeated Oneonta for state championship

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - Heading into their state championship showdown, UMS-Wright is 12-2, while their opponent, Oneonta, is an undefeated 14-0.  

Records can be deceiving.

The two Bulldog losses come from powerhouses St. Paul’s and McGill-Toolen.  Those two teams finished the season with a combined four losses.

Oneonta’s out-of-region opponents had 10 losses between them.

At this point, however, records don’t matter. This is the state championship.

“It feels great," said UMS-Wright head coach Terry Curtis.  "Anytime you’re going to the championship game, it means you’ve done something right.  And where this team came from when they started to now has really been big, so the kids are excited, the coaches are excited, the school is excited, the whole community is excited. So we’re looking forward to it.”

“It’s always fun to go out there," said Gunner Roach. "Especially this time, this is my first time being in a state championship.  I think we just need to go out there and do what we’ve been doing all year long, play how we’ve been playing all year long. We’ll be fine, everybody will be calm.”

Leadership is a big reason Curtis said his team has only gotten better as the season has progressed.

Roach is the field general, but he knows the team belongs to the veterans- the seniors- who win or lose, are suiting up for the last time.

“The ones we do have really have stepped up and taken charge of the team and made sure they’re doing what they need to do to teach us what we need to do," Roach said.

“We’ve got 14 seniors and all of them have a role, and all of them play that role to the best of their ability," Curtis said.  "You can talk about leadership all you want, but you have to have some seniors to step forward and we’ve got a bunch of them that have done that.”

UMS-Wright will face Oneonta in the 4A State Championship Friday, December 7 at 11 a.m. in Auburn's Jordan-Hare Stadium.