OnWard Media, LLC

🏈 𝐀 𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐎𝐓𝐁𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘! ⬛️ 🦶🥾 Ever wonder about that "square-toed boot" we reference every Friday night? It's really an old, square-toed shoe that Jay Carter Lyles, like so many others who have come through the Fyffe football program, laces up and wears to kick extra points, field goals, and kickoffs. Before soccer-style kicking took over, these specialized shoes were a familiar sight on football fields across America! 👞 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐘 𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐒: Square-toed kicking shoes date back to the early 1900s. They were designed specifically for kickers who struck the football with the toe rather than the instep of the foot. 🔎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐈𝐆𝐍: Notice the broad, flat front of the shoe! That wasn't just for looks. The rigid, reinforced toe created a firm striking surface to help kickers make consistent contact with the ball. The slightly raised toe also helped position the striking surface against the football. Kickers typically wore one of these shoes on their kicking foot and a regular cleat on the opposite foot. These weren't everyday football cleats — they were built for one specific job: kicking! 📖 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘: Straight-on kicking was the dominant technique for generations of football kickers. Legendary kickers used variations of the style before soccer-style kicking began gaining popularity in the 1960s. Instead of approaching the football at an angle, as modern soccer-style kickers do, a straight-on kicker approaches the ball from directly behind and strikes it with the toe of the kicking shoe. Soccer-style kickers approach the ball from an angle and strike it with the instep of the foot. That technique eventually became the standard at the professional level, and square-toed kicking shoes largely disappeared from commercial production. Today, some kickers still use the straight-on technique, particularly at the high school level. Finding specialized shoes, however, has become increasingly difficult. 📻 𝐀 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐆𝐀𝐌𝐄: Beginning in the 1960s, soccer-style kicking became increasingly popular. Instead of kicking with the toe, players approached the ball at an angle and struck it with the instep of the foot. By the 1980s, soccer-style kicking had become the standard in professional football. 📆 𝐓𝐎𝐃𝐀𝐘: The square-toed football kicking shoe is nearly extinct as a manufactured product. There is no major brand or company that still makes this shoe, and the number of people across the country who repair these types of shoes is little to none. A July 2026 report from The Courier Herald said that manufacturers had discontinued the shoes, including the limited production previously offered by ProKicker.com. The report described a shoe-repair specialist in Georgia who refurbished an old pair for a high school football team. These square-toed shoes are a rare sight, but they remain a fascinating reminder of how much the game — and its equipment — has changed over the years! Football history is full of stories, and sometimes the equipment tells the story all by itself! 🏈👞

📈𝗔𝗦𝗪𝗔 𝗥𝗮𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀: 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝟴📉 Here are this weeks Alabama Sports Writers Association Week 8 rankings for Class 2A! A small handful of shakers and movers this week as region play begins to wind down and champions get crowned! ***𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑊𝑒𝑒𝑘 8, 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐴𝐻𝑆𝐴𝐴, 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑡𝑏𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟 📅 𝑏𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑊𝑒𝑒𝑘 0!*** ● Top four remain unchanged: Fyffe, Reeltown, Cottonwood and Luverne. ● Gordo: No. 6 stays at No. 6. ● Walter Wellborn: No. 7 stays at No. 7. ● Thomasville: No. 9 stays at No. 9, gaining 16 points. ● Aliceville: Enters the Top 10 at No. 10; Clarke County drops out. ● Biggest point gain: Thomasville, 39 → 55 (+16).

REGION STANDINGS!! With only 3 weeks remaining in region play, let's take a look at the Class 2A, Region 8 standings as of October 2nd. Mathematically, Fyffe and Collinsville have locked up a playoff birth. It's a matter of seeding now. Pisgah has not, yet, clinched a playoff spot as they still have some work to do. A win Friday night makes them playoff bound. That would only leave 1 slot left with Ider, Sand Rock, and North Sand Mountain all vying for that spot.

🚨🚨 BREAKING NEWS 🚨🚨 Per WEIS radio, this week's Fyffe at Sand Rock game has been MOVED to Thursday night due to lack of officials!

A RUN FOR THE HISTORY BOOKS! In last night’s 62-0 victory over the Ider Hornets, history was made before our very eyes. After Maddox Doss intercepted a pass at the 1 yard line, Fyffe running back Ryder Gipson blasted up the middle, shed a few arm tackle attempts, and then bounced it outside. At that point, there was nothing but green grass in front of him. Racing down the left sideline, Gipson would carry the rock the full length of the field for the touchdown. It was a 1 play, 99 yard touchdown drive that certainly was exciting, but carried more than just excitement with it. Per Heath Hambrick of the Times Journal, Gipson's run and subsequent touchdown is a Fyffe football school record and a DeKalb County football record for the longest touchdown run in history. The run breaks the record held by Ider’s Adam Nix of 95 yards in 2001. Ryder finished the game with 6 carries, 143 yards, and a touchdown. He leads the team with 683 yards on 61 carries and is tied with his quarterback, Maddox Doss, for the lead in touchdowns on the ground at 10. Averaging 11.2 yards per carry this seaon, Ryder Gipson continues to shine and make his mark as another name to be remembered amongst the great running backs that have come through Fyffe. Congratulations to Ryder Gipson writing his name in the history books! 📸 courtesy of Cheyl Boydston!

🎥 FYFFE FOCUS - Episode 5 🎥 Fyffe Focus, presented by Hugh Taylor Realtor RE/MAX Property Center Fort Payne, is back with an all new episode featuring head coach Cassidy Lance and Senior Ava Bryant of the Fyffe High School Cheerleaders! Give this a watch to stay in the know about what's been happening with our cheer program, as well as get a look at your weather forecast for tonight's game at Ider! youtu.be/oFb-hgx34zI?is=Ksh7…

🎥 WE'RE BACK!!! 🎥 FYFFE FOCUS, presented by Hugh Taylor Realtor RE/MAX Property Center Fort Payne, returns this week with a brand new episode featuring Cheer Coach Cassidy Lance and Senior Cheerleader Ava Bryant! We'll talk about the regional competition, what drives Ava not only in cheer but in life, what's coming up for the Fyffe High School Cheerleaders, and get an update on our Thursday night high school football forecast with Ben Smith WHNT News 19! It's an episode you won't want to miss! It drops TOMORROW, October 1st, before kickoff of the Fyffe Red Devils on the road to take on the Ider Hornets! Go Big Red!