PRATTVILLE, Ala., Jan. 23, 2012 -- The Prattville High School football team has finished No. 21 nationally for the 2011 season. The announcement was made by MaxPreps, a California-based company that ranks more than 16,000 high school varsity football teams.           

            Prattville (12-2) lost a pair of games by a total of five points during the season, but marched forward en route to its third Alabama Class 6A state championship over four seasons as it slipped past Hoover, 35-34, on Dec. 2, 2011. Prattville is one of 50 schools being honored on the seventh annual MaxPreps Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard.

   The Lions were also honored on the Tour of Champions for the 2008 (ranked ninth), 2007 (ranked eighth) and 2006 (ranked ninth) seasons. Only Don Bosco Prep of Ramsey (N.J.) has been honored more times as the nation's No. 1 team has been lauded on six consecutive occasions since 2006.

            "On behalf of MaxPreps, I would like to congratulate Coach Jamey DuBose and the Prattville High School football team on an incredible season," said President Andy Beal. "MaxPreps is once again honored to partner with the Army National Guard in saluting 50 of the top high school football teams in America. "With the Army National Guard's continued support, the Tour of Champions has become one of the most recognizable awards programs in the country."

                "It's an outstanding honor any time to be recognized by something as big as MaxPreps. It's an honor to be a part of the MaxPreps Tour of Champions and hopefully we can do this again next season," said Prattville athletic director and head football coach Jamey DuBose, who completed his fourth season.

            Senior quarterback Justin Thomas, who is headed to Atlanta next fall to play for Georgia Tech, engineered Prattville's spread offense attack. He ran for 896 yards and four touchdowns while passing for 1,652 yards and 13 TDs. Senior Jalen Whitlow, who split time at quarterback and wide receiver, ran for 693 yards and 20 TDs while passing for 514 yards and seven TDs and catching 12 passes for 165 yards and five more scores. Brandon Smith was the team's leading receiver with 49 receptions for 753 yards and seven scores.

            Defensive stalwarts included seniors Se'Courtney Gardner, who made 108 total tackles from his inside linebacker position. Five of those tackles were for losses and he had three quarterback sacks. Safety Derrick Moncrief made 77 stops and picked off four passes, returning two for touchdowns. Lineman Jherron Jones had 71 tackles, 5 ½ sacks and caused four fumbles.

            Alabama Army National Guard Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Smith presented Coach DuBose and the team with the Army National Guard national ranking trophy during a community reception at the school Monday evening.

            "We are pleased to announce that this is the seventh year the National Guard has presented nationally ranked football teams with the national ranking trophy," said Lieutenant Colonel William Dones, Army National Guard Bureau. "It is our pleasure to support this program and honor these teams, players, coaches, schools, and parents, because they exhibit characteristics we hold dear in the National Guard, such as character, talent, and courage."     

             MaxPreps uses a sophisticated computer program, known as the Freeman Rankings, to determine team rank for the Tour of Champions. The system utilizes the huge number of game results stored in the MaxPreps database. Generally, the more a team wins the higher the ranking, but the system takes into account quality wins (against other highly ranked opponents), margin of victory, and strength of schedule. Playoff games are weighed 2.1 times a regular season game.

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MaxPreps.com is the leading online high school sports destination, offering the most comprehensive high school sports coverage, with the latest news, analysis, rankings, and streaming content.  A CBSSports.com site, MaxPreps.com aspires to cover every high school team, game, and player by partnering with nearly 35,000 varsity coaches throughout the country.

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With 375 years of service, the Army National Guard is the largest reserve component, as well as the oldest branch of the U.S. military. In the National Guard, you get the training from us, serve in your own community, and enhance your marketability for the higher paying jobs. We provide our members with money for college and offer attractive benefits on top of paid career training in one of 200 fields. The National Guard has career opportunities in every State and U.S. Territory, more than 3,600 training locations, and more than 350,000 members. Visit the National Guard Web site at www.NATIONALGUARD.com.