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Many years ago when AHSFHS.org was just an idea I knew this project was massive and would be difficult to complete. Just the scope of trying to find every score for every high school football game ever played would be an undertaking that could not be finished in a short time. I never had an thought that it would grow into what it has become today.          Over the past few years I have met and come in contact with many people that share the same enthusiasm as I do for high school sports. Many have helped us on our way. As the research progressed statewide I learned about the people who have made an imprint on the face of high school sports over the years. One name that kept popping up everywhere I went was Bill Plott.          I first learned of him from reading old newspaper articles and sports editorials from the Anniston Star printed in the late 1960s. He regularly wrote articles about the history of high school sports that helped me become familiar with the teams and coaches of days past. I retained several of these stories and still go back through them from time-to-time when doing research. His editorials were always positive and very accurate.          A few years ago I was at the Alabama Archives in Montgomery doing some research and happened to run into Mr. Plott. We talked for a while about what AHSFHS.org was doing and our progress. Bill spoke of his many years of research and all the things he had collected over the course of his long career. To say I was impressed with his knowledge would be a complete understatement.          In earl December, the day prior to the Super Six, we met in his hometown of Montevallo at his favorite watering hole, the Eclipse, where he gave me the first of many notebooks filled with scores, coaches and general information about high school football in Alabama. I have begun to go through the book finding the things we are missing. Every page contains something of value to our project.          It took many long days to go over all the scores before everything was complete but for the most part the missing scores are on the website now. I will be going back through the notebook looking for my errors and filling in missing dates. The first notebook contained teams from Jackson, Marshall, Morgan, Madison and Limestone counties. Every school in these counties have had missing things added to their team pages.          It helped me finally figure out the difference between Athens High School and Athens Agricultural School. It also straightened out Central Albany and Decatur, which was another pair of schools that had consolidated back in the 1930s.          His research is very thorough and accurate. It will go a long way to finishing many schools around the state.          My hat is off to Mr. Plott for his assistance and willingness to share his hard work with us. I know how much time and effort went into the research over so many years and have a great respect for anyone willing to share their efforts. We will always be indebted to him.          Mr. Plott is now retired from his position at the Birmingham News where he worked for a total of nineteen years. He also worked at the University of Montevallo for ten years. These days he simply enjoys meeting friends at Eclipse regularly.           Even in retirement he is still involved with high school sports, the hall of fame and the AHSAA. Over the years he has written books pertaining not only to high school sports but many other topics. He is responsible for compiling many of the first coaching and individual records for the AHSAA.          I will be looking forward to seeing more of his research and sharing it with our visitors at AHSFHS.org. Schools completed with the assistance of Bill Plott: Cotaco, Buckhorn, Randolph, Butler, Lee Huntsville, Hartselle, J.O. Johnson, Grissom, Madison Academy, Joe Bradley and Hazel Green. Schools with many scores, dates and coaches added with the help of Bill Plott: Albertville, Arab, Ardmore, Athens, Elkmont, Decatur, Falkville, Huntsville, Madison County, New Hope, Rison, Section, Tanner and West Limestone.

David Parker
  AHSFHS.org
  dparker@ahsfhs.org

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