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MOBILE, Ala. -- The JaMarcus Russell Foundation, with assistance from the Mobile Police Department Explorers, gave away turkeys on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2009, during the foundation's second annual Thanksgiving Turkey Give-A-Way. The event was held at Taylor Recreational Park facility at 1050 Baltimore St. in Mobile. JaMarcus Russell is a Mobile native and former football star at Williamson High School. Following a college football career at LSU, Russell went on to play for the NFL's Oakland Raiders, where he is quarterback.

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Hillcrest High fans have 'lost confidence' in football coach

Tuesday, November 03, 2009

By CONNIE BAGGETT

Staff Reporter

EVERGREEN — Fans of Hillcrest High School's Jaguars were sparse Friday night as the team finished one of its worst seasons since head coach Maurice Belser arrived.

Greenville High School beat Hillcrest 50-6.

But parents and supporters of the Evergreen school turned out for another event days earlier. They went to the Conecuh County School Board to express firmly their concerns about Belser, pointing to a four-year record of eight wins and 31 losses before Friday's slaughter.

"After four years," a local man, Arthur Ingram Jr., told the board, "it's fair and reasonable to raise questions about the quality of this program. We have lost confidence in the coaching staff's ability to produce a winning season."

Parents pointed to the Belser's $68,000 annual salary and noted that the school had graduated only three football scholarship recipients in four years.

A better result was the hope for the Jaguars in 2006 when Belser arrived.

Belser came with a great résumé, having been an offensive guard for the 1992 national championship team from the University of Alabama. He played for Gene Stallings from 1992 through 1995 and coached in Gainesville and Tallahassee, Fla., and in Aliceville.

Belser came to Evergreen from Tallahassee Rickards High, where he served under then-athletic director Ricky Ardley.

"He was a young, energetic coach," said Ardley, now the assistant principal at Leon High School in Tallahassee. "We thought he would be good for the players, a good role model."

Ardley said Belser's first year at Rickards High ended with a record of 5-6, but the team made the playoffs. The second year, the team went 1-8. Just after the last game, Belser announced he had another job in Alabama.

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