By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Staff Reporter

If you are attending a Chilton County High School football game this season you may notice something a little different.

Not only is the team itself trying to make strides after a 4-6 season last year, but the facility will also have an upgrade thanks to junior Riley Locke, who has made it his goal to upgrade the end zone and give it a much cleaner look.

Locke, a junior at Chilton County High School, is repairing the end zone as his Eagle Scout project, which will gain him the highest achievement in all of Scouts.

Locke, who has been in Scouts since first grade, at one point in 2013 considered leaving the Scouts because it had dried up causing him to lose all motivation; but now he is one project away from achieving an honor that only two percent of all Scouts accomplish.

The goal is to replace the junipers that currently surround the west end zone from one goal line to the other, with a more permanent design that doesn’t have to be kept up.

“We’re going to use some stone to lay down and maybe put some flowers around it to add color. The plan is for it to look cleaner and be maintenance free” Locke said.

He expects it to be completed by Aug. 25 for the Tigers’ first home game against rival Jemison.

“What a better time to unveil the end zone than at our first home game that just so happens to be against our biggest rival,” Locke said.

Locke, who is part of Boy Scout Troop 57, is removing junipers that were planted there by the same troop back in 1992.

He started Boy Scouts in the first grade and has made his way up the ranks to currently rank as a Life Scout.

“It’s something that nobody can ever take away from you,” said Riley’s father and Scout Master David Locke, who also achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. “I’ve wanted this for him, so I’ll be super proud. It’s something that he will always have and cherish.”

Members of the community have played a significant role in helping the Locke’s. The gridiron club has helped remove all of the old junipers and other people have jumped in to help paving and donate rocks.

“When you get a lot of people in a small community together, everybody ends up knowing somebody that owns a business and can help out,” David Locke said.

Riley Locke has plans on attending medical school at The University of Alabama or The University of Alabama at Birmingham and knows this will look good on his resume and college application.

While college still awaits, he wanted to make sure to take this opportunity to leave a lasting impact on Chilton County High School.

“I didn’t want my project to be a do-it-and-dash kind of deal,” Riley Locke said. “I wanted it to make an impact on the school after I left. I like to go big or go home.”