Photo courtesy of William Galloway.
William Galloway, left, and Wayne Ingram have served as the broadcast team for Mountain Brook High School football games this fall.
On a chilly Thursday night, William Galloway and Wayne Ingram climb to the roof of the press box. As the broadcast team of the visiting team on this night, the pair don’t have their typical setup.
But the first-year duo hit the air just before 7 p.m., ready to bring the call of the Mountain Brook High School football team’s game at Huffman.
With Galloway providing the play-by-play and Ingram the color analysis, their passion for Mountain Brook football coupled with professionalism is evident for any of those who tune in via the NFHS Network or the Spartan Green Channel on Roku.
Galloway is a Mountain Brook graduate and currently the communications director with Mountain Brook Schools. Ingram played football at Mountain Brook as well.
“We have a great time on Friday nights,” Galloway said in an appearance on the “Under the Lights” podcast presented by SYNLawn Alabama. “We’ve got a lot of chemistry. I’ve known Wayne. He went to Mountain Brook and played for coach [Chris] Yeager. We were both at Alabama together for a couple of years.”
Galloway is no stranger to a microphone. He got his degree in sports broadcasting from the University of Alabama, while working with the WVUA television station during his time there. He has been the public address announcer for several sporting events, from high school basketball state finals to a few Alabama basketball games.
One of Galloway’s favorite challenges of each broadcast is incorporating the Mountain Brook football sponsors into the telecast.
“When you bring up a Cadillac first down or a Taco Mama turnover, when you know those people and have developed those relationships to create those partnerships at the high school level, it makes it really fun,” he said.
Being the play-by-play voice has certainly had its learning curves. There have been a few awkward moments, like the time Galloway was telling a touching story of former Mountain Brook coach Mike Thorsen, who passed away in June. During the telling of that story, the Spartans intercepted a pass, a key play in the game.
Galloway felt bad about it at the time, but after the fact, he realized it turned out to be a cool moment. Thorsen coached the secondary, and one of his former players had picked off a pass.
“What felt embarrassing really ended up being a special moment and a special call,” he said.
His weekly interview with Mountain Brook head coach Chris Yeager airs before each game on the Spartans’ large video board. Galloway said that is one of his favorite parts of each week and is an obvious reason why the Spartans have been so successful in his tenure as coach.
“We have our standing Thursday morning meeting where we record our pregame video,” Galloway said. “He’s not sitting there, busy and occupied. When he’s present with you, he’s present with you and pouring into you. That’s how he really motivates his guys.”
On that Thursday night at Huffman, Galloway and Ingram were on their game, as was the Spartans’ football team in the 42-0 win. They are hoping to have many more Friday nights deep into November, as part of a potential playoff run.
