Marbury soccer standouts Alex Brown, Franklin Damron sign with Mobile

Marbury’s soccer pipeline pushed two more players to the next level as Alex Brown and Franklin Damron signed to continue their careers at the University of Mobile, giving the Bulldogs another public marker of how far the program has come.

Marbury High School congratulated Brown and Damron on May 14, 2026, putting the signing in front of the school community and underscoring what the moment meant for a program that has steadily produced players ready for college soccer. For Autauga County, it was a familiar kind of milestone: two local athletes moving from a high school program into one of the more established soccer cultures in the region.

Brown and Damron head to Mobile, a University of Mobile program that competes in the Southern States Athletic Conference of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. The Rams reached the NAIA men’s soccer national championship game in 2021, finished as the national runner-up, and lost that title match to Keiser. That same year, Mobile’s Alejo Binaghi was named the NAIA Men’s Soccer Player of the Year after a season that put the program on the national map.

The program’s standards remain high. On June 11, 2025, the University of Mobile hired alumnus and former professional player Micheal Azira, who played in Major League Soccer, to lead the men’s soccer program. University athletics director Sally Shouppe said the school expected Azira’s experience to bring strong results, and Azira said he wanted to build on the program’s success while developing young men of character, faith and purpose. Brown and Damron will enter that kind of environment with a built-in expectation to compete.

Their signing also reflects what Marbury boys soccer has been producing under Stephen Bruce. The Bulldogs won the Class 5A Area 5 championship on April 15, 2026, and swept area play 19-2. Bruce said four senior leaders, Alex Brown, Franklin Damron, Jeremiah Drake and Roland Smith, had played together since freshman year, a continuity that helped shape the team’s rise. Marbury then advanced to the second round of the Class 5A playoffs on April 23 after a 3-2 win over Elmore County.

The same spring brought more recognition for Marbury soccer on the girls’ side. Brent Sowell was named Autauga County Soccer Coach of the Year on May 9 after guiding the Bulldogs to an 18-3-3 season, a Class 5A Area 5 championship and a Sweet 16 berth. The girls also beat Class 7A Foley for the first time, adding to the sense that Marbury soccer is building something lasting on both sides of the program.

For younger players in Marbury and across Autauga County, Brown and Damron’s move to Mobile is the clearest proof yet that the pathway beyond high school is real.