In the AFC Championship Game on Sunday, former Alabama high school quarterbacks lined up on opposite sides of the football, with Blount’s Kadarius Toney at wide receiver for the Kansas City Chiefs and Park Crossing’s Cam Taylor-Britt at cornerback for the Cincinnati Bengals.

Connected to both players, Malik Cunningham hopes to join them in the NFL after the Reese’s Senior Bowl.

Toney is headed for Super Bowl LVII after the Chiefs’ 23-20 victory on Sunday.

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In his final game as a quarterback before he made the transition to wide receiver at Florida, Toney threw for 493 yards and five touchdowns and ran for 108 yards and two touchdowns even though Blount lost to Park Crossing 54-51 in the third round of the AHSAA Class 6A playoffs on Nov. 18, 2016. At quarterback for the Thunderbirds, Cunningham produced 292 yards and four touchdowns through the air and 77 yards and one touchdown on the ground.

“I was just telling a scout from the Chiefs about it the other night,” Cunningham said about the game against Toney. “Just seeing what he’s doing now – he’s in the Super Bowl, so I wish him the best of luck and hope he brings one back to the state.”

Toney won the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s Class 6A Back of the Year Award and Cunningham earned first-team All-State recognition in 2016.

Cunningham passed for 2,913 yards and 30 touchdowns and ran for 1,015 yards and 19 touchdowns in his senior season at Park Crossing. The Thunderbirds won the Class 6A Region 2 for the third season in a row in 2017 with Taylor-Britt at quarterback. Taylor-Britt made the switch to the secondary at Nebraska, but as the Park Crossing QB, he had 1,466 passing yards and 16 TD passes and 1,030 rushing yards and 14 TD runs and earned first-team All-State honors in his senior season.

“Before the (AFC Championship) Game, I had talked to Cam,” Cunningham said, “and I was telling him, ‘You’re right there, man. One more game, you’re in the Super Bowl.’ It was just good to see him be able to compete this year. He played at a very high level.

“Now I want to see Kadarius finish it off.”

Taylor-Britt’s rookie season ended in the AFC Championship Game. Toney is playing in his second NFL season.

Cunningham is behind Toney and Taylor-Britt entering the NFL after spending six seasons at Louisville. He redshirted in 2017 while 2016 Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson completed his college career with the Cardinals. Cunningham made his first three starts in 2018, then spent four seasons as Louisville’s No. 1 QB.

Cunningham completed his college career with 9,660 passing yards and 70 touchdown passes and 3,179 rushing yards and 50 touchdown runs. But he was the last quarterback announced for the 2023 Senior Bowl rosters after Georgia’s Stetson Bennett declined to play.

“It’s a great opportunity,” Cunningham said. “I’m humbled and blessed to be here. Wouldn’t want to be nowhere else. A kid from Alabama coming back to play his last collegiate game in Alabama. No other way I would have wanted to finish.”

Cunningham didn’t get off to a strong start at the Senior Bowl. His height measured 5-foot-11.875, and he missed Tuesday’s practice because of a stomach bug. But he was back on the field for Wednesday’s workout.

“I just want to show that I can compete with these guys at a high level and make all the throws they need me to make,” Cunningham said. “I want to show that I’m able to operate in a pro-style offense, that I’m able to make throws from the pocket, which I did my whole career. There are a lot of familiar faces here that I grew up with or played against in high school, so I’m just blessed to be here.”

Cunningham is among seven former Alabama prep stars at this year’s Senior Bowl.

A teammate of Cunningham’s on the National team this week, Troy center Jake Andrews was a second-team all-state pick in 2016, when Park Crossing scored a 19-0 victory over Stanhope Elmore on Sept. 2, 2016. Cunningham also owns a prep win over DJ Dale, a defensive tackle on the American team from Alabama. The Thunderbirds defeated Clay-Chalkville 56-17 on Oct. 21, 2016.

Taylor-Britt said something he learned at Park Crossing is helping him tackle Senior Bowl week.

“You got to dive into the playbook and get a clear understanding,” Taylor-Britt said, “because at the quarterback position, a lot is on your shoulders. I’ve been in that position my whole life, so the pressure’s not too big for me. I like these type of moments.”

As with Cunningham’s height, each of the other five quarterbacks at the Senior Bowl has shortcomings in the eyes of the NFL’s talent evaluators. Cunningham said he thinks the Senior Bowl QBs have a similar mindset on their mission.

“You’ve just got to put your head down and work,” Cunningham said. “I don’t really worry about all the stocks and things like that because at the end of the day you’ve still got to, from the first pick to the last pick, go in and prove yourself and show that you belong. I feel like all the guys understand that, and we’ve all got a chip on our shoulder. It don’t matter where you get picked. It’s how you sustain and how you develop as a player.”

The 74th annual Reese’s Senior Bowl kicks off at 1:30 p.m. CST Saturday in Mobile. NFL Network will televise the game. Tickets can be purchased online.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.