Erin Nelson
Under the Lights wk7 - 1
Under the Lights
The most common question I’ve received in the aftermath of last Friday night’s high school football games revolves around potential playoff scenarios.
There are plenty of things to sort out over the final week of region play. There could be some three-way ties that determine where teams fall in the playoff brackets.
The simple scenarios, I’ve worked out. But I’ll be honest, I learned a long time ago that attempting to sort out all those complex things is not the best use of my time. Things change so quickly.
However, a few impactful results took place last Friday night.
Mountain Brook notched a blowout win over Mortimer Jordan, clinching the No. 2 seed in Class 6A, Region 5. The Spartans blew the game open right before the half and never let up.
John Carroll clinched its first playoff berth since 2009 with a 35-12 win over Jasper. The Cavs will be on the road in the first round of the playoffs, but can clinch the No. 3 seed in Class 5A, Region 5, with a win over Wenonah this week.
Briarwood fell victim to a Benjamin Russell comeback, as the Lions will now face Homewood this week. Those three teams, along with Helena, will make the playoffs in Class 6A, Region 3, but where they end up in the standings is still up in the air. Homewood took down Pelham with relative ease, a late comeback from the Panthers notwithstanding.
Clay-Chalkville also took care of business against Oxford, as the Cougars clinch the Region 6 title for the third straight year.
In games that likely won’t affect the playoffs, Spain Park pulled off a surprising upset of Hewitt-Trussville, as the Jags controlled play all evening against the Huskies, who were riding high after a beatdown of Vestavia Hills the week prior. Unfortunately for the Jags, Hoover beat Chelsea, all but eliminating the Jags from playoff contention.
Vestavia Hills shut out Oak Mountain as well.
Barring a few upsets this week, it appears that Hewitt-Trussville, Vestavia Hills and Hoover will still end up as the 2-4 seeds out of 7A, Region 3, in that order.
There’s one week of region play remaining. Here are the games Starnes Media will be covering this week:
- Homewood at Briarwood
- Mountain Brook at Gardendale
- Hewitt-Trussville at Chelsea
- Spain Park at Oak Mountain
- Vestavia Hills at Tuscaloosa County
- Hoover vs. Thompson
- John Carroll vs. Wenonah
- Clay-Chalkville vs. Shades Valley
