West Alabama High School Football

As the end of the high school football season in Alabama approaches, schools are starting to get a better picture of what the playoffs will look like. With only two weeks of the regular season left, it’s anyone’s game in west Alabama.

Friday night, the American Christian Patriots (8-0, 6-0) dismantled the Dallas County Hornets (3-5, 3-3) 47-16. From start to finish, ACA dominated with over 330 total yards and seven total touchdowns. This eighth straight win secured ACA a third straight region title.

From COVID forfeitures to many of the games in west Alabama being moved to Thursday due to Hurricane Delta, last week of high school football was a wild one. As the regular season starts to wrap up, its crunch time for many schools as they make a final push for a playoff spot.

In a special Thursday edition of "Friday Night Lights," the Paul W.Bryant High School Stampede defeated the Brookwood Panthers by a score of 33-23.

With Hillcrest’s huge win over Northridge last week, the doors of Region 4 of 6A were opened wide for an arms race involving almost all of the teams in the region. Now that we’re in October with only four weeks of the regular season left, its “put up or shut up” time for teams on the edge of a playoff berth.

Friday night, the Hillcrest Patriots (5-1, 2-1) took down the cross-town rival Northridge Jaguars (6-1, 3-1) 49-21.

After several teams took the week off last week to prepare for the second half of the schedule, most of Tuscaloosa county is back and ready for more area play. Three different 6A Region 4 matchups might be the difference makers for teams to make a playoff run. In addition, several surprise teams have matchups that could affect their comeback seasons.

Friday night, the Northridge Jaguars (6-0, 3-0) took down the undefeated Gordo Green Wave (5-1, 3-0) 17-13. While these teams have deep football roots in Tuscaloosa county, this is the first time that both teams have played. Junior Northridge running back LiEric Street led the Jaguar offense by rushing for 131 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries.

This week, many of the Tuscaloosa-area schools are looking at off weeks, but many other schools in west; Alabama are taking on cross-division and even cross-class showdowns. These may not affect playoff races, but they can definitely halt some of the valuable momentum that teams have been storing as they progress through the season.

Hamilton was completely smothered by Northside on Friday evening as the Rams kept their home win streak alive, comfortably, by a score of 36-0.