High school football teams gear up for another week of early season games. Some teams opened last week while others delayed their season opener to this week.
Each week, we’ll take a quick look at notable games.
*Geraldine had one of the most memorable wins of the 2021 season when the Bulldogs went on the road to knock off powerhouse Fyffe, 20-19. It snapped the state’s second-longest winning streak at 51 games. The most recent Fyffe loss, prior to that night, was on Nov. 24, 2017, when the Red Devils lost to Sulligent, 35-28, in the Class 2A quarterfinals. The last regular season loss, prior to that game, was on Sept. 4, 2015, when Fyffe dropped a 21-14 decision to Cleveland.
Why does all of this matter now?
Geraldine plays host to Fyffe on Friday night. Geraldine began the season with a 36-7 win at Coosa Christian. Fyffe is playing its first game of the season. Chances are good the Red Devils had this game circled on the calendar.
*Prior to this past week, the last time that Class 7A elite Thompson and Hoover lost on the same weekend was in the final week of the regular season in 2016. Neither team loses often these days. However, last week Thompson was thumped by Buford High in Georgia, one of the top teams in the nation, and Hoover lost to Auburn with the winning points coming on a late field goal.
Neither team has an easy task to bounce back. Hoover plays host to Tennessee’s Bartlett High, which is led by three-star quarterback Braylen Ragland, on Friday. Thompson plays host to a recruit-filled Lipscomb High team from Nashville on Saturday night.
*Brindlee Mountain carried a 43-game losing streak, which was the second longest current losing skid in Alabama high school football, into this season. Now they’re looking to build a two-game winning streak after beginning the 2022 season with a 26-20 win over Cherokee. On Friday, Brindlee Mountain plays host to an Elkmont team that was winless last year and hasn’t won more than one game in a season since winning two contests in 2015.
Huntsville’s Columbia holds the state’s longest losing streak at 61 games. On Friday, the Eagles play host to a Hatton team that opened the year with a 30-19 victory over Wilson and has advanced to the playoff the past two seasons.
*Is this the year that Decatur gets back on the winning side of the River City Rivalry with Austin? The Black Bears have won the past seven meetings of the crosstown rivals with an aggregate score of 295-110. In 2019, Austin won, 56-14, and they blitzed Decatur, 67-3, the following year. It’s not been fun times for the team wearing Red and Black.
However, this year, the Red Raiders look poised for a good season, and they began with a 65-0 win over Mae Jemison. Austin lost its season opener to a very good Hartselle team and looks to bounce back in the home opener.
*Is Clay-Chalkville as good defensively as the Cougars looked last week in a 48-0 whitewashing of Briarwood Christian and Clemson-commit quarterback Christopher Vizzina? The answer is an emphatic yes if the Cougars find a way to slow down a prolific quarterback once again. Hueytown and its dynamic reigning Class 6A Back of the Year Earl Woods comes to visit on Friday.
Oh yeah, it’s also a rematch of last season’s Class 6A championship game which Clay-Chalkville won 46-42.
To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email steve.irvine@1819news.com.
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