Spartans aim to make playoff push in October

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Sports

The second half of the high school football regular season gets crammed into the month of October, with five Fridays on the calendar for teams to either jockey for playoff position or play out the string on an ultimately disappointing campaign.

Mountain Brook will look to ensure that the final stretch of regular season games sets up a playoff push. The Spartans have qualified for the playoffs nine straight years and can make it a solid decade with another successful season in Class 6A, Region 6 games.

Oct. 3 vs. Clay-Chalkville: This could be the game that determines the Region 6 champion, based on the last few years. Mountain Brook has lost to the Cougars by single digits each of the last three times the teams have met, and both programs are attempting to knock Oxford from its throne of region champ a season ago. In last year’s 21-14 Clay win, Mountain Brook had a drive stopped in the final seconds after gaining first and goal. 

Oct. 9 at Pinson Valley: Mountain Brook’s final road game of the regular season is at Pinson Valley on a Thursday night. Last year’s contest was a bit of a shootout, with the Spartans pulling away for a 47-30 win. It was the fourth straight game the Spartans had allowed at least 21 points and, unhappy with the trend, they shut out their next two foes. Pinson Valley has been a struggling program the last few years, having only won 11 total games in the last three seasons after incredible success under Patrick Nix and Sam Shade. James Thompson is now in his second year with the Indians. 

Oct. 17 vs. Huffman: Mountain Brook blew past Huffman 42-0 last fall and the Spartans will be heavy favorites in this matchup yet again. Rodney Bivens took over a dire situation with the Vikings and, to his credit, has stuck it out and made significant progress. In his first season, the Vikings failed to score a point, much less win a game. Last year, Huffman won a game and actually averaged 12 points per game. The Vikings are looking to win a few more contests this season. 

Oct. 24 vs. Shades Valley: The Spartans capped off the regular season with a 37-0 shutout win over the Mounties last fall and finish off the regular season this fall with a home game in this region matchup. Legendary coach Rueben Nelson retired after last season, and George Bates, a longtime coach in the Birmingham area with a successful track record, has taken over. Shades Valley is a program looking for its first playoff berth since 2020. 

Oct. 31 - Open: After playing 10 games in 10 weeks, Mountain Brook has its open date on the final week of the regular season. The hope is that it allows the Spartans a refresher before a playoff run.