Photo by James Nicholas.
Mountain Brook team captains Sam Smith (22), Archie Andrews (19), Jack Walthallbefore (88) and Hampton King (38) during the coin toss at a game against Parker High School on Aug. 30 at Spartan Stadium.
The Mountain Brook High School football team finishes off the regular season in October with a flurry of region games.
The Spartans are competing in Class 6A, Region 6 this year and will play the final four games of a seven-game region slate.
In October, Mountain Brook will play three of its four games on the road.
The Spartans begin the month with a trip to Clay-Chalkville on Oct. 4. The two teams have only been region foes once before, but they have met quite often in the playoffs.
The last six meetings between the two teams have occurred in the state playoffs. Three of those games took place in the second round, two in the third round and another in the semifinals.
Mountain Brook has won eight of 12 in the series history, but the Cougars have won four of the last five. The programs met in the second round of the playoffs last fall, with an unbeaten and eventual state championship Clay-Chalkville team surviving with a 17-13 win.
The Spartans’ last three games are on Thursdays, beginning with a home game against Pinson Valley on Oct. 10. The teams are in the same region for the first time, but they have met three times in the playoffs over the last four seasons.
In 2022, the Spartans and Indians squared off in the first round of the state playoffs, with Mountain Brook running away with a 49-7 win.
On Oct. 17, Mountain Brook visits Huffman, a program that has made the postseason just once since 2005. The two teams have squared off plenty of times over the years, with Mountain Brook holding a 17-13 all-time lead. The Spartans have won nine of the last 10 games to take the edge in the series.
They last met in 2021, with Mountain Brook running to a 48-7 win.
Mountain Brook pays a visit to Shades Valley on Oct. 24 for the final game of the region slate and the regular season.
Shades Valley has historically had the edge in this series, leading 23-13. But Mountain Brook has won seven of eight in the series, last winning 31-0 over the Mounties in 2021.
Mountain Brook will play 10 consecutive weeks before taking its open date Nov. 1, ahead of a hopeful playoff trip.
The Spartans will also be looking to extend a few streaks with a strong October. They have won at least eight games each of the last eight years. They rebounded from back-to-back 3-7 seasons in 2014 and 2015 and have been a perennial playoff team since.
Since 2010, the Spartans have made the playoffs 12 of the last 14 years.
