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Photo by Todd Lester.
Mountain Brook RB Michael Brogan (32) during a game against Spain Park on Sept. 13, 2019, at Jaguar Stadium in Hoover.
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Photo by Sarah Finnegan.
Blake Pugh (2) celebrates a tackle during a game against Vestavia Hills on Sept. 20, 2019, at Buddy Anderson Field at Thompson Reynolds Stadium in Vestavia Hills.
For the first time, Mountain Brook High School is not competing at the highest classification of the Alabama High School Athletic Association. That means the Spartans football schedule in 2020 looks much different than it has over the past several years, when Mountain Brook has played in Class 7A, Region 3, with the likes of Hoover, Vestavia Hills and others.
This fall, Mountain Brook will still play one of those past region foes, with a game at Thompson to finish up the month of September. The Spartans were originally scheduled to open the season against Vestavia Hills, but that game was canceled due to COVID-19 concerns within the Rebels’ program. All three of the Spartans’ non-region opponents are 7A programs.
But the Spartans are now in Region 5 of 6A, and that region slate starts in September after a home game against Huntsville to open the season.
Mountain Brook will head to Lawson Field to take on Woodlawn on Sept. 4 for its first region contest. The Spartans and Colonels last met in 2013, with Mountain Brook taking a commanding 51-6 victory. Mountain Brook has won 10 in a row in the series, holding an 11-3 edge all time.
The following week, the Spartans head north to take on Huffman on Sept. 11. The two programs have a lengthy history, having played 28 times over the years and each team claiming 14 victories. Mountain Brook has won the last three games in the series, with the last one a 25-19 win in 2017. The Spartans have won seven of the last eight games in the series.
On Sept. 17, Mountain Brook will play its third consecutive region game, a Thursday night home contest against Shades Valley. The two programs have been region foes sporadically over the last 45 years, and Shades Valley owns a 23-11 edge in the all-time series. The last time the two teams met was 2013, when Shades Valley earned a 42-28 victory. Bill Smith, now at Huffman, was the coach of that Shades Valley team. Prior to that game, the Spartans had won the last five games between the two foes.
Mountain Brook wraps up the month of September with a trip to Thompson, a former region foe. Mountain Brook gave the eventual state champions a stern test late last season, before the Warriors pulled away for a 33-21 victory. With Thompson’s recent rise to prominence, the Warriors have won the last four meetings between the two schools. Before that, Mountain Brook had won 10 of 11 and holds a 13-9 lead in the series.
Beginning the season as the No. 2 team in 6A installs the Spartans as the prohibitive favorite to win the region, at least in the eyes of the Alabama Sports Writers Association. The month of September will give the Spartans the opportunity to back up that assertion on the field.
