Photo by Richard Force
Mountain Brook quarterback Cayden Hofbauer (11) breaks through the Pell City defense in route to the endzone during a game between the Mountain Brook Spartans and the Pell City Panthers on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024 at Spartan Stadium in Birmingham, Ala.
It feels like we’re getting to a point in the season where we’re starting to see separation between the top teams and everyone else.
After a couple weeks of region play, it’s starting to become evident that some teams have a chance to do something special, while others better get it together quickly before their playoff hopes vanish all too soon.
Mountain Brook put together two solid halves of football for the first time in a few weeks in its 41-14 win over Pell City. The Spartans got off to a good start in region play with the victory, and the competition takes an immediate step up this week, as they host Oxford in what will be the Under the Lights Game of the Week.
Briarwood has really struggled to get things going so far this year, falling to 0-4 with a 20-7 loss to Carver-Birmingham. The Lions finally got star player Luke Reynolds back on the field, but he got injured again. Hope is not lost, because there are several winnable games left on the schedule, but Briarwood is one of those teams that needs to reverse the momentum quickly. This week against Wenonah is a great opportunity for that.
Clay-Chalkville has been nothing shy of dominant the last three weeks, blowing out Shades Valley 42-0 and pitching its second straight shutout. The offense is averaging nearly 50 points per game over the last three weeks and the defense has allowed two touchdowns over the first four games. The Cougars have an open date this week before heading to Thompson.
The Under the Lights Game of the Week was a classic for the fourth week in a row. I keep wondering when the luck will run out, but we have been treated to some great games to this point. Last week, Hoover marched down the field in the final moments, scored a touchdown and executed a two-point conversion to knock off Hewitt-Trussville 8-7. It was a sour defeat for a Huskies team, especially considering how well the defense played for much of the evening.
Hoover has posted consecutive impressive road wins to begin Class 7A, Region 3 play. The Bucs appear to be rounding into form for interim coach Chip English, and get to host Prattville this Friday. Hewitt-Trussville, on the other hand, does not get the benefit of what would have been a big win. The Huskies host Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa this Friday looking to get back on the beam.
Homewood has continued to steamroll opponents through the first few weeks of the season, blowing past Woodlawn 52-14. The Patriots have yet to face an opponent that can keep up with them, but that does nothing to diminish how impressive they have been so far this season.
John Carroll got its first win of the season in dominant fashion over Hayden last week. The Cavs needed that one after a tough 0-3 start. They will have a tough one this week against Ramsay.
Oak Mountain ran into a buzzsaw at Thompson last Friday, falling 42-7. The Eagles will get a much more manageable opponent this week, as they host Tuscaloosa County.
Spain Park hung on to beat Helena 28-26 in a game between arguably the two best teams in their region. The Jags have been involved in back-to-back close games against Hoover and Helena, and have emerged on top in both. Spain Park will be back home for the first time in nearly a month this week to face Benjamin Russell.
Vestavia Hills put an exclamation point on its first victory of the season, blasting Hillcrest 49-17. The Rebels have had a rough go of it so far, dropping their first three games. But they showed plenty of signs of life in the loss to Hewitt and carried those over into a strong display at Hillcrest. Unfortunately, Thompson rolls into Vestavia this week looking to give the Rebels a dose of reality once again.
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Also, subscribe to the Under the Lights podcast presented by SYNLawn Alabama on YouTube, to be the first to know where we’ll be headed for our Game of the Week this Friday.
Here’s an early look at the Week 5 slate:
- Homewood at Jackson-Olin (Thursday)
- Briarwood vs. Wenonah
- Chelsea vs. Calera
- Hewitt-Trussville vs. Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa
- Hoover vs. Prattville
- John Carroll at Ramsay
- Mountain Brook vs. Oxford
- Oak Mountain vs. Tuscaloosa County
- Spain Park vs. Benjamin Russell
- Vestavia Hills vs. Thompson
This is a weekly column from sports editor Kyle Parmley. Follow him on X at @KyleParmley.
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