PREP FOOTBALL PREVIEW: A quick look at local Week 4 matchups
Published 1:30 pm Thursday, September 14, 2023
- Tanner’s Elinneaus Jackson attempts to shake a tackle.
Here’s what awaits football teams in The News Courier’s coverage area this week.
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Class 5A, Region 8
Ardmore (0-3, 0-1) at Lawrence County (1-2, 0-1): The Tigers came within two points last week of netting their first win of the season.
Now, they’ll get another opportunity to secure a victory and avoid an 0-2 region start when they travel to Lawrence County on Friday night.
Ardmore has won both matchups between these two programs in the Jonathan Snider era, outscoring the Red Devils 51-15 in the process.
Coach Speak: “Lawrence County is a real physical football team. Coach (Trent) Walker does a great job at getting his team ready to play and I know we are going to have to pick ourselves back up to get in the win column. The season is not over for us yet — we can still achieve everything that we want to achieve — but we are going to have to shift it into gear this week.” — Ardmore’s Jonathan Snider
Class 6A, Region 7
Athens (3-0, 1-0) at No. 5 Muscle Shoals (3-0, 1-0): The Golden Eagles are off to their first 3-0 start since 2006.
Athens, though, will face a tough test on Friday night in the Trojans, who have allowed only 14 points in victories over Bob Jones, Florence and Columbia.
The all-time series is a close one — the Golden Eagles lead 18-16 — but Muscle Shoals has won eight straight dating back to 2015, though the past three meetings have been decided by a combined 24 points.
Athens is currently averaging 47.3 points per game.
Class 3A, Region 8
No. 1 Mars Hill Bible (3-0, 1-0) at Clements (1-2, 0-1): The Colts dropped their region opener last week and now face the top-ranked team in Class 3A.
Mars Hill Bible has already claimed double-digit wins over 6A Cullman, 4A Brooks and Colbert Heights, and is looking to notch a sixth straight region title under longtime coach Darrell Higgins.
The Panthers picked up the win last year — the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
Coach Speak: “We took a whipping last week, so we are going to regroup this week against the No. 1 team in the state. Mars Hill is talented, strong and they do everything right, so we are going to have to play our hardest to come out with the win.” — Clements’ Michael Parker.
Class 5A, Region 7
East Limestone (0-3, 0-1) at Brewer (2-1, 1-0): The Indians hit the road Friday night following a challenging three-week stretch to open the season.
The Patriots, meanwhile, edged Ardmore 21-19 last week and are seeking to make it 2-0 against Limestone County squads this week. East Limestone, though, is 4-1 all-time against Brewer — the lone loss coming last season in a 27-21 affair.
Coach Speak: “Brewer’s team this year is really explosive offensively, so we are going to have to go over there and limit explosive plays. Defensively, they fly around. This will be a good test for us in our second region game of the year, so we are going to have to have our guys prepared for the challenge that awaits them.” — East Limestone’s Clint Woodfin
Class 3A, Region 8
Elkmont (3-0, 1-0) at Lauderdale County (3-0, 1-0): The Red Devils are 3-0 for the first time since 2010 and would like to keep up that momentum.
Awaiting them on Friday night is an unbeaten Tigers team that boasts wins over Tanner, Rogers and Clements — allowing just 43 points — this season.
Elkmont will need to shake off some history — Lauderdale County leads the overall series 24-6 and has won nine consecutive — to pull out the victory.
Coach Speak: “Lauderdale is 3-0 as well and they will probably be the most disciplined team we play. We are going to get punched in the mouth almost every play and we are going to have to respond and give it right back to them if we want to compete to win.” —Elkmont’s Chris Bunio
Class 7A, Region 4
Huntsville (1-1, 1-0) at James Clemens (2-1, 1-0): The Jets dominated Bob Jones last week and are looking for another big region win on Friday.
Recent meetings indicate this one could go down to the wire — James Clemens defeated Huntsville 43-40 in 2021 and 27-23 last season.
Class 2A, Region 8
Tanner (1-2, 1-0) at Falkville (3-0, 1-0): The Rattlers got in the win column last week and there’s no doubt they want more victories.
Tanner leads the all-time series against Falkville 22-9-2, but three of the past four matchups have been decided by seven points or less.
Coach Speak: “We finally put together four quarters of good football last week and we are going to have to carry that with us this week. If we are getting better week-to-week, then I feel like we are going to be a hard team to beat moving forward in the season.” — Tanner’s Oscar Bonds
Class 4A, Region 7
Brooks (1-2, 0-1) at West Limestone (2-1, 0-1): The Wildcats suffered their first setback of the season last week.
West Limestone will need to turn the page with Brooks coming to town should it want to avoid an 0-2 start in region play.
To accomplish that task, the Wildcats will need to overcome a little history themselves as Brooks leads the all-time series 18-3; though two of those wins for West Limestone have come in the past four seasons.
Coach Speak: “We were not ready to play against Deshler, so we have been working real hard this week to get that fixed. Brooks likes to score a lot of points and they are good at scoring a lot of points, which means our defense is going to have to be on their A-game this week.” — West Limestone’s Shelby Davis
