Five local squads are back home this week for their Friday night matchups and all but one of them are taking on region foes. Meek, Holly Pond, Addison and Cold Springs are gearing up for regional showdowns this week while Cullman gets ready to host Albertville. We’re in the thick of region play this season so every game has postseason implications at this point and several local teams are in desperate need of regional wins.
(0-4) Meek (1A Region 6) vs. (2-2) Berry (1A Region 6)
The Tigers will be back home this week after their trip to Hubbertville and will be looking to collect their first win of the season against the Berry Wildcats. Berry is coming off a 59-0 loss at South Lamar so the Wildcats will be anxious to bounce back and get a win in Arley.
The Tigers are also looking to shake off last week and rebound this Friday. Meek chipped away at Hubbertville’s lead toward the end of the game last week, but the early Lions lead was too much to overcome. The Tigers are allowing 43 points per game right now and scoring just over 10 per night so they will have to get things straightened on both sides of the ball or they could be looking at an early elimination from playoff contention.
(3-1) Cold Springs (2A Region 5) vs. (2-1) Aliceville (2A Region 5)
The Eagles are returning home this week after an impressive showing on the road against Sumiton Christian in which Roberto Ayala and Ayden Alexander combined to score six touchdowns. Cold Springs has now won back to back games and racked up 84 points in those wins but this week, they’ll face arguably the best defensive unit they have seen this season.
Aliceville fell to Gordo 21-20 in overtime in the season opener but is coming off a 29-0 win at Tarrant and 43-6 win over Sulligent. The Yellow Jackets are holding opponents to just nine points per game right now, but something will have to give when these two teams clash in Bremen Friday night.
(2-2) Cullman (6A Region 7) vs. (1-2) Albertville (6A Region 8)
After falling in two nail-biters on the road to start the season, the Cullman Bearcats have worked their way back to .500 with convincing wins at home against Decatur and on the road over Columbia. The Bearcats have racked up a whopping 604 yards on the ground in the last two weeks and with injury problems beginning to rear their head, it’ll be critical for Cullman to keep up its running attack. After being held below 20 in their first two matchups, the Bearcats have put 89 points on the board in the last two weeks but will now face an Albertville team that allows just under 15 points per game.
The Aggies have lost back to back games to Fort Payne and Buckhorn leading into this week’s showdown so they will be anxious to try and get back to .500 themselves when they enter Oliver Woodard Stadium. The Bearcats took last year’s matchup 21-0 and they’ll be aiming for a repeat performance Friday night.
(1-3) Holly Pond (3A Region 5) vs. (2-1) Fultondale (3A Region 5)
The Broncos collected a huge win over county rival and region foe Hanceville a week ago to pick up their first win of the season and they’ll be back home for another region showdown this Friday. Fultondale dropped its season opener on the road to Maplesville but has won back to back games over Locust Fork and JB Pennington in the lead up to this week’s matchup at Holly Pond.
The Bronco running game seemed to hit its stride against the Bulldogs last week and with more region games coming, they’d like to keep that momentum rolling going forward. The Wildcats are currently tied with Midfield for the Region 5 lead so if Holly Pond can find a way to knock them off at home, the postseason will begin to look a little closer for the Broncos.
(2-2) Addison (2A Region 7) vs. (3-1) Sheffield (2A Region 7)
Last week’s game at Red Bay ended in a heartbreaking loss for the Addison Bulldogs as they were held just outside the goal line as the final seconds ticked away. The loss gives the Bulldogs an 0-1 start in the region and now they’ll face one the teams tied for the lead in Region 7.
Sheffield is coming off back to back wins over Tharptown and Hatton and has a 2-0 start in region play. Addison won last year’s matchup with Sheffield 42-7 on the road, but the Bulldogs are battling through some injuries at this point in the season. The offense got off to a slow start on the road last week, but Addison will try and turn that around when they return home to face Sheffield Friday night.
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