With over half of the regular season in the books this football season, its time to start thinking about the postseason and we have several local teams still very much in the playoff hunt. Addison will try to follow up a huge win over Colbert County on the road at Tanner this week, Cold Springs is coming off a bye week and will head to Winston County for a region game, West Point will try to shake off last week’s loss to Jasper on the road against Dora and Good Hope will be looking to bounce back at Haleyville after dropping its first game of the season against Northside last week.
(5-2) Addison (2A Region 7) at (1-5) Tanner (2A Region 7)
The Bulldogs stomped Colbert County 44-12 at home last week to work their way up to 10th in the Class 2A rankings and collect an important region win but they still have a few games in front of them before they worry about any potential playoff opponents, starting this week with Tanner. The Rattlers fell on the road to Hatton last week and will be anxious to face Addison on their home turf Friday night.
Tanner is allowing just under 33 points per game right now while the Bulldogs have been getting stronger on the defensive end with each passing week. Addison allowed a combined 58 points in its first four games but has given up just 24 points in the last three. With a deep group of running backs and a defense firing on all cylinders, the Bulldogs are playing some of their best ball of the year and have a chance to pick up another important win at Tanner this week.
(3-3) Cold Springs (2A Region 5) at (2-4) Winston County (2A Region 5)
The Eagles have had a week to rest up and regroup after an impressive comeback effort fell short against Appalachian two weeks ago. Now, Cold Springs will travel to Winston County Friday for a regional matchup against the Yellow Jackets.
The Eagles have had some success moving the ball this season, averaging just under 30 points per game, but they’ve been a little less consistent on the defensive side of the ball. Opponents are scoring 25 points per game against Cold Springs but this week, the Eagles will face a struggling Winston County offense that has scored just 12 points in its last three games. The Yellow Jackets are also allowing 25 points per game so it’ll come down to which defensive unit can create the most turnovers and get off the field in this one.
(2-4) West Point (5A Region 7) at (2-4) Dora (5A Region 7)
The Warriors ran into top-ranked Jasper last week and took a tough loss to the Vikings but with three region games still in front of them, they’ll have to put that loss behind them and finish strong. Dora is coming off a 28-0 loss to Corner so both of these teams will be anxious to get last week’s taste out of their mouths and collect a win.
West Point started the season with some success on the offensive side of the ball but in its last two games against Russellville and Jasper, the offense has been held to a combined 13 points. The Bulldogs have some recent struggles as well. After starting the season 2-0, Dora has lost its last four games and has been outscored 159-35 in that stretch. Both defenses are allowing over 30 points per game this season so this matchup could turn into a shootout and come down to which defense can be the most opportunistic.
(5-1) Good Hope (4A Region 5) at (3-3) Haleyville (4A Region 5)
The Raiders fell to eighth in Class 4A after last week’s loss to Northside but still have four games left to play in the regular season, including three regional matchups. Haleyville is coming off a 15-6 win over Curry and even though they have a 3-3 record overall, they have the same region record as Good Hope at 2-1 so the Raiders can definitely gain some ground with this win.
The Lions are allowing fewer than 19 points per game this season but are only scoring 17 per game on the offensive end. Good Hope is scoring over 31 points per game this season so it should be an interesting matchup when the Raiders offense and Haleyville defense are on the field. Something will have to give between those two units and the Lions actually have a better record on the road than at home this season so that could bode well for Good Hope traveling this week.
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