Early State Championship Picks & Rating the Rivalries

It's hard to believe that we have reached that point in the season where playoff bids are being locked up and seedings determined. Here are my picks for state title contenders at each classification. Please list your picks as well...

6A
Serious Contenders: Opelika, Tuscaloosa County, Hoover, Vigor
On the Bubble: Mountain Brook, Minor, Daphne, Prattville, Central-Phenix City
Surprise Team of the Year: Parker
Dark Horse: Huffman
The Pick: Tuscaloosa County (if Leron McClain is healthy; if not, Opelika it is)

5A
Serious Contenders: Russellville, Homewood, Briarwood, McAdory, Benjamin Russell
On the Bubble: Williamson, Gardendale, Eufaula, Charles Henderson, St. Paul's
Surprise Team of the Year: B.C. Rain
Dark Horse: Pinson Valley
The Pick: Russellville

4A
Serious Contenders: Cleburne County, UMS-Wright, Demopolis
On the Bubble: Daleville, North Jackson, Emma Sansom, Dallas County, Deshler, Trinity
Surprise Team of the Year: Thomasville
Dark Horse: Fayette County
The Pick: Demopolis

3A
Serious Contenders: West Morgan, Pike County, Colbert County, Tarrant, TR Miller
On the Bubble: Springville, LaFayette, Montgomery Academy, Litchfield
Surprise Team of the Year: Straughn
Dark Horse: Aliceville (never thought I'd say that)
The Pick: TR Miller

2A
Serious Contenders: Gordo, Lineville, Southern Choctaw, Washington County
On the Bubble: Pisgah, Highland Home, Luverne, Fyffe, Red Bay, Houston Academy, Weaver
Surprise Team of the Year: Hatton
Dark Horse: Red Level
The Pick: Gordo

1A
Serious Contenders: Clay County, Brantley, Wadley, Isabella, Cedar Bluff, Brilliant, Hazlewood
On the Bubble: Courtland, Parrish, McKenzie, Linden, Marengo, Autaugaville
Surprise Team of the Year: Sweet Water
Dark Horse: American Christian
The Pick: Clay County

Rating the Rivalries:
1. Clay County vs. Lineville: easily the biggest event of the year in this thinly populated East Alabama county, the "Clay Bowl" is as heated a rivalry as it gets.

2. TR Miller vs WS Neal - "The Battle of Murder Creek"; Brewton vs. East Brewton in this battle of next-door neighbors

3. Mountain Brook vs. Vestavia Hills - "old money" Brookies despise their up-and-coming rivals from the suburbs

4. Frisco City vs. Excel - hatred not just between the schools; strangely extends to residents of the towns in a major way

5. St. Paul's vs. UMS Wright - private schools with powerhouse athletic programs to go along with big time budgets

6. Tuscaloosa County vs. Tuscaloosa Central - with Central facing permanent change with next year's division, 2002 will effectively mark the end of one of the state's best rivalries as we know it

7. Anybody in DeKalb County vs. Anybody else in DeKalb County - Plainview, Ft. Payne, Fyffe, Pisgah, etc...mountain folks get feisty when it comes to all of the matchups taking place in this corner of the state

8. Jess Lanier v. McAdory - showdown in old steeltown

9. Gordo v. Pickens County - rivalry between West Alabama neighbors not so neighborly

10. Robert E. Lee vs. Sidney Lanier - traditional arch-nemeses with a lot of history between them in the capital city

I agree with you, tidehawk, I should have included Wetumpka among the 5A contenders. I also think Trinity has a legitimate shot at winning it all in 4A. Demopolis needed an amazing come-from-behind win in the closing seconds to defeat Fayette County in what was arguably the game of the year in the state thus far, but I still believe the DHS Tigers are a force to be reckoned with. UMS and Cleburne County will also be in the hunt, as they are the two teams generally regarded as the best in South and North Alabama, respectively. I don't know a whole lot about Emma Sansom, but their record speaks for itself, so obviously you need to keep an eye out for them.

Last weekend, my 3A pick, TR Miller, suffered yet another defeat, their third of the season. It appears as though 3A competition isn't quite as easy as the Tigers orginally thought. Nevertheless, I'll still stick with them for now. Jamie Riggs is an excellent coach and Miller is a thoroughly-tested and experienced playoff team.

Gordo's winnin streak in 2A came to a crashing halt, as the Green Wave managed to find themselves blanked by the likes of Fultondale. In all honesty, this one will likely come down to Lineville and Southern Choctaw.

I'll still hold on all of my picks, but I am pretty skeptical of Gordo's chances at this point. In 6A, you might want to throw Decatur into the mix after their big win over previously undefeated Minor.

Isabella is likely going to face off against Carrollton in the first round of the 1A playoffs. Carrollton, a team that finished atop Region 3 and undefeated after the '01 regular season, has really fallen off this season, suffering from the losses of key players such as Courtney Taylor, in addition to their head coach. The Indians got spanked by Linden to fall to 3-5 overall, but they will still qualify as the #4 team out of their region. Isabella and the Notre Dame box should have no problem blowing out the faltering Indians and moving on.

Thanks for the insight on Trinity, Bo. I think they are a solid team, but I too, am skeptical about their chances of knocking off the serious contenders. Trinity benefits from playing a comparatively weak schedule (no offense to St. James and others, just making an observation), and it is often difficult to gauge how they stack up against the rest of the state.

Glad you mentioned the Robert E. Lee-Jeff Davis rivalry. I realize this one is probably more intense at present than Lee-Lanier, but I included that particular rivalry because of the long history between the two and the great players that have taken part in it. Lee-JD is probably "bigger" in Montgomery today because those two programs are typically stronger than Lanier, but I left Lee-JD off the list because JD really isn't that old of a school, and I thought a good "historical rivalry" in the capital city was needed among the top 10.

Another great weekend for high school football in the state, especially in terms of the great upsets...

Tuscaloosa Central shutout Tuscaloosa County 17-0. Though TCHS is clearly the more talented team, Central had pride and emotion on their side and used it to demoralize the Wildcats in the virtual conclusion of a 23-year heated rivalry. County must regroup and figure out why the offense bottled up in the redzone and iron out a number of problems before taking on Jeff Davis in their final tune-up before playoff time. Central is headed for the postseason, and hopefully for the Falcons the momentum from this huge win will carry over into the next few weeks.

6A defending state champion was annihilated by Baldwin County 31-7. Baldwin is a team I overlooked earlier, and now must consider them as a serious contender. The Tigers are for real, and proved it against their intra-county rivals. Daphne was left scratching their heads after this one, and Coach Steve Savarese appears to have some work on his hands if this bunch hopes to successfully defend the title.

As for the title picks:
In 6A, I haven't given up on TCHS just yet, but a loss to Jeff Davis this week and I might lose a lot of faith.

5A - Russellville keeps rolling along and I still like them. Homewood was upset by Briarwood in the battle of Birmingham-area heavyweights, and both of these squads can be counted on to make some noise in the postseason.

4A -Demopolis 41, previously undefeated Dallas County 14.

3A - TR Miller wins the Battle of Murder Creek with a convincing 39-6 blowout over rival WS Neal. Also big wins for Pike County, Springville, and Colbert County.

2A - Southern Choctaw slaughtered Leroy 34-14 and look to be a lock for the Super Six as the South's representative. Lineville took care of business against Ranburne 33-20, and the Gordo Green Wave bounced back from last week's shocker to beat Sumiton Christian 39-27.

1A - Clay County holding strong after 50-14 win over previously unbeaten Wadley. CCHS' perfect record on the line as they face off against Lineville in the annual Clay Bowl this weekend. Though the two teams are no longer in the same classification, this one will still be just as close as ever.

Hillcrest will go as far as Markus Manson can carry them, which may very well be to the quarterfinals. They have an excellent shot at knocking off Vestavia Hills in round one, and the potential second round matchup, possibly against Decatur, is winnable.

Quarterfinal matchup will be much tougher, however, as Hillcrest would likely have to face off against Mountain Brook, unless the Spartans are upset along the way.

Hillcrest is probably one of the state's most improved teams, but they aren't contenders yet. Next year, Manson may be the be the best back in the state, and a more experienced Hillcrest team will be right there in the title hunt.