High School Football Playoffs Set To Kick-Off
MADISON- The 2019 high school football playoffs begin this week with three of the four local schools making the jump to the post-season.
In Class 7A, James Clemens will host Vestavia Hills while Sparkman travels to face No. 4 ranked Hoover. In Class 5A, the Mustangs of Madison Academy will be on the road for a first-round game to tangle with top ranked Jasper in Walker County. All of the first round playoff games will be held Friday with kickoffs at 7:00 p.m.
The No. 6 Jets of James Clemens won the Region 8 Championship with a perfect 7-0 region record for the second consecutive season. After losing its first two games of the regular season, James Clemens went on a roll unlike any other team in North Alabama winning its next eight games including a 49-26 thumping of Hillcrest Tuscaloosa to end the regular season.
For the Jets (8-2, 7-0), they averaged 43.5 points per game while allowing just 15.8 per outing. The Jets offensive firepower included six times scoring 40-plus points, twice hitting the 60-point mark and posting two shutouts on defense.
James Clemens will host the unranked Vestavia Hills Rebels (7-3, 4-3) at Madison City Schools Stadium. The Rebels are from Region 3 and averaged 31.5 points per game while their defense was stingy allowing just 13.8 to their opponents and posting two shutouts. The Rebels’ three losses came at the hands of No. 7 Mountain Brook, No. 1 Thompson and No. 4 Hoover.
James Clemens and Vestavia Hills have never met.
The ninth-ranked Region 4 Sparkman Senators (8-2, 5-2) defeated Decatur 21-14 to complete its regular season scoring 29.7 points per game while allowing 19.2. The Senators won their first seven outings of the season before losing their next two to both James Clemens and Florence.
This week, Sparkman will tangle with Hoover (8-2, 6-1) of Region 3. The Senators have not beaten the Buccaneers in three tries including a 49-7 loss in 2017. Hoover averaged 31.1 points per game in 2019 while giving up a moderate 22.4 points in each contest. Hoover lost to top-ranked Thompson and to IMG Academy, Fla. for its two losses during the campaign. The Buccaneers have won 11 state titles since 2000.
The Madison Academy Mustangs (5-5, 4-3) in Region 8 of Class 5A fell on hard times at the tail-end of the regular season losing its final four games including a season-ending 40-30 loss to Brooks. The Mustangs scored 27.8 and allowed 29.6 points per outing.
Next up for the Mustangs is No. 1 ranked Jasper, which officially changed its name from Walker County in 2017. The Vikings (10-0, 7-0) played in Region 7 where they scored 42.1 and allowed just 9.7 points per game in 2019. The Vikings’ defense posted five shutouts, scored 40-plus points six times, had two games of 50-plus points scored and posted one game of 60-plus. They are two-time region champions and will host the Mustangs at Ki-Ro/Gambrell Field.
The AHSAA Super Seven Championships will be held at Auburn University with the Class 7A title game at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 4 and the Class 5A championship contest set for Thursday, Dec. 5 at 7:00 p.m.
