Paul W. Bryant has forfeited its game against region rival Hillcrest this Friday for reasons related to COVID-19, Hillcrest coach Sam Adams told Tide 100.9.
From COVID forfeitures to many of the games in west Alabama being moved to Thursday due to Hurricane Delta, last week of high school football was a wild one. As the regular season starts to wrap up, its crunch time for many schools as they make a final push for a playoff spot.
With Hillcrest’s huge win over Northridge last week, the doors of Region 4 of 6A were opened wide for an arms race involving almost all of the teams in the region. Now that we’re in October with only four weeks of the regular season left, its “put up or shut up” time for teams on the edge of a playoff berth.
After several teams took the week off last week to prepare for the second half of the schedule, most of Tuscaloosa county is back and ready for more area play. Three different 6A Region 4 matchups might be the difference makers for teams to make a playoff run. In addition, several surprise teams have matchups that could affect their comeback seasons.
Up against an undefeated Hillcrest (4-1), it was a battle of the mind to see who would remain unphased in a high-stakes game that came down to the very last second...again.
Last week, Tuscaloosa-area schools didn’t look great. Besides a miracle in Wetumpka by Hillcrest, west Alabama was full of blowouts. Still, this week provides several big area matchups that could be big statement wins for a few schools in a rut.
The Hillcrest Patriots (4-0, 1-0) took on the Wetumpka Indians (2-2, 1-0) and escaped Hohenburg Field with a 35-30 victory on one of the wildest final plays you'll ever see.
While the thermometer still registers in the high-eighties, going into week four makes it feel more and more like fall and football season. Not all Tuscaloosa-area schools are competing in area matchups, but there are still some big games to look out for.
As another electric week of high school football in the state of Alabama comes to an end, some teams in the Tuscaloosa area are looking fierce early on.