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Photo by Todd Lester.
Briarwood is in the playoffs for the 24th straight season.
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Photo by Ted Melton.
Spain Park is back in the playoffs after a state title appearance last year.
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Photo by Todd Lester.
Chelsea has looked impressive this season, while Oak Mountain fought for some key victories to propel the Eagles to the playoffs.
The U.S. 280 corridor looks as if it’s going to stay busy due to high school football on Friday nights, at least for the first few weeks of November.
Briarwood Christian School and Chelsea, Spain Park and Oak Mountain high schools have all put themselves in position to qualify for the postseason, and all of them have the potential to make it past just the first round.
Briarwood clinched its playoff berth by winning its first five games in Class 5A, Region 5. It is certainly not an abnormal sight to see the Lions in the postseason, as 2016 is the 24th consecutive season that Briarwood has advanced to the state playoffs.
“We like that thought,” Briarwood coach Fred Yancey said of his team securing a postseason berth. “It’s been a bunch of years in a row that we’ve been able to do it, and kids take a lot of pride in that tradition. We find a way to get in the playoffs every year. It’s for hard work and a lot of effort on their part.”
Among those 23 previous consecutive postseason appearances, Briarwood has won at least one game in 19 of those seasons, including state championships in 1998, 1999 and 2003, according to the Alabama High School Football Historical Society.
Due to the private school multiplier, Briarwood even jumped to Class 6A for the 2014 and 2015 season, and were probably slightly overmatched in terms of depth. But the Lions still managed to make the playoffs in both seasons and pulled off an upset of Fort Payne in the first round last year.
Chelsea’s success this fall has given the Hornets their second consecutive playoff berth, Chelsea’s first two since ascending to 6A in 2012. In Chris Elmore’s fourth season at the helm, his program has risen to the point where it now expects to have success in the playoffs.
Last fall’s 7-3 regular season record led to a first-round matchup with Blount, where the Hornets hung close but lost 41-28. They admitted to feeling some stress due to never being in that situation.
Quarterback Matthew Marquet and running back Zalon Reynolds are two of the leaders of the Chelsea team, and both have said they expect a different result this fall.
“When we make it to the playoffs, we know that we’ve been here, and we’re going to come out with a win,” Marquet said before the season began.
Chelsea’s defense has proven opportunistic and has shown a penchant for making a play when called upon. That trend will need to continue into November if the Hornets are to win one or multiple games in the playoffs.
Spain Park’s task was not easy coming into the 2016 season, following a state championship berth in 2015. Last year marked the second time the Jaguars have reached the title game, also doing so in 2007. However, Spain Park followed that season up with a 4-6 mark and failed to make the postseason.
According to AHSFHS.org, the Jags are 14-9 all-time in the playoffs. Head coach Shawn Raney alerted his team of that piece of history during the summer, determined to not have that happen again.
Back-to-back losses to Hoover and Mountain Brook following a 3-0 start put the Jags in a tough spot, prompting Raney to emphasize to his team that the Huffman game on Sept. 30, coming off the team’s bye week, began the “playoffs” for Spain Park.
Given that mindset, the real state playoffs will not require any shift in focus for the Jags.
Of the four schools mentioned, Oak Mountain had by far the most difficult road to advance to the postseason. After faltering to an 0-3 start on the season, the Eagles picked themselves up and won two crucial Class 7A, Region 3 games against Vestavia Hills and Thompson, two victories that proved to be the difference maker in their season.
Starting quarterback Wyatt Legas went down with an injury in the second game of the season and was replaced by Jackson Kimbrell, who led the team to those two wins: a blowout of Vestavia and a last-second touchdown pass against Thompson.
Be sure to keep up with each team’s playoff run online at 280living.com.
