Photo by Todd Lester.
Chelsea’s Donovan Bivens (6) and a member of the Chelsea coaching staff celebrate during an Aug. 21 game against Oak Mountain at Heardmont Park. Chelsea plays four region games before wrapping up the regular season this month.
With the way the calendar sets up this season, five of the 11 weeks of the high school football regular season fall in the month of October. Briarwood, Chelsea, Oak Mountain and Spain Park will wrap up region play and the regular season this month, with each program hopeful to make a playoff push in November.
Briarwood plays its final four games in October, beginning with a trip to Shades Valley on Oct. 2. The two Birmingham-area schools have never faced one another on the football field but are now foes in Class 6A, Region 5.
The Lions host Mountain Brook on Oct. 9 in another region matchup made possible by Briarwood’s ascension and Mountain Brook’s moving down a classification this year. The two schools met twice in the 1990s, splitting the pair of games.
After taking an open week, Briarwood returns to action Oct. 23 at Homewood to conclude region action. Homewood has taken the last four games in the series and has defeated Briarwood in 10 of 14 previous meetings.
Briarwood hosts Corner on Oct. 30 to finish off the regular season. The teams last met in 2016 in a first-round playoff game that the Lions won easily. Briarwood has won six of the seven meetings between the two schools.
Chelsea plays four region games before wrapping up the regular season. All four of them come against teams the program has never played before. On Oct. 2, the Hornets will host Woodlawn in a Region 5 matchup. The following Thursday, Chelsea hosts Huffman for the first time. The Hornets then travel to Shades Valley on Oct. 16 to play the Mounties, before heading to Mountain Brook on Oct. 23 to finish up region play.
Chelsea hosts Calera on Oct. 30 to wrap up the regular season. Chelsea has won eight of the last nine games between the two teams, but Calera still holds a 20-11-1 edge in the series.
In the month, Oak Mountain also plays four region foes and a non-region one to conclude the regular season. The Eagles host Spain Park on Oct. 2 in a Class 7A, Region 3 showdown. Spain Park has held the upper hand in the rivalry in recent years, winning 12 of the last 14 meetings.
On Oct. 9, the Eagles head to Tuscaloosa County, a team they beat 53-32 last fall. Oak Mountain has won four of the six previous meetings between the schools. The Eagles host defending state champion Thompson the following Friday. The Warriors have taken the last three games in the series, but the Eagles still hold a 9-7 edge all-time.
Oak Mountain finishes up region play Oct. 23 with a trip to Hewitt-Trussville. The Huskies have scored at least 50 points the last three times the teams have met and Hewitt-Trussville holds a 5-3 edge in the series. The Eagles wrap up the regular season the next Thursday, Oct.29, at Clay-Chalkville.
Spain Park is in the same boat as Oak Mountain, with five games in the month, four of them within the region. After the Jags’ game at Oak Mountain, they host city rival Hoover on Oct. 9. Spain Park has not defeated Hoover since 2015, when the Jags notched their only two victories over the Bucs in 19 meetings.
The Jags then host Vestavia Hills on Oct. 16. After winning four straight over the Rebels, Vestavia has taken the last two meetings between the region foes. On Oct. 23, Spain Park wraps up region play with a trip to Tuscaloosa County, where the Jags suffered a disappointing defeat last fall.
Spain Park finishes regular season play on Oct. 29 at Hueytown. The Jags have defeated the Golden Gophers all four times they have played.
