CULLMAN COUNTY – Ah, high school football. Where teams experience the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. As the 2016 regular season came to a close over the weekend, some playoff-bound teams enter the postseason trying to regain their identity while some have momentum and hope to build on it.
Two schools put away the season with very good performances to carry a positive outlook into the offseason.
The Hanceville Bulldogs wiped out a five-game losing streak by combining 148 yards passing from sophomore QB Alex Campbell and 142 yards rushing by running back B.J. Smalls to down the Good Hope Raiders 32-13 at James Shabel Stadium.
This series has been controlled by the road team in four of the last five years. Hanceville has won two straight at Good Hope and sent the Raiders to an 0-10 record, the first at the school in 21 years.
Fairview took away a lot of momentum from Holly Pond, running by the playoff-bound Broncos 62-25 at Thomas-Michelfelder Field.
The Aggies have been in command of this series with their rivals from the east since George Redding became coach at his alma mater in 2007. Fairview is 10-0 vs. Holly Pond under Redding and has won the last games by a combined margin of 102-25.
Both wins in the last two seasons for the Aggies have been on Holly Pond's turf. This one prevented the Broncos from getting a seven-win regular season and stopped a three-game home winning streak.
Addison accumulated a "Perfect 10" for the first time since 2001. The Bulldogs' 57-28 rout of Winston County has the No. 3 team in the 1A rankings 10-0 and focused on making a deep run into the postseason, which begins this weekend with a game against a 3-7 Shoals Christian squad at A.G. Hicks Stadium.
One county team that has seen the change from a rough start to a solid finish is West Point. The Warriors pulled out a 28-21 victory at Lawrence County to complete a 6-4 finish and turn the season around by winning six of their last seven after they started with a 14-10 loss to Hamilton, a 41-6 loss to Wilson and a 14-6 defeat at Hayden.
The Warriors went on to go 4-2 in 5A, Region 6 and have made the postseason three consecutive years under Don Farley.
Winning over the weekend in Moulton gives West Point a boost in confidence with the Warriors now embracing their toughest game of the season, a trip to Birmingham to play a 7-2 Wenonah team that took last week off and will enter the game with fresh legs and a healthy unit.
This will be the second time in three years the Warriors open the playoffs in the Magic City. West Point fought hard with Parker two years ago before the Thundering Herd pulled away by a final score of 28-9.
Cullman's five-game losing streak ended in a 45-38 setback to Chelsea, another good team in Class 6A. The Hornets are second in Region 3 with the Bearcats playoff-bound as the No. 3 seed from Region 7.
Cullman now has an old foe they know like the back of their hand, the Decatur Red Raiders. The Bearcats and their former rival in Region 8 square off Friday at Ogle Stadium.
Cullman won at Decatur 13-10 in 2015, but this time it will be different. The Red Raiders have won nine in a row after a 37-35 loss in triple overtime in their second game to Austin. That kept the Raiders from winning the Region 8 championship.
If Cullman goes back to the way the Bearcats played against Pell City and Southside-Gadsden, they can conquer the Raiders and take it to the round of 16 vs. the winner of the Ramsay-Clay Chalkville contest.
Holly Pond has to face defending state champion Piedmont in the opening round of 3A on the road; Cold Springs goes to Sheffield for the first time, and with three consecutive losses is trying to heal a bruised psyche.
The Eagles have made the playoffs for three straight seasons under Rod Elliott and have gone 25-15 in the last four regular seasons, the best record in that span against every other team in the county.
Good Hope's future does have promise with a majority of the personnel being sophomores this year. A young team that can weather the storm does have a chance to turn it around when it will be the third year the Raiders are under Alan Scott.
Vinemont finished 2-8 under Matt Norris and will have to replace QB Garrett Boland who graduates in May. He was instrumental in directing the offense and stayed pretty much healthy in 2016.
The regular season schedule will remain the same, but the venues will change as six of the eight teams in the county will kick off the 2017 regular season on the third weekend of August.
The games for the weekend of August 18 will be Cold Springs at Hanceville, Hartselle at Cullman, North Sand Mountain at Fairview, Coosa Christian at Holly Pond and West Point at Hamilton.
Good Hope and Vinemont will have jamboree games that weekend and will meet each other on the final weekend of August at Mark Smothers Stadium for the season opener.
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