Undefeated Piedmont (5-0) remains at the top of Class 3A for the third week in a row following a 28-14 win over former No. 9 Glencoe (4-1, 3-1).  Early in that game Piedmont lost starting QB Chris Strott to an ankle injury and spotted the Yellow Jackets two touchdowns on their home turf.  Despite that double whammy, the Bulldogs rallied to tie the game before the halftime break on touchdown romps of 56 and 29 yards from junior Jamie Majors.  A 30-yard Glencoe field goal provided the Yellow Jackets a slim 17-14 advantage heading into the final quarter. Piedmont Head Coach Steve Smith called on Cade Bradley to rally the Bulldogs and the reserve QB responded by guiding the offense to two fourth-quarter scores. Piedmont moves on to their sixth region game of the season when they host Weaver (3-2, 3-1) at the Field of Champions. With the loss Glencoe, along with T.R. Miller, exited the Class 3A top ten.

A week ago, Collinsville (5-0) ascended to the No. 3 position in Class 1A after a 56-14 homecoming win over Woodville.  This week the high-powered Panther offense used four different quarterbacks to rack up 558 yards of offense on the way to whipping Jefferson Christian, 56-0.  Seven different Collinsville players scored touchdowns.  The Panthers attention is now completely focused on their showdown this Friday night with Region 7 rival Cedar Bluff (2-3, 2-0). 

The Tigers’ three non-region losses have been out-of-class, to 4A Douglas, 4A Cherokee County and undefeated Sardis (3A).  Collinsville won the last two meetings between the schools, including a 30-27 thriller at L.D. Bruce Field last year.  In 2010 the Panthers did not lose a region game and captured their first region championship since 1999.  Cedar Bluff will look to turn the tables on the Panthers as they journey over the mountain to Chad Hawkins Stadium. 

Class 5A Fort Payne reached a historic milestone Friday night when they picked up the schools 500th all-time victory by knocking off previously undefeated and then-No. 9 Cullman. The Wildcats jumped on the Bearcats from the start with 23 unanswered points and went on to win 44-21. As a result, Fort Payne returned to the top ten after a four-week absence.  The Wildcats host Region 7 rival Boaz Friday. 

Week five saw only one No. 1 team upset, as Briarwood Christian was pushed off their Class 5A perch after losing to 6A Vestavia Hills 35-14.  Briarwood was unable to stop Vestavia running back Georgie Salem in the first half, as the tailback picked up 202 of his 221 rushing yards in the first 24 minutes.  Salem had scoring runs of 80, 27 and 48 yards.  Hueytown is the new pole sitter in Class 5A with Florida State-bound QB Jameis Winston in the driver’s seat for the Golden Gophers. 

In Class 6A, No. 3-ranked ranked Prattville was surprised by unheralded Opelika, which was boosted by three field goals from Will Black (the last coming with 9.5 seconds to play) as the Bulldogs scored a 16-14 upset. Prattville fell six spots with the loss. Locally, Oxford exited the top ten after they were thumped by No. 6 Auburn 48-34. Oxford and Gadsden City still received consideration from ASWA voters. 

Guntersville rejoined the Class 4A elites at No. 10 after Fayette County was dumped following a 28-13 upset at the hands of 3A Gordo. Guntersville (4-1, 2-1) welcomes Region 7 co-leader and eighth-ranked Fairview (5-0, 3-0) to town Friday night. Class 4A has had no movement among the top seven teams since the pre-season poll was release in August. Class 4A Region 7 is also represented by North Jackson (4-0) at No. 4.  The Chiefs will host the Cherokee County Warriors (3-2, 2-1) this week.  

Fyffe (5-0) took advantage of a Class 2A reshuffle caused to losses by No. 2 Leroy (3-2) and No. 7 Lineville (4-1).  Fyffe is the new No. 2 as Leroy was drilled by 4A No. 2 Jackson 37-13.  No. 7 Lineville was edged by 3A Clay County by a score of 7-6 in the last-ever Clay Bowl. Next year’s consolidation of the two schools will end the series, which began in 1922. Lineville slipped to No. 9 in the recent rankings.  

The complete poll is as follows:

CLASS 6A

1. Daphne (31) (5-0) 372

2. Hoover (5-0) 277

3. Clay-Chalkville (5-0) 235

4. Mountain Brook (5-0) 206

5. Auburn (5-0) 192

6. Bob Jones (5-0) 145

7. McGill-Toolen (5-0) 90

8. Blount (5-0) 86

9. Prattville (3-2) 66

10. Northridge (5-0) 34

Others receiving votes: Opelika (3-1) 20, Spain Park (3-2) 18, Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa (5-0) 12, Central-Phenix City (4-1) 4, Fairhope (4-1) 3, Gadsden City (3-2) 3, Dothan (4-1) 2, Oxford (3-2) 2.

CLASS 5A

1. Hueytown (30) (5-0) 369

2. Hartselle (1) (5-0) 275

3. Eufaula (5-0) 240

4. Vigor (4-1) 200

5. Briarwood Chr. (4-1) 189

6. Chelsea (4-1) 149

7. Fairfield (5-0) 119

8. Muscle Shoals (4-1) 89

9. St. Paul's (4-1) 48

10. Fort Payne (4-1) 41

Others receiving votes: McAdory (4-1) 33, Center Point (4-1) 4, Valley (4-1) 3, Cullman (4-1) 2, Demopolis (3-2) 2, Pinson Valley (4-1) 2, Etowah (3-2) 1, Greenville (4-1) 1.

CLASS 4A

1. Thomasville(31) (5-0) 372

2. Jackson (5-0) 264

3. Dadeville (5-0) 239

4. North Jackson (5-0) 216

5. Deshler (5-0) 185

6. Bibb Co. (5-0) 160

7. Andalusia (5-0) 140

8. Fairview (5-0) 84

9. Beauregard (5-0) 66

10. Guntersville (4-1) 28

Others receiving votes: Dora (4-1) 6, Fayette Co. (4-1) 2, UMS-Wright (3-2) 2, Greene Co. (4-1) 1, Lincoln (3-2) 1, Oneonta (4-1) 1.

CLASS 3A

1. Piedmont (26) (5-0) 353

2. Hamilton (1) (5-0) 272

3. Handley (4) (5-0) 265

4. Washington Co. (5-0) 213

5. Leeds (4-1) 180

6. Bayside Acad. (5-0) 155

7. Clay Co. (4-1) 136

8. Trinity (4-1) 64

9. Sardis (5-0) 40

10. Hanceville (5-0) 26

Others receiving votes: Glencoe (4-1) 20, Slocomb (5-0) 16, Gordo (3-2) 11, T.R. Miller (3-2) 8, Rogers (4-1) 4, Sylvania (5-0) 3, Saks (5-0) 1.

CLASS 2A

1. Elba (29) (5-0) 361

2. Fyffe (1) (5-0) 270

3. Tanner (5-0) 242

4. American Chr. (1) (4-1) 212

5. Reeltown (4-1) 187

6. Leroy (3-2) 143

7. Red Bay (5-0) 129

8. Flomaton (5-0) 110

9. Lineville (4-1) 66

10. N. Sand Mountain (4-1) 23

Others receiving votes: Oakman (4-1) 17, Westminster Chr. (4-1) 4, Vincent (4-1) 2, Colbert Hts. (3-2) 1.

CLASS 1A

1. Linden (31) (5-0) 372

2. Lynn (5-0) 257

3. Collinsville (5-0) 223

4. Brantley (5-0) 219

5. Maplesville (5-0) 186

6. Pickens Co. (5-0) 156

7. Addison (5-0) 128

8. Ragland (4-0) 94

9. Sweet Water (2-3) 61

10. Marion Co. (5-0) 29