WEEK 4 PREVIEWS: Week 4 features region clashes and a Jackson vs. DeKalb non-region battle
Story By Jason Bowen
Week 4 of the 2025 high school football season in Jackson County includes a six-game slate featuring five region contests and one non-region showdowns with Jackson-DeKalb bragging rights at stake.
Here is a look at all six games involving Jackson County teams. All series records are courtesy of the Alabama High School Football Historical Society (ahsfhs.org). Here is a look at Week 4’s games:
› WOODVILLE at RAGLAND
The Woodville football team is coming off arguably the biggest win in school history, a 41-26 Class 1A Region 7 victory over then No. 9-ranked Spring Garden.
Not only was it the first time the Panthers defeated Spring Garden in 14 all-time tries, it was the program’s first ever win over a ranked team.
“It was exciting night,” said Woodville head coach Joel Poole. “The kids were so excited and I think the fans may have been even more excited. Hopefully it shows what we can be.”
Poole said now the mission is getting “the kids back down to earth” after what was a weekend of compliments and praise over the victory.
“It’s going to be about how we handle this success,” he said. “We’ve got to stay focused and keep getting better. I’m really proud of the improvement we’ve made since the first game. We’ve got to keep working like we have and keep getting better like we have because there’s no easy games in this region.”
Poole said Woodville (3-1, 2-0) can’t afford a “let up” this week when they hit the road for another Class 1A Region 7 matchup at the Ragland Purple Devils. Kickoff is set for Friday at 7 p.m. at Joan Ford Field in Ragland. It’s only the second meeting between the teams, with Ragland outscoring the Panthers 29-0 in the second half last season in a 50-20 win.
Ragland (1-2, 0-1) opened its season with a 38-19 win over Donoho before losing at Spring Garden 52-33 in Week 2 and at Class 2A Southeastern 34-0 in a non-region contest last Friday.
“Ragland always had a good football team,” Poole said. “They thumped us pretty good last year. They’ve got a lot of good athletes that can score at any time. Defensively they get after you. They’re physical, just like every team in this region. We’ve got to be focused in. We’ve got to go on the road and it’s about a two-day drive down there. We’ve got to make sure we keep doing the things we’ve done the past few weeks.”
› CEDAR BLUFF at SECTION
The Lions return home for a Class 2A Region 7 matchup with Cedar Bluff after playing three of their first four games on the road.
“It feels like forever since we’ve played,” said Section head coach Riley Edwards. “We glad to be finally at home again.”
It’s the 14th all-time meeting between the teams in a series Cedar Bluff leads 11-2. The Tigers won last season’s meeting 41-24.
Section (0-4, 0-2) is coming off a 35-12 region setback at Sand Rock last Friday.
“I thought we did some good things, did better on some things we’ve been trying to fix,” said head coach Riley Edwards. “(Offensively), our opening drive was very good…but we made a mistake and got behind the chains, got out of rhythm and out of the play calls we wanted to run. I felt like that would’ve been big for our confidence if we’d punched that one in. We did some good things (defensively) and when we made them drive it, we eventually were able to take it away from them with some turnovers. But the big plays, all their scores were on big plays. We’ve got to eliminate those big plays.”
Meanwhile, Cedar Bluff (2-2, 1-1) looks to bounce back from a 34-6 region loss North Sand Mountain. The Tigers have alternated wins this season, defeating Valley Head 38-19 in Week 0 and Gaston 42-20 in Week 2 while losing at Collinsville 53-6 in Week 1 and at NSM in Week 3.
“They’ve had some good games,” Edwards said. “They’ve got a few athletes on offense with a couple of good running backs and the quarterback throws a good ball. They’re going to load the box (on defense) and play a lot of man-to-man (in the secondary).”
› SCOTTSBORO at SARDIS
The defending region champion Scottsboro football team will try to remain perfect in Class 5A Region 8 play when its travels to Etowah County for a matchup with Sardis.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Sardis High School.
It’s only the fourth all-time meeting between the teams in a series Scottsboro leads 3-0.
Scottsboro (3-1, 2-0) posted its third consecutive win with last Friday’s 61-14 region victory over previously undefeated Douglas.
“We’ve got things we’ve got to clean up, but I thought our guys played really well,” said Scottsboro head coach Tyler Vann. “The guys played with a lot of energy, played really well together. When you do that, good things tend to happen.”
Sardis (1-3, 0-2) opened the season with a 41-14 loss at Class 3A No. 3-ranked Geraldine. The Lions bounced back to defeat Cleburne County 27-14 in Week 1 and suffered a last-second 21-15 loss at Arab before falling last week 49-12 at Guntersville.
Vann said Sardis is a pass-heavy team and Scottsboro must play well in the secondary and against the run, making the Lions throw because they have to and not because they want to.
“(Sardis has) been a little different against everybody,” Vann said. “We’ve done a good job against the run, and they’ll try to combat that with a lot of RPOs. We’ve got to mix coverages up.”
The Wildcats will face a heavy-hearted Sardis team following the death of Sardis sophomore wide receiver/defensive back Branson Peppers, who was killed in an ATV accident on Saturday.
“It’s a really sad thing,” Vann said. “I know they’re going to honor him Friday night and we’re going to do something to honor him as well.”
› NORTH JACKSON AT NEW HOPE
The No. 10-ranked North Jackson football team ventures across the Jackson-Madison County line for a second straight week in Class 4A Region 8 play as the defending region champs visit New Hope.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at New Hope High School’s Jack Mitchell Stadium.
It’s the eight all-time meeting between the teams in a series North Jackson leads 6-1. The Chiefs have won the last two meetings, including a 50-14 victory in Stevenson a year ago.
North Jackson (4-1, 2-0) is coming off a 61-21 statewide-televised win over St. John Paul II last Thursday. The 61 points were the most for North Jackson since the 2023 season while Chiefs defense put together another strong effort. North Jackson head coach Joe Hollis Jr. said the Chiefs’ are progressing from week-to-week “as a coach you hope we would. You figure it out as go and I feel like our coaches are putting our kids in the best position to be successful. (Football) is about being as physical as you can. When you’ve got guys that win the contact war up front on both sides, you’re going to have success. When you’ve got an offensive line that can control the line of scrimmage and guys that can do something special when the ball is in their hand, you’re set up for success. This group plays together and they like the style we coach and believe in it. When you’ve got that, you’ve got a chance to be successful.”
Meanwhile, New Hope (2-1, 1-1) opened the season with wins over 43-32 vs. Ohatchee and 42-28 at region foe DAR, but following a Week 2 bye the Indians dropped a region matchup 27-6 at rival Madison County last Friday.
Hollis said Madison County controlled the line of scrimmage against New Hope last week, something he said the Chiefs must do in order to try to have both offensive and defensive success in this week’s matchup.
“New Hope is the first traditional spread team we’ve seen this year,” Hollis said. “They’re a really good football team. They have a really good quarterback and have the players to be a really fast-break kind of offense.”
› GASTON at NSM
North Sand Mountain is off its best start since 2020, and the Bison will try to continue that when they host Class 2A Region 7 foe Gaston for Homecoming.
Kickoff is set for Friday at 7 p.m. at Lloyd Dobbins Field in Higdon.
It’s the just the eighth all-time meeting between the teams. Gaston leads the series 4-3, but NSM has won the last three meetings, including a 43-21 triumph a year ago.
NSM (4-0, 2-0) posted a 34-6 win over Cedar Bluff last week while Gaston (1—2, 0-1) is looking to rebound from a 34-12 non-region setback to Woodland. The Bulldogs opened the season with a 34-6 win over Asbury before falling to region foe Cedar Bluff 42-20 in Week 2.
Gaston is also under the direction of a new head coach for the fourth consecutive season. Randy Dupree, who was the Bulldogs’ defensive coordinator last season, was promoted to the head-coaching role last spring. He has been on the staff at Gaston the past four seasons, and Lipscomb said there are both scheme and styles similarities and differences with this year’s Gaston team compared to last season’s.
“In some ways they are (similar) and some ways not,” Lipscomb said. “They still do a good job of getting the ball to their athletes and letting them make plays. They’ve got some athletes that can put you in a bind. They’re athletic and they also play physical.”
NSM enters the matchup having outscored its 171-13 through four games — Cedar Bluff scored on the final play of the game last week to prevent the Bison from posting a third consecutive shutout — and their strong start has fans across the state beginning to looking NSM’s way. Lipscomb doesn’t believe the attention will affect his veteran squad.
“It’s cool that people are starting to take notice, but I think for our guys it won’t be (a distraction),” Lipscomb said. “They’re focused on the goals we have and where we want to get to. It’s just about continuing to do the work we have and the things we’ve been doing. The things that won us the first few games is how we can win games in the future.”
› PISGAH at PLAINVIEW
Pisgah continues what head coach Adam Gilbert described as the “gauntlet” when its steps out of region play this week to face the undefeated Class 4A Plainview Bears.
Kickoff is set for Friday at 7 p.m. Plainview High School in Rainsville.
It’s the 39th all-time meeting between the teams in a series Plainview leads 27-11, but Pisgah has won three of the last five meetings including a 38-14 triumph last season.
Pisgah (2-1, 2-0) defeated fellow Top-5 ranked team, Pleasant Valley, 44-20 in a Class 2A Region 7 matchup last week. Meanwhile, Plainview (3-0) is off to its best start since the 2020 season after posting Class 4A Region 8 wins over Westminster Christian 26-17, Randolph 54-7 and DAR 55-14.
“Since the jamboree, we’ve played a reigning (Tennessee state champion Marion County), a ranked 4A team in a fall jamboree (Good Hope), played Fyffe, faced a Top-5 team last week — it’s a gauntlet, but we’re getting better because of it,” said Pisgah head coach Adam Gilbert. “Now Plainview, they’re big across the board. The run the football really well and the quarterback, he’s getting better throwing the football and (offensive coordinator) Jeremy (Pruitt) is doing a really good job of knowing when to take shots (in the passing game).
Obviously it’s a challenge, but our kids are excited about it,” he said. “Playing Plainview is always a big game. We expect it to be another four-quarter battle.”
