WEEK 5 PREVIEWS: Jackson County teams step out of region play
Story By Jason Bowen
Week 5 of the 2025 high school football season provides a break from region play for Jackson County teams, while one takes a break from playing entirely.
North Sand Mountain, Scottsboro, Section, Woodville and Pisgah play non-region games while North Jackson takes the week off.
Here is a look at all five 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 5’s games:
SCOTTSBORO at CENTRAL CLAY COUNTY
The Scottsboro football team hits the road this week for a Class 5A Top-10 showdown when the No. 9-ranked Wildcats visit No. 7 Clay County Central.
The game is Friday at 7 p.m. at Clay County Central High School in Linville. It’s the longest road trip of the regular-season for the Wildcats.
It’s a rematch for a 35-21 Clay County Central win last season at Trammell Stadium, which was also a showdown between ranked teams.
Both teams enter this season’s clash at 4-1 undefeated in their respective regions, Class 5A Region 8 for the Wildcats and Region 4 for the Volunteers.
“It’s a really high-level game,” said Scottsboro head coach Tyler Vann. “Central, they can really make another run in the south (bracket in Class 5A) this year. It’s a good opponent, a playoff-type opponent for us. It’s a good game for us to have. It was a good game last year. I feel better about our chances this year based on how much better we are in the weight room.”
Scottsboro is coming off a 42-7 region win at Sardis, the team’s fourth straight since a season-opening two-point loss to Fort Payne. Vann said there were some individual highlights from the win but said the Wildcats weren’t as sharp as they could be.
“We had some guys step up and play big. But overall it wasn’t our best game, but the good thing is we still found a way to win 42-7 when we didn’t play our best,” he said. “We’ve got to go play a good, clean football game (against Central Clay County).”
Clay County Central enters the matchup having won three straight games. The Volunteers opened the season with a 26-3 win over Handley and a 40-7 loss to Class 6A No. _ Benjamin Russell before responding with region wins over Valley 29-21, Marbury 39-14 and Sylacauga 58-17.
Clay County Central is coached by Danny Horn, who is the winningest head coach in AHSAA history with 367-99 record, three wins in front of Fyffe’s Paul Benefield (364-60).
The Volunteers lost starting quarterback J.T. Wilkerson to injury and their season opener, and they’ve been a “heavy run” offense with Taylor Boyd and Jer’darius Hall taking the snaps.
“Those two guys run really well, very athletic guys you’ve got to contain,” Vann said. “We’ve got to be good on our run fits. They are a heavy run, but they still try to stretch you by throwing over the top.”
NSM at VALLEY HEAD
North Sand Mountain looks to remain undefeated when they venture to DeKalb County to take on Valley Head.
Kickoff for the non-region matchup is Thursday at 7 p.m. at Valley Head’s Tiger Stadium. It’s the 21st all-time meeting between the teams in a series Valley Head leads 12-8. The Tigers won 20-7 at NSM in a rain storm last season.
NSM (5-0) continued its best start since the 2020 season last Friday with a 54-0 Homecoming win over Class 2A Region 7 foe Gaston. It was the Bison’s third shut-out win, and they’ve outscored opponents 225-13 this season.
“I thought we started out a little sloppy and missed some assignments, but our kids played so hard it made up for some of that,” said NSM head coach Jay Lipscomb. “We’ve gotten a lot better from the start of the season and we’ve still got to continue to get better to get to where we want to go.”
Valley Head (3-2), playing just its second home game of the season this week, enters the matchup after having its three-game winning streak snapped last week in a 58-23 loss at Spring Garden. The Tigers posted wins over Section 14-6, Gaylesville 55-38 and Ider 29-22 after opening the season with a 38-19 loss at Cedar Bluff.
“Offensively they’re running the spread this year, which is a lot different than the single-wing stuff they did last year. The quarterback (Tytan Blevins) is back. He runs and throws well,” Lipscomb said. “It’s hard to know exactly what we’ll get — they mix it up (defensively) — so we’re preparing for a few different things. If the kids remember their rules and blocking assignments we should be able to adjust. They play hard on defense so our offense has to be physical.”
The game is NSM’s third Thursday game of the season, and Lipscomb said he’s been pleased with how his team has adjusted to short weeks during wins over Woodville and Cedar Bluff.
“I think our kids are used to it and how we did things those weeks,” he said. “They are good about going about their business no matter (the game night.”
APPALACHIAN at SECTION
It’s Homecoming for the Section this week as the Lions step out of Class 2A Region 7 play to take on 1A Appalachian.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Friday night at Section High School.
It’s the sixth all-time meeting between the teams in a series Section leads 3-2. Appalachian won last year’s meeting 41-14 in the first game between the teams in 20 years.
Section (1-4) enters the game on the heels of a 19-7 win over region foe Cedar Bluff, a victory that snapped a 13-game losing streak dating back to last season.
Section head coach Riley Edwards said the win “definitely was needed” for confidence and morale and said the Lions played with a much different demeanor in the win, one they need to carry over into their remaining games.
“We played loose and played like we were having fun,” Edwards said. “I think we’d been playing uptight, nervous. But (against Cedar Bluff) we played loose and you could tell that positively affected how we played. We did not make nearly as many mistakes that we had been.”
Meanwhile, Appalachian (5-0) is off to its best start since the 2010 season. The Eagles opened the season with a 25-0 win over Holly Pond and then edged Blount County rivals Cleveland 20-14 and Locust Fork 42-39 before posting Class 1A Region 8 wins over Gaylesville 56-0 and Ider 49-0 the past two weeks.
“For the size school they are, they’ve got a lot of kids out,” Edwards said. “They spread it out (offensively). Their quarterback is a really good dual threat guy. They balance it out (run-pass ratio) pretty well. They’ve got good size on offensive and defensive fronts. Defensively, they don’t use a specific scheme, they try to match what they get (from opposing offenses), attack the box and play a lot of man (coverage).”
WOODVILLE at BRINDLEE MOUNTAIN
The Panthers carry a four-game winning streak to Marshall County for a non-region clash with Class 3A Brindlee Mountain, but Woodville head coach Joel Poole says this “non-region game is as important” as the Panthers’ game in 1A Region 8.
“It’s important because it’s the next (game), but ties in the region (standings) can come down to these non-region games,” said Poole, whose team is 3-0 and currently atop the region standings. “It could count to get us over the top in a tiebreaker situation, so it’s just as important.”
Woodville (4-1)and Brindlee Mountain (1-4) meet Friday at 7 p.m. in Scant City. It’s the fourth all-time meeting in a series Woodville leads 3-0.
The Panthers are coming off a crucial 37-34 road win at Ragland. Woodville led most of the night, but after falling behind 34-29 in the fourth quarter, it responded with a touchdown drive in which it converted two fourth downs.
“Proud of what the kids accomplished, coming back on the road to win when we didn’t really play well,” Poole said.
Meanwhile, Brindlee Mountain enters the matchup trying to snap a three-game losing skid. After falling 21-18 at DAR in the season opener, the Lions shutout Vina 41-0 before falling to Class 3A Region 8 foes Whitesburg Christian 42-6, Holly Pond 60-12 and 3A No. 5-ranked Fyffe 54-14.
Poole said the Lions “have faced some tough teams” but noted they “have improved a lot since last season. We saw them this summer in 7-on-7s and you could tell they were better, bigger. Coach (Jake) Pittman is doing a really good job there.”
RANDOLPH at PISGAH
The Class 2A No. 2-ranked Eagles play their second consecutive Class 4A Region 8 opponent when they welcome Randolph to Sam Kenimer Stadium Friday (7 p.m.) for Homecoming.
It’s the fourth all-time meeting between the teams in a series Pisgah leads 3-0. The Eagles prevailed 26-0 in Huntsville last season.
Pisgah (2-2) is coming off a 61-30 loss to undefeated Plainview. Not much went the Eagles way, but head coach Adam Gilbert was pleased with the team’s “fight” in the matchup.
“I told them at halftime I was proud of how they’d fought and were in the game after so much had gone wrong in the first half,” said Gilbert, whose team trailed 36-24 at halftime. “Then the second half, we had the fumble and then (Plainview got) the onside kick and it kind of took the wind out of our sails, but we kept fighting. We’ve been tested as players and as a coaching staff. I know these guys will respond.”
Randolph (2-3) enters the matchup on a two-game winning streak. After opening the season with a 41-14 loss to 4A No. 3 West Morgan, a 49-7 loss to 4A No. 7 Madison Academy and a 54-7 setback at Plainview, the Raiders have posted home region wins over Westminster Christian 35-12 and St. John Paul II 44-14.
“They’re on a two-game winning streak coming in here and they actually played a lot better against Madison Academy than the score says,” Gilbert said. “They’ve been more balanced than they were last year. They can still throw it around, but they are more balanced. They play with a tight end about 70% of the time, which is something new for them. They’ve responded the last couple of weeks after a tough start. They’ll be a good test for us.”
