WEEK 6 PREVIEWS: Jackson County teams step back into region play this week
Story By Jason Bowen
Week 6 of the 2025 high school football season features a return to region play for Scottsboro, Section, Pisgah and North Jackson while Woodville and North Sand Mountain will rest up for the return to region action next week.
Here is a look at the four games involving Jackson County teams. All series records are courtesy of the Alabama High School Football Historical Society (ahsfhs.org):
MADISON ACADEMY at NORTH JACKSON
It’s a Class 4A Region showdown between Top-10 teams in Stevenson when the No. 9-ranked North Jackson hosts No. 7 Madison Academy at R.D. Hicks Stadium.
Kickoff of the matchup between two of the region tri-leaders is set for Friday at 7 p.m.
It’s the eighth all-time meeting between the teams in a series Madison Academy leads 4-3. North Jackson won last season’s game 18-10 in Madison on its way to winning the region championship. And while the matchup is one of the most anticipated in the area this week with plenty of ramifications, North Jackson head coach Joe Hollis Jr. said the Chiefs must focus solely on the getting read for the 48 minutes between the sidelines on Friday.
“All we’re focused on is getting prepared everyday to try to go 1-0 this week,” Hollis said.
North Jackson (4-1, 3-0) was off last week, a break coming at the end of a three-game winning streak comprised of dominant region victories over Madison County 40-28, St. John
Paul II 61-21 and New Hope 49-0. Hollis said the Chiefs made the most of its Week 5 bye week.
“We were able to get our legs back under our players, use it for a little preparation for some future opponents and gave our kids a break last Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Now we’re ready to get out there and prepare for a really good opponent.”
Madison Academy (4-1, 3-0) enters the contest on a four-game winning streak. After losing its season-opener to Class 3A No. 1-ranked Mars Hill Bible 51-27, the Mustangs posted region wins over Randolph 49-7, DAR 63-6 and Madison County 48-13 before edging non-region foe Arab 35-27 last week.
Madison Academy’s offense is averaging 44.4 points a game and is led by dual-threat quarterback Charleston Owens, who ran for 157 yards and threw for 78 yards last week.
“Offensively they do a great job with their zone-run (scheme). They’ve got a lot of special players. Offensive linemen, the quarterback can do it all, they’ve got two good running backs and receivers that can go get it. Defensively they’ve got a new scheme and they get after you. This comes down to who executes. It comes down to who can block at the line of scrimmage and get off blocks on defensive. It’s going to be a physical football game.”
BREWER at SCOTTSBORO
After playing four of its first six games on the road, Scottsboro celebrates Homecoming this week when it host Class 5A Region 8 foe Brewer for the first of three home games over the final month of the regular season.
It’s Homecoming for the Wildcats, and kickoff is set for Friday at 7 p.m. at Trammell Stadium.
It’s the 11th all-time meeting between the teams in series Scottsboro leads 9-1. The Wildcats have won the last three meetings, a stretch that included a 45-14 Class 5A first-round playoff victory in 2022.
No. 9-ranked Scottsboro resumes region play after falling 26-9 at No. 6 Central Clay County, a loss that snapped the Wildcats’ four-game winning streak for the
Scottsboro head coach Tyler Vann said Scottsboro (4-2, 3-0) were “four to five plays from that game coming down to the end, and we didn’t make those plays. We’ve got to get that fixed. I think our guys will bounce back. It’s Homecoming, they’ll play hard and play with energy. (Central Clay County) is a really good football team. It’s a game that we’ll get better from and help us down the road.”
Scottsboro faces a Brewer (1-4, 0-2) team looking to snap a four-game losing skid. The Patriots opened the season with a 26-6 non-region win over Hayden, but have since dropped region games to Guntersville 63-12 and Arab 31-13 and non-region games with Priceville 40-13 and Cullman 24-11.
Vann said Brewer leans toward to the pass, saying “it’ll be a test for a secondary” while adding the Scottsboro defense must shut down the Patriots’ ground game “so they can’t be balanced.”
Vann is also looking for the Wildcats’ offense to get back on track after posting season-low rushing totals and points in last week’s loss.
“We had some creases (in the run game) we missed and we missed some blocks and got beat at the point of attack too much,” Vann said. “We’ve got to get that back going. I thought we threw the ball well. That part is coming along and that’s going to help us be more balanced.”
The Wildcats would secure a playoff berth with a win over Brewer and a Douglas loss to Arab.
SECTION at GASTON
The Lions will try to land a second consecutive region win when they venture to Etowah County to take on Gaston in Class 2A Region 7 play Friday at 7 p.m. at GHS’ Captain Bill Boyd Field.
It’s the 17th all-time meeting between the teams in a series Gaston leads 10-6. The teams have split their last two meetings, with the Bulldogs prevailing 42-28 last season.
After defeating region foe Cedar Bluff 19-7 in Week 4, Section (1-4, 1-2) fell 48-21 to undefeated Class 1A No. 10-ranked Appalachian last week.
Section head coach Riley Edwards said the Lions must refocus and “play like we did the week before. I want to play with that mindset we had against Cedar Bluff, play hard and have fun and let our effort decide it.”
A win would keep Section firmly in the in Region 7 playoff chase with two region games remaining.
Meanwhile, Gaston (1-4, 0-2) enters the game on a four-game losing skid. The Bulldogs opened the season with a 34-6 win over Asbury before dropping region games to Cedar Bluff 42-20 and North Sand Mountain 54-0 and suffering non-region losses to Woodland 34-12 and Whitesburg Christian. After serving as defensive coordinator last season, Randy Dupree was promoted to head coach last spring following the resignation of Derek Sewell. Dupree is Gaston’s fourth different head coach in as many seasons.
“Looking at them, it’s kind of like looking in a mirror because we do a lot of similar things on both sides of the ball,” Edwards said. “We faced a power run game last week; Gaston is more finesse, get in space. They’ve got some guys that we’ve got to keep hemmed up.”
SAND ROCK at PISGAH
The Eagles play their first Class 2A Region 7 game in 21 days when they welcome visiting Sand Rock to Sam Kenimer Stadium Friday at 7 p.m.
It’s the 22nd all-time meeting between the teams in a series that began in 1994. Sand Rock leads the series 14-7, but the Eagles have won the last three meetings, including a 40-20 victory a year ago on the way to winning the region title.
No. 6-ranked Pisgah (3-2, 2-0) spent the past two weeks playing a pair of Class 4A Region 8 teams, falling 61-36 to No. 10 Plainview in Week 4 before bouncing back with a 34-14 win over Randolph.
"The first half, it’s been a brutal stretch,” said Gilbert, whose team played three ranked teams over its first five games after facing another in a preseason jamboree, “but it’s made us better. It was a challenge and I thought our kids answered it. We wish we were 5-0, but we think we’re better because of it.”
Gilbert was pleased with the Eagles’ fast start — Pisgah bolted to a 28-0 first-half lead — against Randolph and also with the execution on both sides of the football, particularly with some changes they made defensively.
“We changed our defensive front and I thought we did a good job with it,” he said. “I was pleased with the alignment and assignment part of it.”
The Eagles jump back into Class 2A Region7 play against Sand Rock, the first of four straight region contests. Sand Rock (1-4, 1-2) is trying to rebuild under new head coach Tanner Nelson, who coached Sylvania to a 9-3 record last season, which included a 30-22 win at Pisgah in Week 10 that spoiled the Eagles’ attempt to for a perfect regular season. The Wildcats lone win was a 35-12 victory over Section, and they have region looses to No. 9 North Sand Mountain 41-0 and No. 8 Pleasant Valley 48-7 and non-region foes Spring Garden 44-28 and Collinsville 63-18.
“Tanner is good coach and a good offensive mind,” Gilbert said. “They’ve been getting better every week. They throw it a lot. The quarterback is a good player, makes plays for them running and throwing. It’s going to be a test for our secondary. It’s a complete 180 from some of the run-heavy teams we’ve seen already.”
