Three teams head to football postseason
Three teams will continue their football season in the playoffs this week. Russellville will host Boaz. Phil Campbell will go on the road to Madison Academy. Red Bay will travel to Fyffe.
Russellville (6-4) hosts Boaz (4-6)
Winning Class 5A Region 8, Russellville will host the Boaz Pirates, the fourth seed in Region 7. These two schools have never met on the football field.
Russellville went 6-4 on the season, going undefeated in region play but losing all four non-region games – to Grissom, Deshler, Mars Hill and Athens. The Golden Tigers are 3-2 at home this year and are averaging 36.5 points per game while giving up 13.9 points per game.
Boaz is 4-6 overall and went 3-3 in region play. The Pirates were a team of streaks this year, with two three-game losing skids but closing out the season on a three-game win streak. They closed out the year with wins over Sardis, Douglas and Lee-Huntsville.
The Pirates’ four wins were by combined scores of 109-36; however, their last three-game losing stretch to Guntersville, Southside Gadsden and Arab were by a combined score of 159-51.
The Pirates average 26.4 points per game while giving up 29.9 points per game.
Phil Campbell (7-3) at Madison Academy (8-2)
Phil Campbell finished fourth in Class 3A Region 8 and will travel to the top seed in Region 7, Madison Academy.
Phil Campbell went 3-3 in region play and 3-2 on the road. The Bobcats closed out their regular season with a spectacular comeback on the road to defeat county rival Red Bay in double overtime 30-24.
Phil Campbell averaged 29-6 points per game and gave up 22.5 points per game.
Madison Academy went 8-2 on the season. The Mustangs lost their first two games to Deshler and Randolph but didn’t lose another one, winning eight straight. Madison Academy averaged 47.4 points per game and gave up 14.3 points per game.
Red Bay (6-4) at Fyffe (10-0)
Red Bay finished fourth in Class 2A Region 8 and will travel to the top seed – and No. 1 team in the state – Fyffe.
Red Bay went 3-3 in region play and 2-2 on the road this year.
The Tigers averaged 32 points per game and gave up 24.7 points per game. They lost two tough games to rivals to close out the season, Hatton and Phil Campbell.
Red Bay had a four–game win streak in the middle of the season, beating Sheffield, Hackleburg, Belmont and Tharptown.
Fyffe is undefeated and hasn’t even been challenged this year. Their closest game was their final game, a 35-14 win over Sylvania.
The Red Devils are averaging 48.9 points per game and giving up 5.9 points per game.
Fyffe has five state championships, all in the past eight years: 2014, 2016, 2019 and 2020.
Red Bay and Fyffe have faced each other four times, with the Red Devils winning all four. The last time they met was in the 2019 playoffs, when Fyffe won 45-6 and went on to the state championship.