Surprising Shelby County team gets top 10 votes

Published 10:27 am Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Shelby County received two votes this week in the ASWA top 10 poll for class 5A. (File)

Shelby County received two votes this week in the ASWA top 10 poll for class 5A. (File)

By BAKER ELLIS / Sports Editor

The week one ASWA top 10 polls didn’t see much movement for Shelby County schools, considering the two schools ranked in the top 10 in the preseason were inactive during the first week of the season. However, votes were cast for one team that might surprise some people.

Oak Mountain stayed strong at No. 5 in 7A after taking the first week of the season off. The Eagles are active this week against Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa at home, and are chomping at the bit to prove last years’ nine-win effort wasn’t a fluke.

Calera, the only other school from Shelby County to be ranked in the top 10 in the preseason, benefitted from taking the first week off as it jumped up a spot from No. 10 to No. 9 in 5A. Only two top 10 teams in class 5A were active in week one, and one of them, Etowah, lost, opening the door for Calera to jump them by default.

Spain Park, which was ranked 11th in class 7A in the preseason, still received votes in class 7A this week, but only received two. The Jaguars lost to the Austin Black Bears in triple overtime in week one, and took a hit with the voters. Shawn Raney’s squad can bounce back this week, however, with a game against Hueytown.

The fourth Shelby County school to receive votes this week was Shelby County High School. Albeit, the Wildcats only received two votes for recognition in the top 10, but comparatively to years past, those two votes speak volumes to Shelby County fans and players. The two top-10 votes put the Wildcats as tied for 20th in the state after the first week of the season, when they ran all over Jemison, literally, to the tune of a 42-6 victory. Shelby County has a big week two matchup with in-county Helena, which doubled up Shelby County last year, 30-15.