THS remains No. 1, Oak Mountain and Pelham gaining recognition in latest poll

Published 11:03 pm Tuesday, September 15, 2020

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By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Managing Editor

The ASWA high school football rankings will look much different following a night of action on Friday, Sept. 18, with several top-10 battles set to take place, but the most recent rankings released on Tuesday, Sept. 15, featured three local teams.

In Class 7A, the Thompson Warriors remained the No. 1 team in the standings—a spot they have held the entire season—while the Oak Mountain Eagles officially jumped into the top 10.

The Eagles had been on the verge, coming in at No. 13 and No. 11 the last two weeks, but with their first 4-0 start in school history, the officially moved into the top 10 at No. 9.

Oak Mountain received 41 points from voters, which put the Eagles 16 points higher than Daphne at No. 10. They are the lowest of the undefeated teams in the top 10, but will have chances to prove themselves moving forward with matchups against the top three teams in the standing still on the schedule.

The first of those difficult tests is taking on No. 3 Hoover this Friday. A win in that game would mark the first in school history against the Bucs and solidify Oak Mountain as a top 10 team.

The Thompson Warriors will also face their most difficult test of the season to this point on Friday with a top-two battle against Hewitt-Trussville. The No. 1 and No. 2 teams will face off in a region battle on ESPNU.

So far, Thompson has held the No. 1 ranking for the majority of the season, but the Huskies have also performed like a top-ranked team so far.

Should the Warriors drop the contest, Hewitt will likely jump them for the top spot. But those two, as well as Hoover, are firmly in the top three right now and that should remain the case unless one starts to falter.

In addition to Thompson and Oak Mountain, the Pelham Panthers are starting to gain some attention after their 3-1 start to the season.

So far, Pelham’s only loss came by seven points to an undefeated Oak Mountain team.

The Panthers received two points in the voting, making them the 14th best team by the voters as the final 6A team to receive votes.

After a win against Stanhope Elmore, the Panthers have gotten through one of their most difficult games victorious, and should have at least a chance to win every game the rest of the season.

And with a forfeit win against Helena announced on Tuesday due to the Huskies canceling their next two games due to COVID-19 moved the Panthers to 4-1 overall and 3-0 in region play.

Other No. 1 teams include Mountain Brook (6A), Central-Clay County (5A), American Christian (4A), Piedmont (3A), Leroy (2A), Brantley (1A) and Glenwood (AISA).

Briarwood is also a team to keep an eye on locally. The Lions got through the first four weeks of their schedule with a 3-1 record, only losing to 7A Spain Park.

The entire ASWA rankings are below:

CLASS 7A

Team (first-place); W-L; Pts

  1. Thompson (21); 4-0; 269
  2. Hewitt-Trussville (2); 4-0; 211
  3. Hoover; 4-0; 184
  4. Auburn; 4-0; 161
  5. Austin; 4-0; 140
  6. Central-Phenix City; 2-2; 103
  7. Prattville; 3-1; 65
  8. Fairhope; 3-1; 43
  9. Oak Mountain; 4-0; 41
  10. Daphne; 3-1; 25

Others receiving votes: Theodore (3-1) 22, Enterprise (3-0) 21, James Clemens (2-2) 16, Murphy (4-0) 10.

CLASS 6A

Team (first-place); W-L; Pts

  1. Mountain Brook (17); 3-0; 257
  2. Oxford (6); 3-1; 224
  3. Blount; 3-1; 174
  4. Pinson Valley; 3-1; 157
  5. Clay-Chalkville; 4-0; 136
  6. Saraland; 3-1; 119
  7. Opelika; 2-1; 97
  8. Lee-Montgomery; 3-1; 61
  9. Cullman; 4-0; 48
  10. McGill-Toolen; 1-1; 11

Others receiving votes: Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa (4-0) 10, Muscle Shoals (2-1) 9, Eufaula (2-2) 6, Pelham (3-1) 2.

CLASS 5A

Team (first-place); W-L; Pts

  1. Central-Clay Co. (20); 4-0; 265
  2. St. Paul’s (2); 4-0; 208
  3. Ramsay; 3-0; 175
  4. Pleasant Grove (1); 2-1; 170
  5. Faith-Mobile; 4-0; 127
  6. Guntersville; 3-0; 112
  7. Alexandria; 3-0; 106
  8. Pike Road; 4-0; 70
  9. Demopolis; 4-0; 35
  10. UMS-Wright; 2-2; 21

Others receiving votes: Fairview (3-1) 8, Russellville (4-0) 8, Greenville (3-1) 3, Sylacauga (3-1) 3.

CLASS 4A

Team (first-place); W-L; Pts

  1. American Chr. (18); 4-0; 260
  2. Bibb Co. (5); 4-0; 221
  3. Gordo; 4-0; 176
  4. Madison Co.; 4-0; 150
  5. Madison Aca.; 3-0; 128
  6. Mobile Chr.; 3-0; 118
  7. Jacksonville; 3-1; 81
  8. Etowah; 2-1; 50
  9. Vigor; 2-1; 44
  10. Good Hope; 4-0; 38

Others receiving votes: Jackson (3-1) 19, West Limestone (3-0) 11, Handley (1-0) 4, Straughn (4-0) 4, Munford (3-1) 2, North Jackson (3-0) 2, St. James (2-1) 2, Williamson (2-2) 1.

CLASS 3A

Team (first-place); W-L; Pts

  1. Piedmont (23); 3-0; 276
  2. Fyffe; 3-0; 206
  3. Walter Wellborn; 3-0; 180
  4. Flomaton; 3-0; 154
  5. T.R. Miller; 3-1; 133
  6. Catholic-Montgomery; 3-1; 100
  7. Pike Co.; 2-1; 94
  8. Ohatchee; 3-1; 75
  9. Bayside Aca.; 4-0; 41
  10. Montgomery Aca.; 4-0; 22

Others receiving votes: Thomasville (3-0) 9, Opp (3-1) 7, Reeltown (2-2) 6, Hillcrest-Evergreen (2-2) 5, East Lawrence (3-0) 3.

CLASS 2A

Team (first-place); W-L; Pts

  1. Leroy (21); 3-0; 269
  2. Randolph Co. (2); 3-0; 196
  3. Mars Hill Bible; 3-1; 171
  4. Red Bay; 2-0; 158
  5. Lanett; 3-1; 145
  6. Spring Garden; 3-0; 116
  7. G.W. Long; 2-0; 97
  8. Clarke Co.; 3-0; 69
  9. Elba; 3-1; 37
  10. North Sand Mountain; 3-0; 15

Others receiving votes: Falkville (4-0) 13, Luverne (2-1) 10, Westbrook Chr. (3-0) 5, Geneva Co. (3-0) 3, Abbeville (3-0) 2, Addison (2-2) 2, Ariton (2-2) 2, Colbert Co. (4-0) 1.

CLASS 1A

Team (first-place); W-L; Pts

  1. Brantley (23); 3-0; 276
  2. Linden; 3-0; 205
  3. Sweet Water; 2-1; 179
  4. Maplesville; 3-1; 162
  5. Notasulga; 2-0; 135
  6. Pickens Co.; 2-1; 110
  7. Decatur Heritage; 2-2; 82
  8. Millry; 3-0; 77
  9. Winterboro; 4-0; 45
  10. Florala; 3-0; 33

Others receiving votes: Valley Head (3-1) 5, Loachapoka (2-1) 1, Marengo (1-2) 1.

AISA

Team (first-place); W-L; Pts

  1. Glenwood (21); 4-0; 270
  2. Chambers Aca.; 4-0; 196
  3. Bessemer Aca. (1); 2-1; 180
  4. Pike Liberal Arts; 3-0; 148
  5. Autauga Aca. (1); 1-1; 143
  6. Escambia Aca.; 3-1; 126
  7. Jackson Aca.; 5-0; 85
  8. Macon-East; 4-0; 51
  9. Patrician; 2-1; 50
  10. Edgewood; 3-1; 23

Others receiving votes: Morgan Aca. (3-0) 19, Tuscaloosa Aca. (1-2) 16, Monroe Aca. (1-2) 3, Sparta (1-2) 1.