Football: Decatur Heritage Eagles closing in on third straight region championship
Oct. 21—In 2000, high school football in Alabama had a big change.
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The Alabama High School Athletic Association went from a system of areas with mostly four teams each to one with regions with mostly eight teams each.
Under the old format, a team could win its area championship with three wins or sometimes even fewer. It was not difficult for teams with losing records to make the playoffs.
The region format has most teams playing seven region opponents with four teams from each region making the playoffs. Playing that many region opponents allows the better teams to rise to the top. It's almost impossible for a team with a losing record to win a region championship.
That makes winning a region championship a major accomplishment. Back-to-back region championships are even more impressive. Three or more in a row is worth some big-time bragging.
Decatur Heritage (7-2, 6-0) travels to Hackleburg (6-2, 5-1) on Friday. A Decatur Heritage win gives the Eagles the Class 1A, Region 8 championship. It would be Decatur Heritage's third straight region championship.
Since 2000, only two football programs in the area have won three or more region championships in a row. Hartselle won four from 2008-2011, including a state championship in 2011. Tanner won seven in a row from 2010-2016, including state championships in 2012 and 2013.
"My goodness that's a tremendous accomplishment," Decatur Heritage head coach Steve Meek said. "Winning one is special, but winning several in a row is just hard to imagine."
To win several region championships means a team must dominate. Tanner won 48 region games in a row during its seven-year streak.
Decatur Heritage has won 21 straight region games. The last region loss was at Falkville on Oct. 12, 2018.
The No. 1 perk of being a region champion is hosting a first-round playoff game against the No. 4 team from another region.
Hackleburg won't be a pushover. The Panthers have won three games in a row. Their only losses were to R.A. Hubbard, 20-8, and Hubbertville, 51-24.
"They are a really good team with some size in the line and special skilled players," Meek said. "We'll certainly have to play our best to win at their place."
Decatur Heritage leads the series, 4-3, with four consecutive wins dating back to 2015.
A victory at Hackleburg would make for another special Friday night for Meek, who is in his 11th season leading the program.
Last Friday, Meek got his 100th career victory. He's 83-41 at Decatur Heritage. Also, Meek's second granddaughter was born on the same day in Nashville.
"I would not mind this Friday being another special day," Meek said.
— david.elwell@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2395. Twitter @DD_DavidElwell.
