Football notebook: Hartselle meets Mountain Brook for first time
Nov. 15—A casual football fan walking into Spartan Stadium in Mountain Brook on Friday might think they are walking in on another battle between college football royalty Alabama and Notre Dame.
Instead it will be a Class 6A quarterfinal playoff game between two high schools in Alabama that have a reputation for success on the football field.
The Hartselle Tigers will be dressed in their visiting white uniforms that copy the Crimson Tide. The Mountain Brook Spartans will be wearing their home uniforms that closely match the Fighting Irish.
Mountain Brook copies Notre Dame with gold helmets and gold pants. If the Spartans wore blue jerseys at home instead of green, this game would be a perfect copy of Alabama vs. Notre Dame.
Like whenever Alabama vs. Notre Dame takes place, there's a lot at stake for Hartselle (12-0) and Mountain Brook (10-2). Hartselle is trying to return to the semifinal round for the first time since 2011 when the Tigers won the Class 5A championship.
Mountain Brook is looking to make its third straight trip to the semifinals. The Spartans dropped to Class 6A in 2020 and have since gone 34-6 with the two runs to the semifinal round.
Unlike Alabama vs. Notre Dame, this is the first meeting on the football field between Hartselle and Mountain Brook.
It's been a perfect season for Hartselle with an undefeated march to the quarterfinals. The Tigers' closest brush with a loss happened on Sept. 30 with a 29-26 win at Muscle Shoals. Hartselle has won 10 straight road games. The last loss on the road was 31-17 at Briarwood on Nov. 6, 2020, in the first round of the playoffs.
Mountain Brook has stumbled twice this season and both losses were at home. Hoover won 26-14 on Sept. 23. Gardendale won 29-28 on Oct. 21.
The key to this game like any other will be which team's offense or defense imposes its will over the other team. Just looking at the numbers, finding that advantage won't be easy.
Hartselle averages scoring 42.3 points on offense. Mountain Brook averages 38.9. The defenses are pretty even, too. Hartselle gives up 15.6 points per game. Mountain Brook allows just 11.9.
If you are one who likes to compare scores, there are several ways to do it for this game. Start with Jackson-Olin. Hartselle beat the Mustangs 39-6 on Aug. 26. Mountain Brook beat the Mustangs 41-0 on Sept. 15.
You can also compare scores vs. Gardendale. Hartselle beat Austin 45-17 in the season opener. Austin beat Gardendale 17-10 on Sept. 23. Then Gardendale beat Mountain Brook 29-28 on Oct. 21.
Hartselle beat Decatur 41-14. Gardendale also beat Decatur 31-7 last Friday.
Gardendale could also figure in the next round for the winner. The winner of Muscle Shoals at Gardendale advances to the semifinals to play the Hartselle at Mountain Brook winner.
Class 4A regrets
It may be a difficult next two or three weeks for Priceville and West Morgan fans. Both sides saw their teams fall last Friday in Class 4A road games. Oneonta beat Priceville 34-20. Cherokee County beat West Morgan 42-28.
The four teams left in the quarterfinal matchups in the 4A north bracket are Cherokee County (10-2) at Randolph (10-2) and Deshler (12-0) at Oneonta (10-1).
Both Priceville and West Morgan had regular-season wins over Randolph. West Morgan's was 41-21 in the season opener. Priceville's win was 35-21 on Oct. 21. West Morgan also gave Deshler one of its few scares this season. The Rebels lost 21-6 at Deshler on Sept. 30.
— david.elwell@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2395. Twitter @DD_DavidElwell.
