Six prep storylines: Playoff time for 15 area teams, title time for JCA

Nov. 3—Playoff time is here in Alabama high school football. Lots of storylines, but we narrowed them down to six for you. Let's get right to them:

1. Playoffs? PLAYOFFS?!

Once again, The Star's coverage area is rich in playoff teams, with 15 of 22 football-playing schools in the area making the postseason.

Nine of those 15 playoff teams come from Calhoun County.

The group includes region champions Anniston, Clay Central, Piedmont and Spring Garden and runners-up Handley and Randolph County.

All will open the playoffs at home.

Six area teams will play in games featuring Nos. 2 and 3 seeds from their respective regions. Historically, 2-vs.-3 games are most likely to produce upsets.

Matchups that include area 3 seeds include Alexandria at Pleasant Grove, Jacksonville at Bibb County, Saks at Trinity Presbyterian and Wadley at Pickens County.

Of the area's 3 seeds, Jacksonville is ranked in the Alabama Sports Writers Association poll, at No. 9 in Class 4A. The Golden Eagles' 2-seeded opponent, Bibb County, is unranked.

Alexandria (Class 5A), Saks (Class 3A) and Wadley (Class 1A) are unranked. Among those three, only Alexandria plays a ranked opponent ... third-ranked Pleasant Grove. Saks (Trinity) and Wadley (Pickens County) play unranked opponents.

2. Dawgs busting chains

Anniston, the second-ranked team in Class 4A, appears likely to break free of its unhappy first-round history.

The Bulldogs lost in the first round last season, at St. James, after two AHSAA-imposed forfeits for an ineligible player dropped them from region champs to a No. 4 seed.

Anniston (9-0) is unbeaten entering the playoffs for the first time since 2001, when the Bulldogs lost in the first round to J.O. Johnson.

Of Anniston's 29 playoff appearances, 14 ended in first-round losses, including four of the last six.

A first-round exit appears highly unlikely this year. Should the Bulldogs win their third state title, and first since 1994, they'll have earned it against a brutal 4A south bracket. The south bracket includes top-ranked Catholic Montgomery, second-ranked Anniston, fourth-ranked Handley, fifth-ranked Andalusia, sixth-ranked T.R. Miller, eighth-ranked Jackson and ninth-ranked Jacksonville.

The Anniston-Sipsey Valley winner will play either Booker T. Washington or Orange Beach. Andalusia could be waiting in the third round.

3. The underbuzzed

Four teams not getting enough buzz going into the playoffs are Class 4A ninth-ranked Jacksonville, Class 5A unranked Clay Central, Class 3A unranked Saks and Class 1A unranked Wadley.

Jacksonville would likely have to score what would be considered to be a major upset of Catholic Montgomery to reach the quarterfinals, but few teams in Alabama have a quarterback of Jim Ogle's quality. The Golden Eagles (7-3) have also played a strong schedule, with losses to fourth-ranked Handley and second-ranked Anniston in region play and Oxford, a 6A playoff team.

Jacksonville scored 41 points against Handley and lost one-score games to Anniston (30-23) and Oxford (34-28).

As for Clay Central (8-2), an unranked region champion, has Danny Horn as its coach. He's made a hall-of-fame career on deep playoff runs. The Vols replaced 15 starters this season but enter the playoffs on a six-game winning streak, which includes wins over Alexandria, previously unbeaten Beauregard and Wetumpka, a 6A playoff team.

Saks is better than its 7-3 record. But for a kickoff mishap that resulted in a freakish safety, the Wildcats likely don't lose a 16-point lead in the fourth quarter at Randolph County. They would be opening the playoffs at home, as a No. 2 seed.

Should Saks beat Trinity on Friday, the Wildcats would likely face fourth-ranked Houston Academy, but don't count out a team that's made at least the quarterfinals four of the past five years.

As for Wadley (6-4), the Bulldogs are a No. 3 seed after a three-way tiebreaker. They've won four games in a row, and the reigning Class 1A runners up know something about making playoff runs.

4. Piedmont's road

Third-ranked Piedmont (8-2) opens at home against Oakman and has the most favorable side of the 3A north bracket. The Piedmont-Oakman winner will play either J.B. Pennington or Colbert County, and neither team is ranked.

The most likely quarterfinal opponent, based on ranking, is second-ranked Gordo, which would have to beat two unranked opponents to get to the third round.

Top-ranked Mars Hill Bible would be the favorite in the top half of the 3A north bracket. Should Piedmont and Mars Hill meet, it'll be in the semifinals.

Piedmont hasn't lost to 3A competition all season. The Bulldogs' two losses came to currently ranked 4A teams ... 21-14 to fourth-ranked Cherokee County in the season opener; and 30-28 to second-ranked Anniston at midseason.

5. Hayes watch

Heading into Friday's playoff opener against Oakman at home, Piedmont's Jack Hayes stands with three of four major AHSAA career records for quarterbacking and within reach of the fourth one.

With 470 total yards in a victory at Sylacauga last week, Hayes passed Lanett's Kristian Story for career total yards. Hayes stands at 13,500.

Hayes needs 575 passing yards to pass JaMarcus Russell's career mark of 10,774. Hayes has 10,200.

Hayes averages 244.3 passing yards per game. Piedmont has made at least the semifinals each of the past seven years, with four state titles and five appearances in the Class 3A final.

6. Thunder rolling

It's been five years since Jacksonville Christian paused football because of low participation. The program's revival in eight-man Christian school ball has been swift.

In its third season since returning to varsity play, JCA will play for the Christian Football Association eight-man championship Friday, against Russell (Miss.) Christian, at Tuscaloosa Christian Academy in Cottondale.

JCA advanced by beating Tabernacle 46-32 on Friday. Quarterback Noah Lee, in his first game since returning from a broken wrist, completed 19 of 32 passes for 387 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for three scores.

Travis Barnhill had 10 catches for 235 yards and a touchdown and added a rushing touchdown Friday. Braxton Brown added three catches for 99 yards and a touchdown and added a rushing touchdown. Hunter Brown had 18 carries for 90 yards.

JCA paused football during the summer of 2017, a tough blow for a school that played eight-man football from 1991-2001 and 11-man AHSAA ball from 2002-2016.

The Thunder made the AHSAA playoffs in 2010 and 2014, and JCA was the football starting place in the Fegans brothers' football journey that took them from Class 6A Oxford to 7A Thompson.

JCA played junior-varsity ball in 2018 and 2019 and opted for eight-man varsity ball again in 2020, just not under the auspices of the school that's attached to Faith Temple. By AHSAA rules, they had to play under the church.

JCA plays AHSAA ball in other sports.

Speaking of Faith Temple, the Thunder's run to the CFA final comes after the April 23 fire that burned the building that housed the church, elementary school gym, preschool and a section of the elementary school.

There's an empty place where the building once stood, but the small football stadium in the has been a happy place this fall.

Sports Writer Joe Medley: 256-235-3576. On Twitter: @jmedley_star.