MOBILE, Ala. — No team from the Mobile County and Baldwin County area holds the top spot in the final regular-season statewide high school football poll, but two local teams are ranked No. 2 in their classifications and 13 area teams are ranked or received votes.
The poll is released before the playoffs and does not rank teams once postseason play begins. Vigor is No. 2 in Class 4A, and UMS-Wright is No. 2 in Private Class AA.
Public school rankings
- Class 6A: Fairhope is No. 7. Daphne received votes but is not in the top 10.
- Class 5A: Saraland is No. 4 and Gulf Shores is No. 5.
- Class 4A: Vigor is No. 2 and Williamson is No. 3. Citronelle and Orange Beach received votes but are not ranked.
Private school rankings
- Class AA: UMS-Wright is No. 2, McGill-Toolen is No. 3 and St. Michael is No. 5.
- Class A: Bayside Academy is No. 4 and Mobile Christian is No. 5.
The poll ranks only five teams in the private-school classifications of the Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) and the Alabama Independent School Association (AISA), because there are so few schools in those groups.
Who holds No. 1
The teams ranked first heading into the playoffs are Prattville (6A), Clay-Chalkville (5A), Scottsboro (4A), Plainview (3A), Reeltown (2A), Maplesville (1A), Briarwood Christian (Private AA), Westbrook Christian (Private A) and Patrician Academy (AISA).
Local context
Several of the local rankings come out of notable results in the final weeks. Fairhope, which won the Class 6A, Region 1 title, beat Vigor 29-21 on Oct. 30 in a game that did not count in region standings. Vigor had earlier climbed to No. 1 in the ASWA 4A poll, a story we covered in October. UMS-Wright clinched its region title with a 20-17 win over McGill-Toolen. The local postseason will be played with the championship games in Mobile at Hancock Whitney Stadium, on the University of South Alabama campus, Dec. 2-5.
