MOBILE, Ala. — Half of the 16 Mobile and Baldwin county teams that qualified for the Alabama High School Athletic Association flag football playoffs are still alive after Tuesday’s first round, and three of the eight survivors got there with first-round byes.
Results were uneven across classifications. Local teams went 5-8 in the games they played, and the biggest disappointment came in Class 6A, where all four local teams that played lost and scored a combined two points.
Class 6A: Fairhope and Daphne wait
Alma Bryant came closest among the four 6A teams that played, falling to Opelika 7-2. The other three were shut out:
- Auburn 49, Baker 0
- Carver-Montgomery 32, Mary G. Montgomery 0
- Enterprise 34, Robertsdale 0
Fairhope and Daphne, the region’s top two seeds, had first-round byes and remain in the 6A field. As South AL News reported before the playoffs began, Class 6A expanded its field this season to six teams per region, with the top two seeds receiving byes. Fairhope will host Enterprise and Daphne will host Auburn in the second round.
Classes 1A-4A and 5A
All three local teams in Class 1A-4A lost: Brewbaker Tech beat Vigor 34-0, Holtville beat LeFlore 24-0 and Marbury beat Satsuma 21-6.
Class 5A treated area teams better. Blount beat Homewood 20-18, Spanish Fort beat Pelham 44-6 and Theodore beat Helena 34-14. Baldwin County lost to Hueytown 27-20.
Private A-AA: two shutouts
In the Private A-AA bracket, Mobile Christian blanked Northside Methodist of Dothan 34-0, and McGill-Toolen blanked Glenwood of Phenix City 21-0. Mobile Christian’s win was the first playoff victory for a first-year program; South AL News has more on that game. St. Michael, the bracket’s third local team, had a first-round bye.
Second-round schedule
Most of the second-round games are scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 10, according to the AHSAA. One local matchup remains to be set, and one game will pit two local teams against each other.
Class 5A
- Blount at Northridge
- Wetumpka at Spanish Fort
- Theodore vs. the winner of the Stanhope Elmore-Brookwood game, which is slated for Nov. 5
Class 6A
- Enterprise at Fairhope
- Auburn at Daphne
Private A-AA
- McGill-Toolen at St. Michael
- Mobile Christian at Montgomery Catholic
The all-local matchup is McGill-Toolen at St. Michael, so at least one Mobile-area private school team will reach the semifinals. Theodore’s opponent will not be known until the Stanhope Elmore-Brookwood game is played.
Road to the finals in Mobile
The state’s four championship games are scheduled for Dec. 1 at the University of South Alabama’s Hancock Whitney Stadium in Mobile, the first time the title games will be played in the area. This is also the first year the AHSAA has separated public and private schools for state championships, which created four flag football classifications. South AL News’ playoff preview has the full list of area qualifiers and how the new format works.
