Since fielding its first team in 2010, Saraland has built one of the most consistent winning programs in south Alabama high school football. The Spartans went 3-7 in that debut season — still the only losing record in program history — before Jeff Kelly took over as head coach the following year and the winning has hardly stopped since.
Saraland has reached the state championship game in each of the past four seasons, winning the Class 6A title in 2022 and also playing for it in 2014, 2018, 2023, 2024 and 2025. The Spartans have won at least 10 games in each of the past eight seasons and in 10 of the program’s 16 seasons overall. Kelly is 158-38 heading into his 16th season, with a 34-14 postseason record and a 97-18 mark against regional opponents.
Over the past eight seasons, Saraland has gone 59-3 against region opponents and produced five unblemished region records, cementing its status as the team to beat as the 2026 season approaches — even as the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s decision to separate public and private schools in championship play has reshaped the region picture.
A Reshuffled Region
Saraland moves to Class 5A, Region 1 this season, joining Baldwin County, Blount, Elberta, Foley, Murphy, Spanish Fort and Theodore. Last year, in Class 6A, Region 1, the Spartans faced all of those programs except Elberta, which was a Class 5A team a year ago. UMS-Wright and St. Paul’s, both members of last year’s nine-team region, have since moved to private-school Class AA membership.
The region splits fairly clearly into contenders and rebuilding programs. Saraland, Spanish Fort, Theodore and Foley have been the region’s strongest teams in recent seasons, while Murphy, Elberta, Blount and Baldwin County have each struggled, with Murphy and Elberta coming off 0-10 seasons and Blount and Baldwin County both finishing 2-8 last year. Many observers expect that divide to determine which four teams claim the region’s playoff berths this fall.
Saraland opens the season on the road Friday, Aug. 21, against Class 6A opponent Mary G. Montgomery, and closes the regular season at home against Class 6A Auburn. The Spartans, who went 13-1 last season with their only loss coming in the state title game, have won 41 consecutive home games and will look to extend that streak when region play begins Friday, Sept. 4.
Around the Region
Baldwin County has reached the playoffs just once since the 2008 season — an 8-4 finish in 2021 — and has posted only three winning seasons since 2005, with six total wins over the past four years.
Blount, a five-time state champion in the 1990s (1990, 1992, 1996, 1997, 1998), hasn’t made the playoffs since 2020. The Leopards were 2-8 last season and have won just 12 games over the past five years. Gus Smith, a Mobile native, takes over the program this season following the dismissal of Ramon Nelson, who went 6-23 in three seasons.
Elberta, which began play in 2018, has yet to make the playoffs or post a winning season in its eight years of competition. The Warriors are 15-59 all-time and coming off an 0-10 season. Joel Williams, the program’s third head coach, is in his second year working to turn the team around after a stretch of just seven wins over five seasons.
Foley fell to 5-6 last season, two years after going 15-0 and winning the Class 5A state title in 2023. The Dolphins have had only three winning seasons since 2014 — 2021, 2022 and 2023 — all under head coach Mark Hudspeth, the program’s winningest coach at 41-18. Foley made the playoffs last year before losing in the first round and is 9-12 over the past two seasons since its championship run.
Murphy set school records last season it would rather forget, getting outscored 495-12 while posting the fewest points scored in a season, the most points allowed and a 100-0 loss to Williamson, the most points allowed in a single game. It was Sherman Williams’ first season as head coach. The Panthers enter this season on a 22-game losing streak, having also gone 0-10 in 2024; their last win came Oct. 20, 2023, against Baldwin County. Murphy has had three head coaches since 2021 and is 6-43 over the past five seasons.
Spanish Fort had an uncharacteristic season in 2025, falling to 4-6 for its first losing record since 2007 and ending a 17-year playoff streak. The Toros, four-time state champions (2010, 2012, 2013, 2015) who also reached the title game in 2019 and 2020, started 3-3 before going 1-3 the rest of the way. Spanish Fort has posted only three losing seasons in program history and opens this season at home Thursday, Aug. 20, against rival Daphne.
Theodore enters the season under new head coach Randy Larson, promoted from defensive coordinator after Steve Mask retired following three seasons at the helm. Larson inherits a program that has made the playoffs eight of the past nine years, including an 8-4 finish and second-round playoff appearance last season. The Bobcats reached the state semifinals in 2022 before falling to Saraland.
This preview is part of a 10-part series of regional football previews covering teams — flag and tackle — across the south Alabama coverage area ahead of the 2026 season.