Saraland enters the 2023 high school football season as the team to beat across South Alabama after being named the overwhelming No. 1 pick in the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s preseason poll, released this week. The Spartans are coming off a Class 6A state championship season and return to the field with the target squarely on their backs.
The preseason nod caps a remarkable stretch for a program that has grown into one of the state’s most consistent winners. Saraland’s rise over the past decade has paralleled the growth of the city itself, one of the fastest-growing municipalities in Mobile County, and the Spartans’ state championship run last fall confirmed what area fans have watched build for years: a program with strong youth feeds, stable coaching, and a roster that reloads rather than rebuilds.
Being named the preseason favorite brings its own pressures. Every opponent on the schedule will treat the Spartans as their measuring-stick game, and home crowds across the region will pack stadiums when Saraland comes to town. Coaches at championship programs routinely note that defending a title demands a different mentality than chasing one, and Saraland’s staff will spend the preseason preparing players for everyone’s best effort each Friday night.
The Spartans’ schedule offers little margin for a championship hangover. Between a demanding Region 1 slate and the non-region showcase games that top programs now schedule to sharpen themselves for the playoffs, Saraland will face a season-long test of depth, with younger players expected to step into larger roles before November arrives.
A loaded Region 1
Saraland is not the only Mobile-area program earning early respect from the state’s sportswriters. The Spartans are joined atop Class 6A Region 1 by rival programs Theodore, ranked No. 5, and Spanish Fort, ranked No. 9, setting up what could be one of the most competitive regions in the state once region play begins.
Region 1 has long been regarded as one of Alabama’s toughest classifications geographically, stretching along the Gulf Coast and producing deep playoff runs year after year. With three ranked teams in the same region, playoff positioning will be contested from week to week, and even a strong team could find itself seeded on the road in November. Regional games carry double weight — they count in the standings and in the eyes of poll voters — and head-to-head results among Saraland, Theodore and Spanish Fort could determine home-field advantage deep into the postseason.
Mary Montgomery’s turnaround
In Class 7A, Mary Montgomery is the lone Mobile-area team to crack the rankings, checking in at No. 9. The recognition marks a significant turnaround for a program that posted its first winning season and first playoff appearance in two decades last fall, a sign that the Vikings’ rebuild under their coaching staff has taken hold.
For a school that spent years near the bottom of its region, a preseason ranking changes the daily atmosphere around the program — from offseason attendance to community support to the confidence of players who have only known losing football. Mary Montgomery’s challenge now is the harder half of a rebuild: sustaining success once opponents have game film, adjusted expectations, and extra motivation when the Vikings appear on their schedules. Moving to the state’s largest classification means facing deeper rosters week after week, and the pollsters’ early endorsement suggests they believe the program’s foundation can hold.
Private-school powers in 5A
Class 5A features two local powers near the top of the poll. UMS-Wright, a perennial contender in the classification, comes in at No. 3, while Faith Academy is ranked No. 5. Both programs have built reputations for sending players on to college football, and preseason expectations reflect the continued depth of talent in the area’s private-school ranks.
UMS-Wright’s tradition in Class 5A has made it a model of sustained excellence, with multiple state championships over the past decade and a program culture that treats playoff appearances as the baseline. Faith Academy’s rise into the upper tier of the poll reflects years of growth at a campus that has become one of the largest private schools in the region, with facilities and participation numbers to match. The two programs’ annual meetings have become fixtures on the Mobile-area calendar, and both enter the season with rosters expected to feature college signees at multiple positions.
Ranked teams across the classifications
Jackson checks in at No. 4 in Class 4A, giving the Jackson program another preseason endorsement after years as one of southwest Alabama’s steadiest winners. The Aggies’ placement signals that the small city in Clarke County will again be a stop for college recruiters tracking the region’s talent.
Mobile Christian is ranked No. 5 in Class 3A, capping a climb for a program that has converted strong participation and coaching continuity into a place among the classification’s elite. The Leopards’ ranking puts them alongside the small-school powers they have chased in recent seasons, and their region schedule will determine whether they can convert the preseason respect into a deep November run.
In Class 1A, the poll reflects a rivalry that has defined Washington County football in recent years: defending state champion Leroy is ranked No. 1, with county rival Millry not far behind at No. 10. Leroy’s championship pedigree is among the strongest in the state for a school its size, and the Bears’ annual meeting with Millry has grown into one of rural southwest Alabama’s most anticipated games, with the two Washington County communities separated by a short drive and a long football history.
Jackson Academy, meanwhile, is ranked No. 7 in the Alabama Independent School Association poll, giving the Jackson area two ranked teams across different governing bodies. The Eagles’ placement in the AISA poll underscores the depth of football talent concentrated in Clarke County and the surrounding region, where Friday nights draw communities together regardless of classification.
Taken together, the rankings sketch a portrait of football coverage across south Alabama: a metro area producing contenders in the largest classifications, private-school programs with college pipelines in 5A, and small towns in Washington and Clarke counties whose 1A teams compete with anyone in the state. The Alabama Sports Writers Association’s voters, who see these teams up close each week, put nine local programs in their preseason top tens — a number that would have seemed unlikely a generation ago and now reads as the region’s normal.
What the rankings mean
The preseason rankings carry weight beyond bragging rights. For programs like Saraland, a No. 1 ranking raises expectations from the season’s first kickoff, while for teams like Mary Montgomery, a first-time appearance in the poll validates years of program-building work.
Rankings also shape the texture of a season in practical ways. Ranked teams draw larger crowds, more media coverage and more attention from college scouts, and players grow up faster under that spotlight. For the ranked programs across the Mobile area, the 2023 season offers a chance to prove the pollsters right; for the unranked teams on their schedules, every game against a ranked opponent is a chance to knock one off and claim the upset.
Region assignments this fall will test whether the rankings hold up, particularly in Class 6A Region 1, where three ranked teams will collide for playoff positioning. The region’s gauntlet means that even a team as accomplished as Saraland could drop a game in October and still be positioned for a title run, while Theodore and Spanish Fort will measure their own seasons by whether they can take points away from the defending champions.
How the poll works
The Alabama Sports Writers Association poll is voted on by sportswriters and broadcasters from across the state and is updated throughout the season as results come in. Preseason polls are based on returning talent, coaching continuity and the previous season’s results, and they often shift considerably once teams begin playing games that count.
Early-season results routinely scramble the rankings, especially in the first weeks when teams are settling new starters at key positions. A single region loss can drop a team several spots, while an upset win over a higher-ranked opponent can launch an unranked program into the conversation. By midseason, the poll becomes a running snapshot of the playoff picture, and by the final regular-season week it is a reliable preview of the brackets to come.
For Mobile-area fans, the preseason rankings offer an early look at which programs are expected to contend for region titles and playoff runs when the season kicks off in the coming weeks. Nine ranked teams across seven classifications is a strong showing for one metro area, and it confirms what local followers of the sport have long argued: from Saraland’s Class 6A powerhouse to Washington County’s small-school dynasties, south Alabama’s football talent pool is as deep as any region in the state.
The coming weeks will supply the answers the poll can only project — whether Saraland’s title defense holds off its ranked rivals, whether Mary Montgomery’s resurgence continues in Class 7A, and which of the area’s ranked programs hoists a trophy in December. Fans across the region will get their first real evidence when the season kicks off, one Friday night at a time.