St. Paul’s and UMS-Wright Just Got Dropped Into the Same Region, and Their Old Rivalry Now Has Playoff Stakes
St. Paul's and UMS-Wright's 'Battle of Old Shell Road' rivalry now carries genuine playoff stakes after both schools landed in Private Class AA, Region 1 under Alabama's new split-championship format.
The “Battle of Old Shell Road” between St. Paul’s and UMS-Wright has always carried a must-win flavor for fans, players and coaches, even in seasons when the game had no regional stakes attached. Now that the Alabama High School Athletic Association has separated private and public schools for state championship purposes, and both schools land in Private Class AA, Region 1, the rivalry carries real playoff weight for the first time in years.
The two teams meet this season on Friday, Oct. 16, at St. Paul’s, with the all-time series record sitting at 24-23, with no ties, in the Saints’ favor. Of the previous 47 matchups since the series began in 1978 — a stretch that opened with St. Paul’s winning the first six games — only 12 have come as regional opponents, with the Saints holding a slim 7-5 edge in those contests. The teams last met as regional foes in 2021, a game UMS-Wright won 24-13; St. Paul’s had taken the prior regional matchup in 2020, 34-32.
In the past four seasons, the two programs have opened their respective seasons against each other, with St. Paul’s winning the last three meetings, including overtime victories in 2024 (10-3) and last season (29-28). Moving the matchup deeper into the schedule adds another layer to this year’s rivalry. “That’ll be fun,” St. Paul’s head coach Ham Barnett said of facing UMS-Wright under the new regional alignment. “It’s [the game date] closer to the end of the year — I think it’s the eighth game of the year for us — and so there’s definitely some playoff implications at that time. We’ll see where we are during that time, but yeah, it’s going to make that game even more interesting for sure.”
UMS-Wright enters the rivalry under new leadership as well, with Sam Williams stepping in as head coach last season after Terry Curtis retired following 26 years leading the Bulldogs program and 36 seasons overall as a head coach — a changeover that adds another storyline to a rivalry that’s carried the Mobile private-school football scene for nearly five decades.
About UMS-Wright
UMS-Wright traces its roots to University Military School, founded in Mobile in 1893. It merged with the Julius T. Wright School for Girls in 1988 to form the coeducational UMS-Wright Preparatory School.
