Prep picks: Rivalry games highlight this week's slate
Aug. 29—What's better than the first week of high school football action? How about another week of high school football.
This week's slate features rivalry games, potential upsets and even some region contests.
So who will come out on top? Let's dive into the picks.
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Last week: 8-6
Overall: 8-6
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Decatur Red Raiders at Austin Black Bears
Last year was the first time Decatur had a new head coach in the River City Rivalry since 1996. A year later, it has another new coach, John Ritter.
Ritter will be coaching in his first Decatur vs. Austin game, and he does so opposite Jeremy Perkins, who will be coaching in his 15th.
It's a tough challenge as Ritter works through a rebuilding process at Decatur, and he will be facing an Austin team that will be riding high following their come-from-behind 35-34 win over Hartselle last week in double overtime.
Austin's offense features plenty of star power in quarterback JL Davis, who accounted for five total touchdowns last week, and receiver Jaxon Potter, who caught two touchdowns. Austin star running back Gavin Fuqua was held to just 15 yards rushing, but don't expect a repeat. Fuqua rushed for 160 yards and three touchdowns in this game last year. Meanwhile, Decatur's offense managed just six points in a 33-19 loss to Buckhorn last week.
There's a coaching cliche that teams make their biggest improvement from the first game to the second. Experience may give Austin the edge, but it's the River City Rivalry, don't count Decatur out.
Prediction: Austin
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Brooks Lions at West Morgan Rebels
West Morgan made a statement last week, opening the season with a dominant 31-0 win over Randolph on the road. Now, because the Rebels are in the nine-team Class 4A, Region 7, they'll open region play this week.
Brooks was off last week, which can be good and bad for West Morgan. On one hand, the Rebels got a game of experience under their belts. On the other hand, Brooks knows what to expect from them, whereas West Morgan has no idea what to expect from the Lions.
Both teams were quarterfinalists last year in Class 4A and West Morgan won last year's meeting in a track meet 83-53. If the defensive performance from last week was any indication, maybe don't expect as many points this time around.
Prediction: West Morgan
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Priceville Bulldogs at Brewer Patriots
Priceville cruised past Columbia last week 68-6 in what was head coach Seth Parker's first game with the Bulldogs.
Priceville debuted a new spread offense, which is a drastic shift away from the previous single wing, but still kept the run-first mentality and ran for 375 yards.
Brewer didn't get the start it was hoping for, falling to Hayden 30-16. The Patriots will need to rebound quickly because, despite having a new head coach, the Bulldogs didn't seem to miss a beat last week.
Prediction: Priceville
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Buckhorn Bucks at Athens Golden Eagles
Buckhorn defeated Decatur last week 33-19, but that shouldn't be all credited to the Red Raiders having a new coach and a young team. The Bucks have been trending up in recent years and certainly have plenty of athletes that can shine.
Athens started very slow last week against Mae Jemison and was tied 0-0 at halftime. The Golden Eagles got going in the second half, going on to beat the Jaguars 21-6.
Athens is replacing almost all its skill players from last year, so a slow start wasn't surprising. However, a slow start this week may be harder to bounce back from.
Prediction: Athens
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Other games: Hartselle over Jackson-Olin, Decatur Heritage over Addison, Danville over Wilson, Lawrence County over Rogers, West Limestone over East Lawrence, Deshler over Hatton, East Limestone over Hazel Green, Ardmore over Clements, Lexington over Elkmont, Colbert County over Tanner.
— [email protected] or 256-340-2395. Twitter @CalebSuggs2