Our remaining area football teams have a surge of momentum heading into the state playoffs.

Sand Rock, Spring Garden, Collinsville and Piedmont all closed out the last week of the 2024 high school football regular season strong, while Cherokee County had the week off to prepare.

But there’s still plenty of intrigue with each of their matchups, including a first-ever meeting, a rematch of former region rivals, a first meeting in 72 years, and a rematch from last postseason.

Our area teams weren’t the only ones to finish out the regular season strong. Yours truly went 4-1 last week to improve to 55-7 on the season.

Now let’s see if our area teams and I can keep it up to open the playoffs.

Sand Rock (5-5) at Vincent (8-2)

The Wildcats shot up in the playoff standings last week, from possibly being on the outside looking in all the way to the third spot following a hard-fought 27-24 win over Whitesburg Christian and losses by North Sand Mountain and Cedar Bluff.

The Yellow Jackets are also coming off a big win. They defeated Class 5A Montevallo for their first victory over a 5A team since 2001. A pair of Jayden Roberts touchdowns gave the Yellow Jackets a 14-0 lead on their first two possessions, and they held on from there.

This is the first ever meeting between the two schools, so there’s nothing for me to fall back on as far as a trend or tidbit to favor one team over the other. In cases like that, it’s usually a safe bet to go with that home team, especially since Sand Rock is the team making a near 2-hour trek to Shelby County.

The pick: Vincent.

Victory Christian (5-4) at Spring Garden (10-0)

The only concern I have for the Panthers this week is the health of John Welsh. Welsh suffered what is thought to be an ankle sprain in last week’s win over Ranburne.

It might not be a bad idea for the Panthers to rest Welsh. I believe they can afford to with Connor Bates and Noah Barber at the offensive controls, along with a stingy defense.

The Lions are giving up an average of almost 33 points per game, while Spring Garden is scoring 43 points per game. Add to that Spring Garden has never lost to Victory Christian, including last year’s 41-7 decision, and I think the ingredients are there for a big Panther win.

The pick: Spring Garden.

Collinsville (7-3) at Piedmont (10-0)

This battle could be the best playoff game around the area on Friday night.

Collinsville isn’t your typical four seed. The Panthers just have the misfortune of playing the likes of Fyffe, Sylvania and Geraldine in region play.

Quintavious Rogers is a multi-talented running back, and Mason McAteer is a great passer who spreads the ball around effectively. In short, the Panthers are a lot like Piedmont.

Cole Wilson is one of Northeast Alabama’s top passers. Rollie Pinto and Ishmael Bethel are dangerous receiving threats. Hayes Gunn and Brodie Homesley are solid running options.

So in such an evenly matched game on paper, who do I pick? Well, I read earlier this week on the Alabama Historical Society website (ahsfhs.org) that Piedmont is 21-2 at the Field of Champions in the first round of the playoffs. Collinsville is just 3-11 on the road. I’m going with the Bulldogs.

The pick: Piedmont.

Westminster Christian (6-4) at Cherokee County (9-1)

Our Foothills Tractor Game of the Week is a rematch of last year’s Class 4A state semifinals, won by the Warriors 50-6.

In that that game, the Warrior defense limited Westminster Christian senior quarterback Brandon Musch – the state’s second all-time total yardage producer with over 14,000 yards for his career – to just 59 yards passing and a touchdown on the game’s final play.

The bad news for Westminster Christian is this Warrior defense might be even better than last year’s, and they’re coming off a bye week.

I look for the Warriors to win this one comfortably.

The pick: Cherokee County.