If you thought last week’s football state quarterfinal games were nail biters, get ready to bite those nails again.

Both Cherokee County and Piedmont are just a win away from playing for state titles in their respective classes, but standing in their way are perhaps the two best teams they will have played all season – the way it should be on Thanksgiving weekend.

I’ll delve into more specifics below, but before I do, I was looking back at the postseason picks I’ve made so far. I’ve gone 8-1 picking in the playoffs this season. My only miscue was Spring Garden’s 6-0 setback to Berry of Fayette back in the second round. Not bad if I do say so myself.

Will I continue my hot out-of-the oven postseason picks this week, or will my turkey turn cold? We’re about to find out in this Thanksgiving edition of ‘What In The World Is Shannon Fagan Thinking?’

Piedmont (13-0) at Mars Hill (12-1)

This is the first meeting between these two schools, but I’m quite familiar with the Panthers and their past playoff history. I covered their two playoff games with Spring Garden back in 2020 and 2021. Mars Hill won both of those contests against what could’ve been the two best Spring Garden football teams ever fielded.

Despite the move up to 3A, it seems Mars Hill hasn’t missed a beat. The Panthers’ lone loss this season was to Class 5A Scottsboro by a point (22-21 back on Nov. 1). In last week’s 28-13 victory over Winfield, Caden Chandler finished with 261 yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries. Of his 10 touches, five went for 15 yards or more. Hudson Higgins added 99 rushing yards and a touchdown.

For the Bulldogs, that should sound familiar. Fyffe featured a pair of strong running backs in Ryder Gipson and Simon Hicks in last week’s 30-28 overtime victory. Piedmont senior linebacker Kale Austin stopped Hicks on the game’s final play to preserve the win.

As big of a win as the Fyffe game was last week, Piedmont has to shake it off because the Panthers are every bit as tough as the Red Devils, especially at home.

In its history, Mars Hill is 16-0 in home playoff games. They’re also 3-1 all time in the state semifinals. Their lone semifinal loss was at Cleveland 21-14 back in 2021.
Piedmont is 7-4 in state semifinal games, including a 3-2 mark on the road. The last time the Bulldogs played on the road in the state semifinals was back in 2021, a 52-44 victory in overtime at Saks.

See what I mean when I say I’m expecting a nail biter?

I know a lot of us are full after eating such big and delicious meals, but I think the Bulldogs are still a little hungry. Here’s thinking that hunger gets satisfied behind Cole Wilson, Rollie Pinto, Ishmael Bethel and company, giving head coach Jonathan Miller his first shot at playing for a state championship.

The pick: Piedmont.

West Morgan (13-0) at Cherokee County (12-1)

Unlike Piedmont’s first-ever meeting with Mars Hill, Cherokee County has a playoff history with the Rebels.

This will be the third straight year Cherokee County and West Morgan have met in the playoffs. The Warriors are 2-0 in the previous two meetings, including last year’s 28-27 third-round win at Trinity.

In that game, the Rebels were driving for the potential game-winning score, but Warrior defensive back Alex Johnson’s interception with 2:59 remaining crippled West Morgan’s hopes of pulling off the win.

The little hope West Morgan had remaining following Johnson’s pick faded away entirely when Jacob Cornejo scampered 46 yards down to the Rebel 32-yard line.
Cornejo led the Warrior offense in that game with 203 yards on 38 carries and three touchdowns.

West Morgan was averaging 53 points per game last season until that quarterfinal matchup against Warriors. The Warrior defense held the Rebels to almost half their point average.

Leading the defensive effort was Tae Diamond, who delivered 16 tackles, including four for loss and two sacks. He also ran for 102 yards on 12 carries on offense. Tristan Brown tallied 12 tackles, including three for loss with a fumble recovery.

I think the Warrior defense has gotten better since last year, but as I said earlier, West Morgan will give them a battle.

Last week against Anniston, West Morgan scored touchdowns on six straight possessions in the first half and cruised to a 50-20 victory in Trinity, propelling the Rebels to their first state semifinal appearance in school history.

Linebacker Cole Thorn picked off a Bulldog pass on the third play of the game, and the Rebels took an early 6-0 lead when Ty Jones caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from Titan Partlow with 6:25 left in the first quarter.

The Rebels intercepted three Anniston passes in the first half and raced to a 43-6 lead by intermission. Jones scored three touchdowns and ran in three two-point conversions. MacArri Johnson scored on runs of 27 and 68 yards.

Jones scored on runs of 8 and 4 yards to stretch West Morgan’s lead to 19-0 before Anniston got on the board.

Jacob Johnston ran for 135 yards on nine carries with two touchdowns. He did not play in the second half and now has 1,403 yards and 27 touchdowns for the season.

West Morgan’s closest game this season was a 35-34 win at Deshler in overtime. Minus that game, the Rebels have been defeating their opponents by an average score of 46-9.
This is one of those unstoppable-force-meets-an-unmovable-object type games, and as I’ve said in this column before, in those contests you look at the intangibles.

The Warriors are playing at home. They’re 6-1 in the state semifinals (6-0 at home). That’ll work for me.

The pick: Cherokee County.