Shelley: Playoffs are coming up

The playoff brackets look to be set after a roller coaster week nine in Alabama high school football.

Questions were abundant prior to the season for county teams. Now, we have plenty of answers.

First of all, I have little doubt that those on hand for the Leeds-Handley game saw the best two 3A teams in the state do battle.

Even though Handley lost, I have a hard time believing that the Green Wave is the better team. Coach Battles said he felt like the Tigers didn’t play their best game.

Yet they lost by only one point. What would have happened had they played their best game?

We may yet get to see.

In my opinion, Handley’s road to Auburn is actually a little easier with the second seed in the region. Had the Tigers beaten Leeds, it’s likely there would have been a rematch from Clay County awaiting them in the second round.

Clay County and Leeds are both in the bottom half of the south bracket. And although Handley may have to play on the road in the second round, I would much rather face a team like Gordo or Wellborn again than Clay County.

As it stands, Handley wouldn’t have to play Clay County or Leeds until the semifinal round of the playoffs, assuming any of the teams make it that far.

I have a sneaky suspicion there will be a rematch of Friday night’s game in the semis.

Wadley was team with a lot of questions going into the season, and even more after a disappointing outing in week one against Horseshoe Bend.

But the Bulldogs have come a long way since that night in New Site.

Wadley played impressively against Woodland in week five. St. Jude, clearly the class of the region, was the only team to really get the absolute best of the Bulldogs.

Loachapoka, in my opinion, was a fluke. I think if that game was played ten times, the Bulldogs win at least eight of those.

Unfortunately though, Wadley got only one shot against Loachapoka. They’re the third seed in the region, matching them against Autaugaville in round one.

That’s a tough game. But if Wadley continues to improve this week against Randolph County, I think the Autaugaville game could be an interesting one.

That leads me to Wedowee. After three straight sub-par years for the Tigers, Randy Sparks looks to have Randolph County on the right track.

The Tigers were in a three-way tie with Horseshoe Bend and Ranburne for fourth. And from what I can tell, the tie will be going to Ranburne.

Randolph County has a chance to be a 5-5 team this year with a win over Wadley this week. It won’t be easy of course, but a win there would go a long way for that program, regardless of missing the postseason.

Things will only get better for the Tigers in years to come.

Finally, we have Woodland. I feel like if Woodland can stay healthy, there’s a possibility of doing some damage in the playoffs.

If the Bobcats score a first-round win over Fyffe, there’s a likely rematch with Reeltown in round two.

I was at that early-season Reeltown-Woodland game, and I can say with confidence that Woodland is more than capable of beating the Rebels.

Of course that’s a lot of looking ahead, but hey, I’m a sports writer, that’s what I do.

In my opinion, Woodland could have easily been a region champ in several other regions. But alas, Region 5 is as tough as they get.

We have one more week of the regular season folks. Then all bets are off.

Then we get the “real” season.