Looking at the key stories from the second round for region one 5A and 4A

Williamson and Citronelle face big tests in the second round in 5A

All four teams from 5A: Region One advanced to the second round. Vigor and Williamson took care of business with Vigor beating Sipsey Valley 46-9 and Williamson pitching their sixth shutout against Northside, 46-0.

UMS-Wright and Terry Curtis caught Region 3 winner Demopolis off guard in the first round, pulling off a 21-7 upset of the top seed for the second year in a row.

Citronelle continued their best season in years with a 14-9 win over Shelby County for their first playoff win since 2008.

UMS will retire Andalusia and head coach Trent Taylor. Curtis has a 7-2 record against Taylor, with three of those wins coming in the playoffs. Curtis also boasts a 23-2 record in second-round games at UMS

Vigor plays three seeds from the second region, Eufaula. No one but 7A Baker was able to keep up with Vigor, and even that game could have gone either way. Vigor is in a comfortable spot in the second round barring a massive upset.

Williamson, like Citronelle, is having one of his best seasons in over a decade. Northside’s win gave them 10 wins and a playoff win. The last time any of these things happened was in 2007.

The Lions and Wildcats’ toughest test will come this week as they each draw two of the most successful programs of the last decade.

Williamson travels to Central Clay County to face Danny Horn, the winningest coach in Alabama history, and his undefeated Volunteers.

Clay County has playoff pedigree and experience on its side. Horn won eight championships during his two stints at the school, but none went past the 2020 second round.

Antonio Coleman is in his third season with Williamson and has injected new life into the program. The Lions pitched six shutouts and only gave up double figures twice. They pair the 2nd best defense in 5A with the 10th best defense. Central Clay is No. 2 in 5A in scoring and No. 4 in scoring defense. The Lions are not used to being in this position and Central Clay County is more than comfortable. Williamson will have to play their best game, but their best game is more than capable of taking them to the next round.

Citronelle has an even tougher draw despite being the home team as they welcome Montgomery Catholic to town. The Knights have gone 63-5 since 2020, the best record of any team in any division. In that span, they’ve played in three different classifications, from 3A to 4A and now 5A, without missing a beat. They are on a 25-game state winning streak and are the defending 4A champions. They average a 5A best 48 PPG while allowing just 6.2 PPG.

Citronelle and second-year head coach Jason Rowell are a little different. The Wildcats are averaging 25.6 PPG while allowing 15.3 PPG. The two losses came against Williamson in overtime 28-26 and Vigor 32-6.

Rowell’s team is physical on both sides of the ball and showed toughness and grit all year en route to the school’s best record in 2004.

The Wildcats haven’t backed down from anyone all year, and their front seven, led by running backs Jeremiah Connolly and Zach Morgan and linebackers Timmy Rivers and Bryon Cochran, have been a pain for opposing offenses all year.

Montgomery Catholic will be led by freshman quarterback Kingston Preyear, which could be something an experienced defense could use to their advantage.

The playmakers for Citronelle’s offense, led by Eli Owens, Keyshawn Williams and James Reid, will need to play their best game of the year to keep their season alive.

St. Michael and Pleasant Grove: A showcase of offensive talent in 4A

4A Region 1 featured some of the most talented and explosive offenses this season with St. Michael and Jackson. Both teams are led by star quarterbacks, Gunner Rivers at St. Michael and Landon Duckworth in Jackson.

WS Neal and Mobile Christian edged out Orange Beach for the third and fourth seeds in the region.

Mobile Christian, the 3A champions, dropped Tallassee in the first round, while WS Neal dropped St. James on the way.

Jackson beat Bullock County 55-0. The Aggies looked like a team on cruise control. Duckworth was 7-10 passing for 184 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 50 yards and another score. Star sophomore running back EJ Crowell had just six carries in the win. The defense scored three touchdowns on fumble recoveries.

St. Michael jumped out to a 14-0 lead on Handley in the first quarter before trading touchdowns the rest of the way to win 63-40.

While Rivers and the passing attack have gotten most of the attention this season, junior quarterback Noah Moss has been the workhorse for the Cardinal offense all year. Moss finished with 204 rushing yards, 103 receiving yards and 6 total touchdowns. It wasn’t Rivers’ most efficient game (46 percent completion), but he still put up 260 yards and four touchdowns on the Tigers.

WS Neal will face Fairfield in the second round. The Tigers upset Dale County in the first round 33-21. Neal moved to 5-2 after dropping its first four games of the season, while Fairfield is 3-2 after a 5-1 start. Head coach Hugh Fountain gets his team going and they have a chance at home to keep the momentum going. Jackson should move past the two seeds in Bibb County’s region four at Legion Field.

St. Michael draws what has the potential to be one of the most exciting games in all of the divisions as they travel to face Pleasant Grove.

The Region Four winner has been on a tear since losing its opener to 6A Mcadory 35-38, winning nine in a row by a 411-75 margin. They kept that momentum going in the first round, hanging 61 points on Straughn in a 40-point outburst.

Head coach Darrell LeBeaux is in his seventh season as Pleasant Grove’s head coach and has lost in the third round, the semifinals and finished as runner-up three times, all in 5A. Now I’m in 4A. The Spartans are averaging 44.6 PPG while allowing 11.3 PPG, good for 2nd and 3rd respectively in 4A.

The head coach of St. Michael Phillip Rivers is in his fourth season and has taken the young program to new heights each year. After making their first playoff appearance in 2023, the Cardinals opened a new stadium, hosted their first playoff game, and won their first playoff game. St. Mihail ranks 5th in 4A with 39.1 PPG and 32nd in PPG allowed with 26.6.

Rivers ranks first in 4A in passing, but Kaleb Freeman for Pleasant Grove is No. 3 with 2,360 yards, 32 touchdowns and just two interceptions. The two students also have a list of players to get the ball to.

The Cardinals have two of the top three receivers in 4A with junior Brody Jones and junior Tucker Tomlinson. Jones leads 4A in receiving yards and was a playmaker for Rivers, catching 82 passes for 1,258 yards and 13 scores while posting 424 punt return yards.

The star receiver is joined by another big target in Tucker Tomlinson, who has thrown for 14 touchdowns on 912 receiving yards, good for 3rd in 4A. Tomlinson also contributes on special teams, adding 278 punt return yards.

On the other side of the field, Freeman has just one target in senior Tremell Washington.

Washington is No. 2 in 4A with 1,247 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns on 58 catches. He’s also a weapon for the Spartans on special teams, racking up 554 punt return yards and four touchdowns.

Moss is the 3rd leading rusher in 4A with 1,353 yards and 22 touchdowns in addition to four receiving touchdowns on 442 yards. At No. 7 is senior Collin Moore for Pleasant Grove. The running back has 1,256 yards rushing and 17 touchdowns on 165 carries.

The game is shaping up to be a high-scoring affair between two of the best young quarterbacks in the state and two coaches hungry for the next step. Anyone’s defense that can force a foul could be the difference in this one, but there should be plenty of points regardless.

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