High School Football Playoffs Preview 2025

MADISON – For some high school football programs the “second season” is now upon those making the post-season playoffs, while others have said their goodbyes to the just completed 2025 regular season by not qualifying for the post-season play.

Three of the four local schools, Sparkman, James Clemens and Madison Academy, will see first-round playoff action this Friday night, while the Bob Jones Patriots ended their 2025 campaign at the end of the regular with a 5-5 record not making the playoffs.

Sparkman

By the skin of their teeth, the Sparkman Senators (5-5, 5-2) won a four-way tie-breaker in Region 4 of Class 7A and will be the No. 1 seed from the region in the first round of the playoffs and will host eighth ranked Daphne (8-2, 5-2), the fourth seed from Region 1. Ronnie Watson, third-year head coach of the Senators, said of his team through an up and down season where the squad lost its first three games of the season before going 5-2 the remainder of the schedule, said “We wanted to make the plays and win the games and not have to get into the position of the tie-breaker. I’m excited for these players, the school and the entire community. To see this team in the spring and now where they are is beyond my imagination and I couldn’t be prouder.”

Sparkman ended the regular season scoring 277 points while giving up 308. The Senators were faced with the fact five starters on defense were dealt injuries and were out of action most of the season. They had a tough 10-week schedule and only had an open week the final week of the regular season schedule. The grueling play was tough on the squad physically, mentally and spiritually, but somehow each pay came through when they needed to make the plays required to make the team eligible for the playoffs.

Gut-wrenching play is what took the squad to the extra play as three of the team’s five wins saw the Senators behind in the fourth quarter. They won key regional games against Bob Jones and Florence, but fell to James Clemens and Austin. Sparkman was a 13-point underdog to Florence and scored on a short run in the final minute to pull off the upset and put its stamp on the Region’s top seed heading into the playoffs.

“Playing for each other has been the key for this team as we stressed to play for us and our players have bought into that,” said Watson. “Our team holds each other accountable. At the end of the day, they understand their teammates are the ones each look at, every day.”

Three of the four teams from Region 1 are ranked among the top 10, which means the region out of the Mobile area is the strongest in the state, but the Senators feel they are in the midst of possible greatness.

“This team has been resilient throughout the season and suffered two of our losses to both Austin and James Clemens due to key turnovers, buy they overcame adversity to become Region Champions,” added Watson.”

James Clemens

The Jets are the No. 2 seed from Region 4 and will host No. 11 ranked Fairhope (7-3, 5-2) which comes into the post-season as the third seed in Region 1. The Pirates had a six-game win streak during its 10-game schedule and had an open date last week. They averaged 30 points per game while allowing just 16 to their opponents while the hometown Jets (5-5, 5-2) put up 27 points per outing while allowing 24. The Jets completed their regular season last week against Class 6A Homewood where they fell 38-28.

First-year head coach Juan Johnson said of his Jets, “Our kids have grown throughout the season as they have adapted to the new coaching staff and worked hard to make the plays in key games, especially in the month of October.” The Jets rolled off three consecutive Region 4 victories against Sparkman (31-24), Austin (33-31) and Albertville (45-0). “We are a young team having started 12-15 sophomores every Friday night. These kids have grown up and will be very good in the future. We have 11 seniors on our team who have played here for years and our young players are playing their season for them.”

Johnson has seen outstanding play from three key players he was looking to depend on once hitting the 2025 campaign. Junior running back M.J. Gideon has been on a terror the last five games gaining over 1,000 yards in his efforts. Johnson said of would should be an All-State effort by Gideon, “His growth has been tremendous working into our new system and giving his best efforts.” Sophomore Jayden Richie has been a great surprise for Johnson and the remainder of the Jets’ coaching staff. The 6-foot-1, 210-pound running back/wide receiver has provided enormous talents at both of his playing positions and looks destined to be a star. Those two offensive sparkplugs have led a rushing attack that has rolled up over 2,200 yards over 10 games. On defense, Johnson indicated Jocq Dennis, a 6-1, 205-pound senior linebacker, has played lights-out in his last season as a Jet. He’s made the plays when needed as he leads the team in tackles and second on the team in both tackles for loss and quarterback sacks.

“We’ve got to do a better job to finish strong in our game against Fairhope,” said Johnson, of James Clemens’ first ever meeting against the school located on the east side of Mobile Bay and just minutes from the Gulf of Mexico. “I want to thank everyone connected to James Clemens. From our School Board to our staff. I’m excited. I love the playoffs. Growing up, we called these type of games ‘playons’ and we’ll be ready.”

Madison Academy

The Class 4A Mustangs completed its regular season schedule versus Westminster Christian and came away with a 42-13 win to finish the season 8-2 and 7-1 in Region 8 and will face Hatton (7-3, 6-2), the No. 3 seed out of Region 7. The Hornets out of Town Creek were tough on the defensive side of the ball giving up just 17 points per game while they posted 37 points of scoring per outing. Hatton completed its 2025 regular season schedule with a 46-27 thumping of Wilson.

This will the first meeting between the two schools since 1989 with the 10 previous meetings dating as far back as 1963 with the Mustangs winless against the school located in Colbert County with 279 students.

Madison Academy head coach Bob Godsey is prepping his Mustangs squad comprised of 14 seniors, eight juniors, 15 sophomores and nine freshmen to face what should be a tough opponent in Hatton.

“They (Hatton) are very athletic and should be a tough draw for us,” said Godsey, who is just two wins away of joining the 250 “win club” among Alabama coaches. The seventh year head Mustang has a career record of 248-86 and has had just three losing seasons in 28 seasons as a head coach. “Sort of makes me feel old,” added Godsey, with a laugh. “My success has been because of so many good players and coaches and I feel blessed for those facts. They’ve all bought into a vision of what success looks like, on and off the field. I’ve always loved what I do and how that translates to our teams.”

Madison Academy lost its two games on the road. The season started with a loss to always tough Mars Hill and an additional loss at the hands of undefeated Plainview. Godsey is well aware his team needs to improve each week to go far into the playoffs. He added, “Considering we are extremely young we have done very well this season and from the start of the season until now our team has improved tremendously. The lone trait of this team has been resiliency, hasn’t always been pretty, but being able to keep playing during an adversity has been a huge factor for us. Consistency has been tough for us, but these players have the ability to bounce back from when there’s been a big play or we’ve made a huge mistake.”

The Mustangs have had three outstanding performances this season. Each has contributed more than Godsey could have imagined. Starting quarterback Charleston Owens has been splendid as a sophomore for the squad that starts nine sophomores on any given Friday night. “He has had a great season as he’s really grown through the year. He, like most of our team, is a work in progress.” Senior linebacker Barrett Canderday is another player who has stood out for the Maroon and Gold in 2025. “He accepted his roles as a senior linebacker and leadership among the team,” said Godsey. “Let’s not forget senior Alex Crider, who gave up his starting quarterback position to play tight end, as he has been vital to our offense. Either catching the ball or providing outstanding blocking, Alex has been solid.”

Bob Jones

The Patriots opened the season with four consecutive wins and looked to be unstoppable. The four-game win streak included destroying James Clemens 54-7 and came after two consecutive losses to their crosstown rivals in the two previous seasons. The season then turned soured as the Patriots lost five of the final six games on the schedule, including a nail biter 29-26 loss to rival Sparkman, to finish 5-5.