Reviewed by: Pat Byington
10 things to know before high school football season kicks off in Alabama
Reading time: 7 minutes
High school football stadiums will be filled in this week as teams host their scrimmages, jamborees and “meet the team” events across the state.
But that real Friday Night Lights feeling won’t start until next week as August 21 will officially mark the beginning of the 2025 Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) football season.
That’s plenty of time to catch up on all the biggest statewide headlines before the season kicks off. Here are 10 things you should know before heading out to a game this season.
Will we have any repeat champions?
Last year’s Super 7 provided zero repeat state champions, marking the first time that has happened since 2012 when it was still just the Super 6 (six classifications).
But it seems like there is some belief that will not be the case in 2025.
Six of last season’s champions were ranked first in the Alabama Sports Writers Association preseason poll including:
- 7A: Thompson
- 6A: Parker
- 4A: Jackson
- 3A: Mars Hill Bible
- 2A: Reeltown
- 1A: Wadley
Jackson and Wadley were the only two to receive all 18 first-place votes in their classification.
Catholic-Montgomery winning streak
The only team missing from that list above is Catholic-Montgomery, which won the 5A state championship last year but open the season as No. 3 in the ASWA rankings.
Sure, the Knights may have lost plenty of talent but the program is consistently winning games like no other program in the state. Catholic currently holds the:
- Longest winning streak: 28
- Longest regular season winning streak: 43
- Longest region winning streak: 40
The Knights, who have won two straight state titles but in different classifications, have won at least 12 games in six straight seasons but they’ll have to keep that streak going with a new coach in 2025 as Jonathan Chandler takes over the program.
Is this finally Moody’s year?
Few teams in the entire country have seen a rise like the Moody Blue Devils have in the past five years.
In 2020, Moody went 0-9. Two years later, Jake Ganus took over as head coach and has led the team to 31 wins in three seasons.
Last season, Moody made its first ever appearance in a state championship game but fell to Catholic-Montgomery by just a field goal. But the hype continues to roll on as the Blue Devils enter the 2025 season ranked No. 1 in Class 5A.
Of course, Ganus once again didn’t make things easy for his team in the regular season with an out-of-state trip, the No. 4 team in 7A and two 6A teams on the schedule.
Central-Phenix City’s flag football dominance
Central-Phenix City was the lone repeat champion during the Super 7 events last year, although it is officially considered a different sport by the AHSAA.
The Red Devils finished the 2024 season with a 19-0 record, outscoring their opponents 844-49. The Red Devils won the 6A/7A state championship by defeating Spain Park 55-7.
So how do you possibly get better from there? I’m not sure you can but they still have the talent including two of the top 30 players in the country according to MaxPreps.
Is the state’s best offense team in 4A?
If anyone could rival Central’s dominance on the field last year, it was this Jackson team.
The Aggies averaged 46.6 points per game and won their final 14 games of the season including a 69-6 win in the state title game, the largest margin of victory in Super 7 history.
And the talent is back for 2025. Three of the state’s top 10 recruits in the Class of 2026 play for Jackson including:
- 5-star running back EJ Cromwell
- 4-star quarterback Landon Duckworth
- 4-star wide receiver Keeyun Chapman
That’s a pretty rare collection of talent for a single high school football team, especially at the 4A level. This team is going to be fun to watch.
Mr. Football candidates
The Jackson trio might be the three frontrunners for this award if they didn’t have to share stats this season but they will certainly still be in the conversation through December.
Other names to keep an eye on include:
- AJ Alexander, Dothan RB
- Anthony Jones, St. Paul’s DE
- Cederian Morgan, Benjamin Russell WR
- Corey Barber, Spain Park ATH
- Donovan Crow, Central-Phenix City RB
- Gunner Rivers, Saint Michael QB
- Jaylin Taylor, Oxford WR
- Trent Seaborn, Thompson QB
The search for 300
Most coaches will credit the players for all the on-field accomplishments but the players would probably say the same about their coaches.
And one coach is coming up on a historic milestone.
Steve Smith needs six wins to become the 10th member of the AHSAA’s 300-win club.
The 5-time state champion with Piedmont is now at Westbrook Christian, leading the Warriors to 11 wins across two seasons so far.
A two-year playoff drought is the longest of Smith’s coaching career but if he can make it back to the postseason, he’ll likely have to get No. 300 on the way.
Same old, same old in 7A?
Since the creation of a 7A classification in 2014, just four schools have won a football state championship.
In the last seven years, the titles have been split between Thompson (5) and Central-Phenix City (2).
Since 2017, every semifinals have featured at least two of Thompson, Hoover, Auburn, and Central-Phenix City. Each championship game since 2018 has featured two of them.
The only other teams to make a semifinal appearance during that span are:
- McGill-Toolen (2017)
- Percy Julian (2018)
- Mary Montgomery (2023)
- Hewitt-Trussville (2023)
- Enterprise (2024)
So will the same four teams be the powerhouses in 2025 or will there be a newcomer ready to crash the party?
Border Wars
Every year, there’s a handful of showcase games where some of the top Alabama high school football programs will represent their state in a battle with teams from surrounding states.
Here’s a few of the games to keep an eye on this year:
- IMG Academy (FL) at Hoover, Aug. 22 | ESPN2, 8PM
- Central Carroll (GA) at Oxford, Aug. 22
- Thompson at Grayson (GA), Aug. 29
- Parker at Carrolton (GA), Sep. 19
- IMG Academy at Central-Phenix City, Sep. 26
Super 7 is back in Birmingham
After Tuscaloosa and Auburn were removed from the rotation due to the new College Football Playoff format, the AHSAA had to find some new locations for the Super 7.
A new rotation was announced earlier this year but to give time for other sites to prepare, the championships will return to Protective Stadium this December.
It’s never too early to plan your trip so here’s the schedule:
- Wednesday, Dec. 3
- Unified Game: TBA
- Flag 1A-5A: 11AM
- Flag 6A-7A: 3PM
- 7A: 7PM
- Thursday, Dec. 4
- Class 3A: 11AM
- Class 1A: 3PM
- Class 5A: 7PM
- Friday, Dec. 5
- Class 4A: 11AM
- Class 2A: 3PM
- Class 6A: 7PM
What are you most looking forward to this season? Let us know by tagging The Bama Buzz on Instagram, X, Facebook + LinkedIn.
