PREP CAPSULES: Valley rolls into playoffs as ranked team

Editor’s Note: This is the second in a series of stories previewing Friday’s high school playoff games. Today: Class 2A-5A. Friday: Class 6A.

Midway through the 2008 football season, Valley head coach Roger McDonald made a bold statement about his team.

With the Rams rolling up wins, but getting little recognition around the state, McDonald made the claim that his squad was a definitive Top 10 team in Class 5A.

And Valley has continued to prove him right, all the way through the conclusion of the regular season when the Rams (9-1) knocked off Class 6A Smiths Station, 14-7.

Since McDonald’s claim, Valley, the Class 5A-Region 2 champion has jumped into the Class 5A polls and enters Friday’s first-round playoff tilt at home against Gulf Shores (7-3) ranked No. 8.

The Rams, led by a strong rushing attack on offense and a blanketing defense, haven’t lost since Week 1 of the season, when they fell to Auburn High in a game that was then looked at as an upset of sorts.

That loss now hasn’t turned out to be such a surprise as Auburn went on to an undefeated regular season.

The Gulf Shores Dolphins got off to a shaky 3-3 start, but have since run off four consecutive wins to finish fourth in Region 1.

Tallassee (7-3) at Spanish Fort (9-1)
Tallassee proved to be a force in Class 5A-Region 2 this season.

The Tigers even had a chance at the region crown two weeks ago before falling to Valley.

Tallassee (7-3) rebounded by taking down Holtville last week in the regular-season finale, 37-13, giving the Tigers seven wins in their last eight tries.

The Tigers finished the year with an 8-2 record, but had to forfeit a Week 1 victory over Elmore County due to having an ineligible player.

Tallassee has to make a trip to the Mobile area to open the first round against a strong Spanish Fort team.

The Toros started the year 7-0 before losing its only game of the year to second-ranked Vigor.

Class 3A
Aliceville (4-6) at No. 5 Dadeville (10-0)
It’s been written, hashed and re-hashed numerous times already.

Dadeville became the first team in state history to go from 0-10 to 10-0 in a regular season.

But all that history-making will be just a sidenote in the annals of Alabama high school football if the Tigers can’t take the regular-season momentum into the postseason — as all coaches and players say heading to the playoffs, “We’re all 0-0 now.”

Dadeville opens the Class 3A playoffs at home as the Region 3 champions against Region 4 fourth-seed Aliceville, who is on a two-game losing streak.

The Yellow Jackets’ defense is giving up just over 27 points per game overall, but in their six losses they are surrendering over 42 points per game.

Class 2A
Fultondale (5-5) at No. 7 Reeltown (9-1)
To say Reeltown has been playing lights out the past several weeks would be a major understatement.

The Rebels have rolled off nine consecutive wins, but the last five weeks have been about as good as it gets.

Reeltown has outscored the last five opponents, 246-14, with those 14 points coming in a 67-14 win over St. Jude.

Now the seventh-ranked Rebels head into the postseason for a home meeting with a Fultondale team that has lost five consecutive games.

tpeavy@oanow.com | 737-2568