Four out of six of the Alabama schools in the Greater Valley Area will host a first-round playoff football game this Friday night.

Springwood also plays this Friday in Butler against Patrician. Chambers Academy faces Jackson Academy, LaFayette faces New Brockton, Lanett faces Keith and Valley hosts Vigor.

Chambers Academy, LaFayette, Lanett and Valley have worked hard all year long and have put them in a position to play the first round at home. The Rebels, Panthers and Rams all won their respective region championships, while the Bulldogs were two scores away from winning their region as well.

The student-athletes hard work should be awarded with large community support with as many fans as possible at the games. All regular season long, teams play for the chance to play at home for the opportunity to have home-field advantage.

“I hope this is huge in the community,” Valley head football coach Buster Daniel said after the Rams won the region title. “Our crowd wasn’t too good tonight, that might be because of rain, but I want to see this place filled up. In the first round of the playoffs, I want to see this place full. These kids deserve it, they work 365 days a year, they deserve to have a full crowd out there.”

This season marks the first time since 2011 Valley won the region championship.

This week at practice, Lanett head football coach Clifford Story, Jr. also stressed the importance of community support around his program.

“We’ve been in the position in the last few years to win a state championship,” Story said. “I wish that the community would understand how important it is for them as parents and family members that these players can see their faces in the stands, and it makes a difference. I wished that Panther Nation would get behind these guys and support, holler, scream and let them know that they are behind them 150 percent.”

We agree with Daniel and Story. The teams have worked hard all year and deserve community support for their biggest games of the season. The cheerleaders and bands have also worked extremely hard. We’re sure they’d love to see a big crowd too.

And there are no excuses this week. The weather looks clear on Friday night, although it might be a touch chilly.

A jacket will solve that problem, so grab one, pick a football game and cheer on one of our local schools. They deserve it.