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Week three featured a lot of good games for the teams in the Greater Valley Area.

Valley got back in the win column after dominating Sylacauga. Chambers Academy handled business in their win against Crenshaw. LaFayette earned its first win of the season on the road against Barbour County. Springwood remained undefeated after beating Meadowview. Lanett struggled with region-leading Highland Home while Beulah is still looking for answers offensively.

Week four will have plenty of games that could determine how the rest of the season goes. A few teams will also be approaching the halfway point of the season after this week. Valley and Beulah are off this week.

 

Game of the week: Banks Academy (2-1) at Chambers Academy (2-2)

Chambers Academy is trying to reach a winning record for the first time this season with a home game against the Banks Academy Jets.

The Rebels are coming off of a 38-6 victory over Crenshaw where they asserted their dominance in the run game.

Banks is coming off of a 23-12 road win over Escambia.

Both teams played on Thursday last week due to the weather, so they’ll both have an extra day of preparation.

Chambers Academy head coach Jason Allen is preparing for the challenge the Jets will present.

“They’re a 2A team on the west side of the state,” Allen said. “They’re very athletic. They have really good size. They’ll be a tough matchup for us Friday night.”

Although Banks will be a tough team, Allen doesn’t plan on changing his philosophy.

“We need to keep doing what we’re doing,” Allen said. “We’re finding out who we are. We’re turning into a pretty physical football team. We’ve run for over 400 yards the last two games. We’re excited about how much better our team can get over the course of the next six or seven weeks.”

Allen will stick to his team’s strength and wear the Jets’ defense out with their run game.

“We threw for 110 yards last week,” Allen said. “That’s what would be optimal for us. We’re not a pass first team. We’re a run play-action team. If we can produce on the ground the way we have the first two weeks, we won’t need to throw the ball a lot.”

Allen also mentioned that his team is working on cutting down on penalties and improving the small stuff.

Although the Jets are 2-1, they’ve actually allowed more points (56) than they’ve scored (51) this season.

The Rebels will rely on their run game to beat the Jets at home. Running back Luke Tarver was dominant last week with three touchdowns on the ground.

The Rebels are 2-0 all-time against Banks Academy and have outscored the Jets 92-14 in those two games. The game will be played at Torbert-Allen Field at 8 p.m. EST on Friday.

 

Lanett (2-2) at Luverne (2-2)

The Lanett Panthers are looking to gain ground in their region after losing to Highland Home in Lanett. Their young offensive line continues to be their achilles’ heel, but their two losses have come to very good teams.

Luverne is coming off of a 12-0 win over Horseshoe Bend, and they’re undefeated in the region. The Tigers are sitting atop the region, and they haven’t allowed a single point in a region game.

Lanett is hitting the roughest part of their schedule as they have to play 4A Handley and region co-leader Reeltown right after Luverne.

The two region opponents Luverne has defeated are a combined 1-6 on the season, so this could be the team’s first real test. 

Lanett is 2-3 all-time against Luverne, but the Panthers have won the last two games. This game will be meaningful for Luverne as Lanett knocked them out of the second round of the playoffs last year.

This game should tell whether or not the Panthers are contenders for the region, but the Tigers will be looking for revenge in front of their home crowd.

The game will be played in Luverne at 8 p.m. EST on Friday.

 

Springwood (3-0) at Cornerstone Christian (2-0)

Springwood has exploded onto the 8-man football scene with their first 3-0 start since 2017. They controlled the game on both sides of the ball in their 60-8 victory over Meadowview last weekend.

Cornerstone Christian had a bye week last week, but they beat Coosa Valley on the road two weeks ago.

Springwood has been nothing short of dominant in their first year under head coach Joey Burch.

The Wildcats are averaging over 50 points per game, and they’ve only given up 40 points through the season. Some of those points allowed were garbage time points.

The Wildcats have weapons all over the field, but running backs Cayden Cook and Jonathan Johnson have been unstoppable on the ground.

Springwood and Cornerstone have faced each other six times, and all the games have been played in the last decade.

Springwood has won every game against the Chargers, but this is the first time they’ll be playing in 8-man football.

The Wildcats will finish their three-game road trip against Cornerstone at 8 p.m. EST on Friday.

 

Goshen (2-2) at LaFayette (1-3)

The LaFayette Bulldogs are coming off of a commanding 72-6 win over Barbour County, and it was the Bulldogs’ first win of the season.

They’ll look to build off that momentum as they return home to play the Goshen Eagles, who are coming off of a 42-22 loss to Reeltown.

The Bulldogs have struggled in the early portion of the season, but they’ll have a chance to make a statement in their region against Goshen.

LaFayette will lean on the offensive and defensive play of Joshua Combs, who had five receptions for 165 and four touchdowns last week.

This will also be the first time these two teams will ever play.

The game will be played at Bulldog Stadium at 8 p.m. EST on Friday.