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The Springwood Wildcats dominated North River 52-8 in Tuscaloosa on Friday night to clinch a winning season and their first region title in 21 years.

This was all under the direction of first year head coach Joey Burch, who hopes to instill a culture in the Springwood program.

Burch is proud of his players for securing the first seed in the 8-man playoffs.

“It’s big for our kids, our community and our school,” Burch said.

“I feel good. I’m happy for the kids. We took care of business tonight, and we made a statement. We didn’t get anyone injured, and it was a big win for the Wildcats. We didn’t have a single turnover or penalty.”

Springwood will have a week off before they start the playoffs, and they don’t know who they’re playing yet.

Burch hopes the region title will establish a new standard at Springwood.

He also hopes that Springwood can eventually get back to 11-man football.

“We’re going to take next week and work on getting in better shape,” Burch said.

“We’re going to try and get our kids fully healthy, and then we’ll treat it like a normal game week.”