WEEK 5 PREDICTIONS

It looks like a week where a lot of the teams that are expected to win will win. There are no guarantees until they play the game.
But here's a quick look at this week's games.

Jordan vs. Shaw at Kinnett Stadium
This is an easy one. The Raiders' defense is still too good. They won't allow Jordan to move the ball, which will make it hard for the Red Jackets to win. It doesn't help that Jordan has only scored seven points in its first three games. Shaw's defense will score at least one defensive touchdown.
Prediction: Shaw 31, Jordan 0

Northside at Harris County
This might be the best game of the week. Both teams need to win. They can't afford another loss.
Whoever can get their playmaker more involved -- Northside's Carlos Ross and Harris County's Derrius Brooks -- will win the game.
The Tigers will win a close one as they can also get the ball to Charles Purchase and Chris Bullard.
Prediction: Harris County 28, Northside 24

Spencer vs. Kendrick at Memorial Stadium
The Cherokees will improve to 2-2. They won't do anything that let will leave the spectators impressed, but they will win.
Expect a lot of running and the Kendrick defense to force some turnovers.
Prediction: Kendrick 28, Spencer 6

Hardaway at LaGrange
The Hawks will struggle to move the ball against the LaGrange defense. The Grangers will do everything to shut down the Hardaway running game. LaGrange's offense will score just enough, like it has done the last few weeks. The Grangers remain unbeaten.
Prediction: LaGrange 16, Hardaway 6

Chattahoochee County at Pacelli
Lots of offense. Both teams will move the ball up and down the field. It's going to come down to who makes less mistakes. Neither team has a lot of experience, but the Vikings have more.
That will make the difference in a close game.
Prediction: Pacelli 35, Chattahoochee County 31

Pickens at Glenwood
The Gators offense will score some points against Pickens. Glenwood will take advantage of some turnovers and use its three-headed monster in its backfield -- Devin Piernas, Brant Hamilton and Cody Marsh -- to win the game.
The Gators will score a couple of second-half touchdowns and turn it into a blow out.
Prediction: Glenwood 35, Pickens 7

Tallassee at Russell County
It won't be pretty, but the Warriors will win their first game of the season. Deveon Alexander will run the ball and Branden Williams will manage the game. Williams will be the difference maker in the game. He will pick up first downs with his feet and preserve the lead.
Prediction: Russell County 17, Tallassee 14

Central -Phenix City at Baldwin County
Can the Red Devils keep the momentum from last week's win going this week? Baldwin has yet to win a game, so the answer is yes. Josh Wallace looked healthy last week as he rushed for 142 yards. He will top 100 yards for the second straight week.
Prediction: Central 21, Baldwin County 10

Robert E. Lee at Smiths Station
The Panthers appear to have learned how to win. Smiths Station has won three straight and after tonight it will be four straight. The Panthers' spread offense has caused problems for opposing defenses. Kyle Barr will find open receivers and throw two touchdowns.
Prediction: Smiths 34, Lee 17

Columbus vs. Carver Saturday at Kinnett Stadium
The Blue Devils will give a lot of effort and make this game closer than it should be. They just don't enough to pull off the upset. Carver will make mistakes but use its athleticism to overcome those miscues.
Prediction: Carver 27, Columbus 14

WEEK 4 LACKS SURPRISES

There were a lot of predictable outcomes in the fourth week of the season.
Shaw won.
Carver remained unbeaten.
Brookstone won its Region 4-A opener.
While there weren't a lot of upsets, it was still an interesting week of football. Here's a quick look at the week:

Flying under the radar
Smiths Station and Hardaway are quietly winning football games. The Panthers and Hawks both are 3-1 this season.
In 2005, they each only won one game.
The Panthers won by the narrowest of margins – 10-9 against Dothan on Thursday night. Trailing 9-7, Jeffrey Carrero kicked a 27-yard field goal with 3:48 to give the Panthers their third straight win.
Smiths Station is now 3-0 in Class 6A, Region 3 and tied for first with Opelika and Auburn. The Panthers have to probably win two more region games to make the playoffs for the first time since 1997.
Hardaway is also trying to make the playoffs for time this century.
If the Hawks continue to win the close games, they will make the playoffs for the first time since 1999. Hardaway has won all three games by a touchdown or less.
Still, first-year coach Morgan Ingram has them playing hard and making enough plays to win.
That was the case Saturday night against Harris County. Nick Burks and Kelcie McCray found running lanes in the first half, and the defense kept Harris County out of the end zone in the fourth quarter.


Plenty of points
Glenwood didn't have any problem running the ball on Friday.
The Gators rushed for more than 400 yards and scored 70 points against Tuscaloosa. They scored three touchdowns in both the first and second quarters, and they added four more in the third quarter.
Tuscaloosa hadn't really stopped anyone this season, surrendering 54 points a game in its first four. Glenwood's 70 points raises Tuscaloosa's average points allowed to 57.2.
The Gators had eight different players score a touchdown, including William Tanzie, who scored on a 99-yard run.

Must wins
With losses this week, Kendrick, Harris County and Northside can't afford to lose many more games and still make the playoffs from Region 2-AAA.
The Cherokees were competitive but still lost 13-0 to LaGrange, falling to 1-2. The Patriots were shutout 22-0 by Carver and are 1-2. Harris County's 27-20 loss to Hardaway drops the Tigers to 1-3.
Kendrick has a good chance to get 2-2 when it plays Spencer this week, while Northside and Harris County play each other.
The loser of that game will have an extremely difficult road to the playoffs.

RALLYING LATE

Central-Phenix City could have easily given up late in the fourth quarter when it trailed Enterprise 17-7.
Instead, running back Josh Wallace continued to run hard play after play. He ran hard on each toss to the short side of the field. Running back David Ray found opening whenever he got the ball.
The offensive line started pushing around the Enterprise defense.
Wallace dove into the end zone with 2:49 left in the game, but the Red Devils were still down, 17-14.
If Enterprise secures an onside kick, the Wildcats would likely win and the Red Devils' chances of making the Class 6A playoffs would be slim.
They would have been 0-3 in Class 6A, Region 3 and still have to play Opelika -- the region's top team. It was looking like Central was going to miss the playoffs for the first time since 1991.
That all started to change when Justin Rogers and the Red Devils recovered an onside kick at the 50-yard line.
The Red Devils went 50 yards, and Geoffrey James scored on a 1-yard run.
That gave Central its first win of the year and a chance to make the playoffs for 15th straight season.
The Red Devils still need to beat Northview, Dothan and Russell County to have a chance to earn a playoff spot.
But that chance would have all but disappeared Friday night had they lost.