Photo by James Nicholas.
Homewood outside linebacker Joey Luckianow (49) emergesfrom the scrum and signals the turnover recovery for Homewoodduring a game between Homewood and Mortimer Jordan high schools on Sept. 6 at Mortimer Jordan’s Jimmie Trotter Stadium in Kimberly.
October represents the most important stretch of games for high school football teams across Alabama. The final region games are played, and playoff spots are determined.
Homewood and John Carroll will be looking to make the most of this October. Each team plays its final three region games, looking to secure a playoff berth.
Homewood is looking for a 13th straight playoff appearance, while John Carroll is looking for back-to-back appearances for the first time since 2008 and 2009.
The Patriots begin the month with a home game against Gardendale on Oct. 4. The teams are region foes for the first time since the 2009 season. They have met three times since then, all of them in the second round of the state playoffs. Gardendale has won two of those games, including a 2021 win the last time the teams squared off.
Homewood won the first seven meetings between the programs, with the Patriots pitching shutouts in five of those contests.
The Patriots follow that game up with an open week and remain home on Oct. 18 to take on Parker, a highly touted team this fall. The teams split two meetings in 2016 and 2017, the only other time until this season that they have been region opponents.
Homewood then wraps up the month and the region schedule with a trip to Minor on Thursday, Oct. 24.
The programs are not extremely familiar with one another despite their relative proximity. They played once in 1974, but not again until 2006. Homewood has won five of eight meetings, but Minor won 28-0 the last time they met,
in 2019.
The Patriots conclude the regular season on Nov. 1 at home against 7A team James Clemens. The two teams have never met prior to this season.
John Carroll begins October with its final three Class 5A, Region 5 games. On Oct. 4, the Cavs host Wenonah. It will be the seventh straight year that the two teams have been region foes. Wenonah owned the series in previous years, but John Carroll has found the upper hand over the last four seasons, including a 49-35 win last fall.
The Cavs and Briarwood will square off for the first time in five years on Oct. 11 at Lions Pride Stadium. John Carroll’s last win over Briarwood came in 1995, with the Lions winning the last 10 meetings.
John Carroll wraps up the region slate at home against Corner on Oct. 18. Corner has risen back to 5A after a couple years dominating the 4A ranks. It will be the first meeting between the two programs.
John Carroll may or may not know its playoff fate following that final region contest, because the Cavs have an open date Oct. 25, the date of the last region games.
Either way, the Cavs will wrap up the regular season at home against West Blocton on Nov. 1. While John Carroll has won the two previous meetings between the teams, those were in 1949 and 1950.
