The Hale County Wildcats will square off against the Southside Panthers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, these teams will really light up the scoreboard.
Hale County is likely headed into the game with a focus on the second half, which is when things went downhill against Thorsby last Friday. The Wildcats took a 42-37 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Rebels. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game on September 12th (34), the Wildcats still had to take the loss.
Despite the defeat, Hale County got top-tier performance from Marcus Bryant, Jr., who rushed for 100 yards and a pair of TDs on only 12 carries, and also threw for 261 yards and three touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Southside strolled into their game on Friday with a perfect record and they left with the same. They took their contest with ease, bagging a 56-12 win over Keith. The final result isn't all that surprising considering the Panthers' considerable advantage in MaxPreps' Alabama football rankings (they are ranked 138th, while the Bears are ranked 351st).
A big part of Southside's victory came down to the chemistry between Kole Moody and his top target Cedrick Simmons. Moody threw for 411 yards and three TDs while completing 74.2% of his passes while Simmons picked up 199 receiving yards and one score. Simmons' receiving production has been exceptional for a while as that marked his 12th straight game with at least 101 receiving yards dating back to last season.
Southside was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 234 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Southside didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off three passes before the game was over. It was truly a group effort as Camarion Allen, Simmons, and Derrick Surles picked up one apiece. Southside got some further help from Jailyn Gresham: he forced one fumble and made eight total tackles (6.0 for loss).
The loss snapped Hale County's winning streak at three games and leaves them with a 3-2 record. As for Southside, their win bumped their record up to 5-0.
The upcoming matchup will be a clash of competing strengths. Hale County has deployed a run-first offense that has averaged 207 rushing yards a game. Meanwhile, Southside has preferred to attack from the air: they average 318.8 passing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Friday? There's only one way to find out.
Hale County took a serious blow against Southside in their previous matchup back in October of 2024, falling 56-6. Will the Wildcats have more luck at home instead of on the road? Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other football content.
