Assessing dominance as Alabama playoffs begin

Ask any real high school football fan in Alabama which program has been the best in the state the last three years and the answers have been obvious. Most would say Class 6A national powers Prattville or Hoover. More traditionalists might say Class 1A juggernaut Sweet Water.

But the best answer, though more obscure, is indeed the right choice after all. Try Dadeville's Tigers.

Why Dadeville? For starters, Coach Richard White's Class 4A team has just concluded its second unbeaten regular season in the last three years. The Tigers, who are at home Friday night in the first round of the state playoffs against West Blocton, were 9-1 in the other year. That 29-1 regular-season record is indeed tops in the state – tying with Class 1A Linden. The Bears of Coach Andro Williams were 10-0 in 2008 and 2009 and are currently 9-1 this season heading into this week's first round of the state playoffs.

We give White's Tigers the edge, however. Why? Dadeville was 0-10 in 2007. That's right, winless. The very next year, however, White led his squad to an amazing turnaround with a 10-0 regular-season campaign. White has been head coach in all four campaigns.

There have been 44 unbeaten seasons in the AHSAA the last three years. It is very difficult to do thanks to a rugged region schedule that forces each class to have no more than eight perfect teams in any given year. Look at Class 5A this season. Only one school, Region 7 champion Fort Payne (10-0), has been perfect through the regular season.

During the last three years, only seven schools have gone undefeated more than once. In addition to Dadeville and Linden, Class 2A Tanner (9-0) was also undefeated in 2008; Class 3A Leeds and Hamilton were both 10-0 in '08 and are currently 10-0; Class 4A Cherokee County was 10-0 in '08 and 10-0 in '09 – actually going 29-1 in those two years with two straight trips to the state finals. The reigning 2009 state champs are currently 5-5 heading into the playoffs this season.

And in Class 6A, Auburn was 10-0 in 2008 and 2009 and is currently 8-1 this year, one win behind Dadeville and Linden.

Click here to view MaxPreps' Alabama football playoff brackets.

Here are the undefeated teams from the last three regular seasons:

2008 (17 teams undefeated in regular season, all 10-0)
Class 1A: Brantley, Linden. Class 2A: Clay County, Leroy, Tanner. Class 3A: T.R. Miller, Dadeville, Leeds, Hamilton. Class 4A: Elmore County, Cherokee County. Class 5A: Vigor, Shelby County, Carver-Montgomery, Hartselle. Class 6A: Auburn, Tuscaloosa County.

2009 (14 Teams Undefeated in Regular Season, 10-0 unless otherwise noted)
Class 1A: Linden, Hackleburg. Class 2A: Elba, Lamar County. Class 3A: Pike County (9-0), Trinity (9-0), Madison Academy. Class 4A: Bibb County, Cherokee County, Handley. Class 5A: Cullman, Greenville. Class 6A: Auburn, Fairhope.

2010 (13 Teams Undefeated in Regular Season, 10-0 unless otherwise noted)
Class 1A: Maplesville (9-0), McKenzie (9-0). Class 2A: Cottonwood, Tanner (9-0), Westbrook Christian (9-0). Class 3A: Hamilton, Leeds. Class 4A: Dadeville, North Jackson, Thomasville. Class 5A: Fort Payne. Class 6A: Daphne, Hoover.

LINDEN, BIBB COUNTY FINISH 1-2 IN SCORING AVERAGE
Offensive production continues to rise in Alabama prep football with more and more games totaling more than 100 points in any given week. Don't look for that kind of scoring too often during the state playoffs. Usually, the scoring goes down with each round.

Linden finished the regular season with 506 points scored in 10 games, a state-leading average of 50.6 points per game. Class 4A Bibb County (Centreville) was right behind with 488 points and a 48.8 scoring average.
Defensively, Maplesville allowed only 46 points in 10 games with seven shutouts en route to a 4.6 ppg average for the state's top defense. The Class 1A Red Devils also scored 485 points in the regular season.

The biggest point production by region was in Class 1A, Region 5. The eight teams averaged 30.1 ppg per team in the 28 region games. Five of the teams averaged more than 30 ppg on the year with Marion County the best at 37.8. Brilliant, the eighth-place team, averaged 17.2 ppg.

Season-high combined point totals each week included:
Week 1: Carver-Montgomery (6A) 55, Opelika (6A) 34. Week 2: R.A. Hubbard (1A) 60, Phillips (1A) 36. Week 3: Auburn (6A) 57, Enterprise (6A) 44. Week 4: Cherokee County (4A) 53, Butler (4A) 52. Week 5: UMS-Wright (4A) 66, Mary Montgomery (39). Week 6: Hueytown (5A) 55, Parker (5A) 36. Week 7: Oneonta (4A) 55, Jacksonville (4A) 41. Week 8: Isabella (2A) 75, R.C. Hatch (2A) 40. Week 9: Jemison (4A) 57, Greene County (4A) 56. Week 10: Marion County (1A) 51, Red Bay (2A) 44.

BAYSIDE WINS NINTH STRAIGHT VOLLEYBALL TITLE
Class 3A Bayside Academy (Daphne), coached by Ann Schilling, became the state's all-time volleyball state championship leader after winning a thrilling five-match final over Winston County at the AHSAA Elite Eight state tournament at Pelham last week. It was the Lady Admirals' ninth consecutive state championship and 19th overall. Class 6A McGill-Toolen of Mobile has 18 championships. The nine straight titles is currently the state mark as well.

Other state champions at Pelham were: Huntsville (6A); St. Paul's Episcopal (Mobile) (5A); Guntersville (4A); Cottage Hill Christian Academy (Mobile) (2A); and Addison (1A).