Teams to feast on tourneys

By Staff
Todd Thompson, Sports Editor
The news from the Alabama High School Athletic Association had been anticipated for several weeks now, but the announcements of the state’s new football and basketball classifications Monday morning was met with shock and plenty of questions.
Hartselle remained in Class 5A and will again compete in Region 8 for the next two years.
But Hartselle is now the third-largest school in Class 5A, just 23 students away from the smallest 6A school in the state.
And while Hartselle didn’t change its classification or its region status, the realignment of regions certainly had an affect on all of the Morgan County schools.
Decatur, expectedly, jumped from Class 5A to 6A - a move that could impact Hartselle’s football schedule for the next two years.
The Red Raiders were moved into a nine-team region in Class 6A, meaning Decatur will have one less non-region game on the schedule, at least for the foreseeable future.
Hartselle will have open dates for non-region games on the first, fifth and 10th weeks of the season.
But teams in nine-team regions - like Decatur, Austin, Brewer and Cullman - will have a non-region game the 10th week and in either the first or fifth week of the season.
In the past, Brewer has been a region opponent for the Tigers, but in the state’s realignment the Patriots were moved to another region.
Hartselle now has four traditional rival games to fill three non-region dates and scheduling could be tricky.
There will be changes in store for the football programs at Priceville, Falkville, Brewer and Danville, too.
Brewer moves into Class 5A’s Region 6, away from Hartselle, Russellville and Athens. Unfortunately, the Patriots now will face Walker and Cullman.
Danville moves to Region 6 in 3A, while Falkville goes from Region 5 to Region 6 in 2A. Priceville remains in Class 4A’s Region 7 with several new schools.
Sports editor Todd Thompson can be reached at 773-6566 or by email at todd.thompson@hartselleenquirer.com