The Selma High Saints (1-2) haven’t played a home game yet this season, and will get their first shot defending their home field on Friday night against the McAdory Yellow Jackets (4-0) at Memorial Stadium.

“This is a team that we’ve played in the past, so we’re familiar with this team,” Selma High assistant coach De’Andre Wilson said. “Overall, the morale of the team has been great. The kids are fired up and ready to play. We’re still trying to get a big win.”

In the midst of a two-game losing streak, the Saints get a break from region play with the matchup against McAdory.

Ultimately, the Yellow Jackets don’t pose a threat to Selma’s playoff chances. But with two region losses already, the Saints need to get back on track before it gets to the October matchups that will decide the teams’ future.

In the team’s first three games, the Saints offense has been on a roller coaster. The team scored 60 against Southside in the season opener, but only put six-points on the board against Opelika. Selma put up 20-points in a loss last Friday to Benjamin Russell, and is averaging 28.7 points per game on the season.

“We’re capable of putting up many points, but the guys know being disciplined and taking care of the small things really matter. The small things are what held us back last week.”

Selma’s defense, which is allowing 37 points per game three games into the season, was only really burned by Opelika’s loss where the team allowed 66-points. The Saints only allowed 20 points to Southside and 25 to Benjamin Russell.

The Saints can win games if the defense can keep the team in the ball game.

McAdory’s defense, on the other hand, has limited opponents to 9.5-points per game. The Yellow Jackets have already shutout one team, and neither of their four opponents has scored more than 13 points against them.

On offense, the Yellow Jackets average 24.5 points per game, and its largest margin of victory was a 22-point win over Helena in its opener.

“They like to run the ball, so that’s going to be a key factor for us this week,” Wilson said. “We just want to stop the run and keep them under control. We don’t want them to get a full head of steam.”

Dallas County

The Dallas County Hornets (0-3) had its best offensive showing of the season last week against Sumter Central, and the team returns to its home field to take on region opponent the Sipsey Valley Bears (3-1).

The Hornets and the Bears are on opposite ends of the Class 4A Region 3 standings, which makes this an important game for both sides.

There are only six total region games on the schedule, so Friday marks the halfway point in determining the leaders in the standings.

The Bears are currently in first place with a 2-0 region record, and the Hornets are tied with West Blocton in fifth place at 0-2.

On offense, the Hornets are averaging just 7.3 points per game. The 22-point effort gave the team a bump after being shutout in consecutive games to start the year.

Defensively, Dallas County has allowed 20 or more points in each of its first three games.

The Bears offensive and defensive numbers show they can survive a tight ball game. The offense doesn’t score a lot at just 16.5 points per game, but the teams’ defense has only allowed 13.5 per game.

Pigg is still trying to get the Hornets their first win of the season and his first win as a head coach.

Ellwood Christian

The Ellwood Christian Academy Eagles (0-3) goes back on the road on Friday night to play The Francis Marion Rams (2-1) for its third region game of the season.

The Eagles are tied for eighth place in the Class 1A Region 3 standings with A.L. Johnson.

On the bright side, the Eagles are neither the lowest scoring team in the region nor the team with the most points allowed. A.L. Johnson has them beat on both fronts.

However, the schedule isn’t getting easier for Ellwood as they go against the Rams.

“It’s been a sense of urgency since week one,” Ellwood head coach Migeual Catlin said. “We put ourselves in a bind and we’ve pretty much gotta have everyone from here on out just to be relevant when it comes to being in the playoffs. It’s definitely a sense of urgency.”

The Rams are averaging 20 points per game, while the Eagles have only scored six in each of its past two games.

“We’re preparing for the pass,” Catlin said. “They seem to be a pretty pass-happy team, and we’re going to have to do a good job on the back end. They have good a good quarterback and a good wide receiver corps, so were going to have to be sound in that area.”

Francis Marion also allows 20-points to opponents on average, but Ellwood has allowed an average of 48 points per game.

The Eagles remain an inexperienced team, but have shown improvement with each game.

Catlin is still trying to get the Eagles their first win of the season and his first win as a head coach.

“We’ve just been too inconsistent early on,” Catlin said. “We’re going to try some different things and see if we can get some guys in open space and see if we can control the game in that way. The main focus is going to be trying to control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.”

Keith

The Keith High Bears (2-1) has its biggest test of the season on Friday night when they go on the road to face the No. 5 Maplesville Red Devils (2-1) on Friday night.

The Red Devils are the second ranked opponent the Bears will have met this season already. Keith was blown out 49-8 on its home field by No. 2 Linden earlier this season. Touchdowns on special teams, penalties and costly mistakes gave Linden the cushion it needed before the offense really had an effect on the game.

The Red Devils, who have won their region in six consecutive seasons, continue to be a power in Class 1A.

Maplesville averages 44 points per game, and only allows 20.3 per game to opponents. The teams’ only loss also came against Linden (38-27).

Keith has been averaging 30.7 points per game and allowing 27.7 to opponents. This is an important region game for both teams to break the tie at third place in the Region 3 standings.

Southside

The Southside Panthers (0-4) have had a difficult start to the season, and will face another region opponent for the third week in a row with the Beulah Bobcats (4-0) coming to town.

The Panthers have never started a season 0-4 under head coach Daniel Flowers. The Panthers haven’t been 0-4 since the 2010 season, when they finished the year 2-8.

“We just need to execute better,” Southside head coach Daniel Flowers said. “Penalties have been hurting us the past two weeks too. We’ll get big runs and big gains for touchdowns, but then they get called back because of a penalty. We’ve been in scoring position each game at least six times, but every time we get a huge gain they call it back. The road has been good to us as far as officiating.”

Southside can’t afford to go 0-3 in region games this early in the season. After Beulah, the Panthers would need to win the remaining four region games to finish above .500 in the Class 3A Region 3 standings.

Southside’s offense has been atypical this season. Through four games, the Panthers are averaging just 11.3 points per game and allowing 39.8 to opponents. At this point last year, Southside was at least averaging 17.75 points per game.

We just need to cut the turnovers out and score,” Flowers said.

Injuries have been a setback for the Panthers, but the team needs to find ways to get more points on the board to compete in this region.

Beulah, on the other hand, has dominated its first four games this season. The offense is averaging 30.8 points per game, while the defense has held opponents to 9.8 per game.

The Bobcats have allowed less than 10 points in three of its games.

Beulah is currently tied with Pike Road at the top of the Region 3 standings, while Southside is in a three-way tie for last.

MEadowview Christian

The Meadowview Christian Trojans (0-4) have their second road game of the year on Friday in Montgomery against the Evangel Christian Academy Lions (0-5).

Both teams are winless. Both teams don’t score many points, and both defenses allow a lot of points.

However, it isn’t a region game for the Trojans, so the outcome doesn’t affect the standings. Meadowview had scored in each of its games until they faced Marengo Academy this past Friday.

Evangel was shutout in its first three games, but put up 18 points in its last two matchups (12 and 6).

Someone will win this game and finally get in the win column.

Morgan Academy

The No. 8 Morgan Academy Senators (4-1) earned a one-spot bump in the ASWA top-10 rankings this week. The team heads to Montgomery on Friday to play the Success Unlimited Mustangs (2-2).

The two schools haven’t played before given that it’s the Mustangs first year with a football program. Through the Mustangs first four games, however, they have shown that they can put up points in the AISA.

“They’re coached by Bill Granger, whose been a public school coach for a long time and had successful programs, so their coaching should be way above par for what you would expect of a new program,” Thacker said. “Those guys are extremely athletic on film. They’ve played some very good football teams, so I expect Friday night to be a good football game.”

Success Unlimited is averaging 24 points per game on offense and allowing 29 per game to opponents.

The Mustangs faced one ranked opponent already this season in Monroe Academy, and they lost 51-20.

Morgan’s offense has been able to consistently put points on the scoreboard, and is averaging 29.6 points per game.

However, the defense is the highlight of the Senators team this season. Morgan’s defense has allowed just 8.6 points per game to opponents this year. No. 6 Pike Liberal was the only team to score more than 14 points against the Senators (20).

“They’re gaining more confidence every week, and they’re getting better at what they do each week,” Thacker said. “We’ve moved into a little bit of a different look because this team is so athletic, so we’re preaching assignment responsibility and the guys have done a pretty good job of it.”

This matchup gives the Senators a break from region play, so the outcome won’t affect their place in the AISA-AAA standings. But the team’s spot near the bottom of the top-10 will be in jeopardy each week.

“Each week presents its own problems,” Thacker said. “We’re just trying to take it one week at a time and get better as a football team.”