The AHSAA 2023 high school football playoffs start this week around the state.

Here are 10 storylines for Week 1.

The complete schedule can be found at this link.

Playoff action starts Thursday

Twenty-eight of the 104 AHSAA first-round playoff games this week will happen on Thursday instead of the customary Friday slot.

The remaining 76 games will be played Friday.

The big shift in Thursday games is mainly due to next weekend being the Veterans Day holiday weekend with many schools closing on Friday.

The champs are here

All seven reigning state champs from 2022 are back in 2023 with a chance to defend their titles.

The current champs are Leroy (1A), Fyffe (2A), St. James (3A), Andalusia (4A), Ramsay (5A), Saraland (6A) and four-time defending state champion Thompson (7A).

Last year’s seven runners-up are also back. They are Pickens County (1A), B.B. Comer (2A), Piedmont (3A), Cherokee County (4A), Charles Henderson (5A), Mountain Brook (6A) and Auburn (7A).

The state’s best coaches

UMS-Wright’s Terry Curtis will face off with Central-Clay County’s Danny Horn in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs.

They currently are the AHSAA’s two winningest coaches.

Curtis is the overall leader with 354 wins. Horn is just three wins behind him and could pass him with a run to the state championship game.

Both have won eight state titles.

A rivalry renewed

Daphne travels to Enterprise on Friday for the first round of the Class 7A playoffs.

The matchup pits Daphne coach Kenny King against Enterprise coach Ben Blackmon.

Blackmon spent seven years at Daphne’s biggest rival, Spanish Fort, winning 77 games and a state championship. He left following the 2021 season to take over the Wildcats.

Dolphins are in

Rumors have been swirling this week about the status of Class 5A No. 1 Gulf Shores, which has been under AHSAA investigation this week.

However, Gulf Shores attorney Nash Campbell told AL.com on Friday night that, while the Dolphins had not received a ruling from the AHSAA on the investigation, the Association did clear one of their student-athletes to play in Friday’s win over B.C. Rain.

Mark Hudspeth’s team, which just finished its first unbeaten regular season, is in the official bracket. The Dolphins will host Beauregard on Friday.

“We have not heard a whole lot,” Hudspeth said on WNSP in Mobile following the win. “One of the players from this season has been cleared and the investigation is still going at this time, and we are very confident in what we do and very confident in our administration. We have cooperated fully and are anxious to get this behind us hopefully in the very near future.”

A first for St. Michael

St. Michael Catholic is in the playoffs for the first time in its seven years of football.

Former NFL QB Philip Rivers will lead the Cardinals against Handley in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs.

The Cardinals are 6-4 overall and 17-12 in three years under Rivers. His son, Gunner, is the team’s freshman quarterback.

Still perfect

Twenty teams in this year’s field head into the state playoffs undefeated.

Leroy (9-0) comes in with a 15-game winning streak dating back to the last game of the 2022 regular season.

Other unbeaten teams entering the playoffs include: (Class 1A) Elba (10-0); Loachapoka (9-0); (Class 2A) B.B. Comer (10-0); Reeltown (9-0); Locust Fork (10-0); (Class 3A) Mobile Christian (10-0); Lauderdale County (10-0); Madison Academy (10-0); (Class 4A) Montgomery Catholic (10-0); Jackson (9-0); West Morgan (10-0); (Class 5A) Gulf Sores (10-0); Central, Clay County (10-0); (Class 6A) Saraland (10-0); Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa (10-0); Clay-Chalkville (10-0); Muscle Shoals (9-0); and (Class 7A) Mary Montgomery (10-0) and Central-Phenix City (9-0).

Can Hoover make a run?

Hoover has played in every Class 7A semifinal since the AHSAA added that classification in 2014. The Bucs won three state titles during that span.

However, in the second season under Wade Waldrop, Hoover opened the season with five losses in six games before rebounding to win three of their final four and quality for the postseason. The only loss in that span came in Week 10 against four-time champ Thompson.

The 4-6 Bucs open the playoffs at James Clemens on Friday. Waldrop spent eight years as the Jets coach, winning 54 games and reaching the playoffs six times.

He’s back

One of the most successful coaches of the past 20 years, Mark Freeman, is back in the hunt for another state title.

Freeman’s Thompson Warriors will start their drive for a fifth straight Class 7A title at home against Florence on Thursday.

Freeman has won 10 state titles overall – four at Thompson, two at Spanish Fort and four at AISA Bessemer Academy.

He comes into this year’s playoffs with a 255-56 career record – 15 years in the AHSAA and 10 in the AISA.

Mr. Football contenders

Here’s a look at where some of this year’s contenders for Mr. Football will start the postseason:

WR Ryan Williams, QB KJ Lacey, Saraland: vs. McAdory (6-4), Friday

ATH/QB Jaylen Mbakwe, Clay-Chalkville: vs. Cullman (5-5), Friday

WR Cam Coleman, QB Andrew Alford, Central-Phenix City: vs. Davidson (5-5), Friday

QB Josh Flowers, Baker: vs. Auburn (8-2), Friday

QB Jared Hollins, Mary G. Montgomery: vs. Dothan (8-2), Friday

RB Cole Gamble, Mountain Brook: vs. Buckhorn (6-4), Friday

QB Caleb McCreary, Montgomery Catholic: vs. West Blocton (6-4), Friday

RB Fluff Bothwell, Oneonta: vs. Brooks (6-4), Friday

QB Brandon Musch, Westminster Christian: vs. Oak Grove (5-4), Friday

RB Jacob Cornejo, Cherokee County: vs. Central-Florence (6-4), Thursday

QB KJ Jackson, St. James: vs Opp (4-6), Friday

RB Alvin Henderson, Elba: vs. University Charter (5-5), Friday

RB Ken Cherry, Madison Academy: vs. Hokes Bluff (5-5), Friday