This is an opinion piece.

We’ve only made it through two weeks of the 2023 high school football season, but there already have been a few surprises.

Here are a couple.

The Bucs are winless

The last time traditional large school power Hoover started a season 0-2 was 2014, but that is where the Bucs find themselves entering a rivalry game against Spain Park.

Hoover opened its second season under Wade Waldrop with a 39-14 loss to Auburn and then dropped a 28-21 overtime decision to Oak Grove, Miss., last week. The Bucs travel to play the 2-0 Jaguars on the road tonight.

Hoover has won seven straight games against Spain Park and 19 of the 22 games between the teams overall. However, a loss tonight would likely end the Bucs’ record Alabama Sports Writers Association run of 265 straight weeks in the top 10. Hoover was No. 10 in 7A this week.

On the bright side for Hoover fans, after the Bucs dropped games to Central Miami and Colquitt County in 2014, they won 12 straight and the first Class 7A state title.

Geraldine drops Fyffe again

Raise your hand if you had Fyffe as one of the first No. 1-ranked teams to lose this season.

The Red Devils are 68-2 in regular season games in the last eight years. Both losses came against DeKalb County rival Geraldine. The Bulldogs beat Paul Benefield’s team 20-19 in 2021 and 17-6 last week.

Fyffe will try to get back on track this week at North Sand Mountain. Previous Class 5A No. 1 Ramsay and previous Class 3A No. 1 St. James also lost last week. All three are defending state champs.

Is a big win coming for Propst?

Pell City is 0-2 in the Rush Propst era, but it feels like a big win may be coming soon.

The Panthers have lost each of their two games by a touchdown or less. Pell City lost 28-24 in the opener at talented Moody and 30-23 last week against perennial power Leeds. The Green Wave had a pair of interception returns for TDs late last week to secure the win.

A year ago, Pell City lost to those same two teams by a combined score of 94-31.

It doesn’t get easier for Propst and company this week as they host Class 6A No. 2 Clay-Chalkville. The Cougars beat them 58-0 a year ago.

Class 7A, Region 2 is tough again … and maybe deeper

In the recent past, either Central-Phenix City or Auburn has ruled Class 7A, Region 2 and advanced to the state title game.

Those two squads are good again, but they aren’t the only ones in that region.

Consider this evidence:

Auburn beat Hoover 39-14 to open the season, then lost to Enterprise 17-16.

Central is 2-0, having outscored its opponents 99-24 in the process.

Dothan has opened with convincing wins over Carroll (59-14) and Percy Julian (42-6).

Opelika rebounded from an opening week loss to No. 1 Thompson to beat J.A.G 36-16.

Tonight’s schedule has Central traveling to Enterprise, Dothan hosting Auburn and Opelika hosting Percy Julian.

In this week’s ASWA top 10, Phenix City is No. 2, Enterprise is No. 3, Auburn is No. 5 and Dothan is No. 6.

A few other quick hits from the AHSAA:

Barbour County ended its on-field losing streak of 78 games – 85 if you count forfeits – with a 12-6 win over Calhoun. Chimarion Brown scored on a 12-yard slant pass from quarterback Kylan McLeod with 49 seconds left to give Barbour County the win.

Elmore County held Autaugaville to a record minus-119 yards rushing and allowed just one first down in a 62-0 victory last week. The previous record of minus-67 yards rushing was held by Greensboro with a win over Uniontown in 1977.

Two heartbreaking losses

Albertville and Calera High schools both suffered heartbreaking losses this week.

Albertville football player Julius Jamear “J.J.” Staten, 16, died in a car accident on his way to practice Monday morning.

Calera 15-year-old football player Brayden Ray – the son of former Montevallo and Alabama standout Shontua Ray – was killed in a Sunday crash.

Prayers go out to both those families and both those schools.

Thought for the Week

“Our convictions – not our circumstances – define who we are.”

Ben Thomas is the high school sportswriter at AL.com. He has been named one of the 50 legends of the Alabama Sports Writers Association. Follow him on twitter at @BenThomasPreps or email him at [email protected]. He can be heard weekly on “Inside High School Sports” on SportsTalk 99.5 FM in Mobile or on the free IHeart Radio App at 2 p.m. Wednesdays.