The Class 4A, Region 4 race to the championship begins on Friday night at 7 o’clock with two teams that are newcomers to the region, but are definitely not new to battling each other.

Second-ranked Pleasant Grove will visit Clements Field in Fairfield in The Birmingham News Game of the Week with both squads having dropped from Class 5A – where Fairfield has been since 1990 and Pleasant Grove since 1998. According to Alabama High School Football Historical Society research, the Spartans and Tigers have been area/region opponents every year since ‘98 except for 2004-05 and 2008-09. Pleasant Grove holds a 24-14 series advantage and has won seven straight.