Each football season is full of highs and lows, deeply felt by coaches, players and fans.

A low point for Hueytown head coach Greg Patterson had to be two straight losses to open the season and another in Week 4. Two consecutive wins after that would have to be high points, especially a 75-7 rout of Paul Bryant last week.

Aryvia Holmes’ McAdory squad was riding pretty high at 4-1 before an open date two weeks ago. Last week’s 21-14 setback at Northridge was a disappointing low point.

The Yellow Jackets will travel to Hueytown Stadium on Friday for a 7 p.m. Class 6A, Region 4 showdown with the winner coming out no worse than tied for second in the region and possibly sharing the top spot with Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa. McAdory and Northridge are 4-2 overall and 3-1 in the region while Hueytown is 3-3 and 3-1. Fourth-ranked Hillcrest is 4-0 in the region and 7-0 overall.

“We started off strong,” Holmes said, “but we lost a bad one last week. It’s not that I think we’re necessarily better than Northridge, but we just shot ourselves in the foot with way too many mistakes – penalties, turnovers, things like that.

“I told them Sunday, ‘I’m not upset with you. If you play long enough, you’re going to lose football games. I’m more disappointed.’ Everything that happened Friday night, I told them it would happen. I told them that some calls were not going to go our way, right, wrong or indifferent. I told them Northridge would try to get under our skin and we let that emotion get the best of us.

“We had three 15-yard personal foul penalties,” the second-year coach said. “As a head coach, that’s embarrassing. One thing the principal told me when I got the job was to make sure the players represent McAdory High School and have discipline. They didn’t last week. I’ve spent all week correcting that. There will be some guys who won’t play as much this week.

“We have to go back to what got us here from last year. There were a lot of things, maybe, that I got kind of lax on. We were not living by our standards. We’ve taken some things away, not to punish, but to focus on that the joy is in winning.

“The kids have responded really well.”

Hueytown’s 75 points last week tied for the third-highest scoring output since the Gophers started playing football in 1921, according to the Alabama High School Football Historical Society website. Only an 82-0 win over Minor in 1923 and a 78-0 win over Minor in 1953 were bigger wins. Hueytown scored 75 last season, too, in a 75-55 win over Northridge.

“It’s been a struggle this year compared to last year when we played for the championship for the first time in school history,” Patterson said. “We lost to three really good football teams (at Ramsay 41-28, at Clay-Chalkville 42-8 and at home 54-44 to Hillcrest). There’s really a question mark about who we are. I think we’ll find that out this week with McAdory.”

The Gophers return 3-star quarterback Earl Woods, who committed to Jacksonville State on Sunday and was Alabama’s Gatorade football Player of the Year in 2021 as well as a first-team All-State pick and 6A Back of the Year.

“I’m glad he’s on my team is all I can tell you,” Patterson said. “His personality, the way he was raised, he wants to be better every day. So many told him because of his height (5-foot-11) that he can’t play quarterback at a high level. I think he’s hell-bent on proving them wrong.

“He was primarily under center when he was at Shades Valley before they moved and he came over here. We’re a shotgun spread, up-tempo team and being the athlete he is, that helped him make so many plays last year. Having a whole offseason to get in the film room and to spend time with our quarterback coach and offensive coordinator, he’s been able to read coverages better and rely on checkdowns. That’s been his biggest growth this season.”

McAdory’s defense has allowed just 14.7 points a game. Three teams have scored 21 points against the Yellow Jackets. Hueytown is averaging 46.8 a game while McAdory scores an even 30 a game.

“We don’t have anybody who can continuously win in a one-on-one situation with (Woods),” Holmes said. “You have to defend him with all 11. You have to make sure you’re gap sound and eliminate all the external distractions of what they do on offense to ultimately let him run or throw the ball. All the motions, shifts and tempo, all that is eye candy to put him in a position to beat you.

“He is as advertised. He and the Hillcrest quarterback (3-star Southern Miss commitment Ethan Crawford) are the best we’ll see and it’s not even close. We’ve definitely got a row to hoe. We can’t be sulking about the Northridge deal. We’ve got to be ready to go.

“We are good on offense,” Holmes said, “but we’re not scoring 70 points. If they score 70, we’re not going to win.”

Holmes said his secondary was a key to the defense’s success. “Both of our corners are undersized, but Ladedric Taylor (5-6, 145) and Dailyn Kelley (5-6, 125), have a lot of heart,” he said. “Ladedric every single day at practice, his motor is full speed. If I had 22 like him, we’d be unbeatable. Every team has someone like him, but he plays every single rep as hard as he can and he’s always making plays.”

Labarryon Moore and Yumana Loftin make plays from their safety spots.

“Up front, defensive end Savian Graham and Ladedric are the same person, Savian is just a lot bigger (5-8, 185). He gives relentless effort. He’s always overmatched physically because he has more of a linebacker’s body, but he knows exactly what he’s doing. One of those guys when you look at him on a football team and think, ‘I wish I had that kid protecting our country.’ He’s super, super competitive. He’s fast, can run and tackle. He’s smart and just the total package.”

Holmes said three players are key to the Yellow Jackets’ offense – running backs Rod Thomas and Peyton Ryans and left tackle Kaleb May.

“Our running game is a two-headed monster,” he said. “Rod is technically our starter, but he splits reps with Peyton. I’ve been coaching a long time and other than one year at Hoover, I’ve never coached a set of backs this good. They are protected by Kaleb. Those three guys make things happen.”

Helping Hueytown’s Woods make things happen this season is running back/wide receiver Ja’khael Rowser, who had 100 yards on the ground and 74 through the air last week and scored a pair of touchdowns. “He had a really big year for us last year,” Patterson said. “We move him all over the place to get matchups in our favor. He does a really good job whether he’s at the slot or running back.

“Up front, Braden Northcutt (6-4, 250) is the brains of the operation at center. He makes all the protection calls and any adjustments we have to make. We rely on him really heavily to get us in the right blocking scheme.

“Defensively, our D-line is our strongest group,” Patterson said. “Mikel Hines (6-4, 235, end) and Derrico King (6-0, 270, tackle) are our two seniors up front. Jakilyn Jones (6-2, 175) and Tyree Hines (6-0, 165) are our senior safeties. Both are real long and both have really good tackling skills and they do a good job getting us in the right coverage every play.”