In the first year of championship play sanctioned by the Alabama High School Athletic Association, three Baldwin County girls’ flag football teams earned first-round home games to open the playoffs this week.

After last year’s pilot season, more teams were added to varsity play in the recent biennial reclassification and the postseason format was switched to 32-team brackets with one state champion crowned in two classifications, Class 1A-5A and Class 6A-7A.

Daphne repeats in Region 2, earns national ranking

In the larger classification, the Daphne Trojans collected a second-straight Region 2 championship after they ended their regular season undefeated at 10-0. Region wins down the stretch over Enterprise (24-12), Dothan (12-6) and Baldwin County (34-6) helped the Trojans lock in the top seed.

Daphne has been making noise in national and state rankings all season and checked in as the No. 19 team in the country according to the Week 7 USA TODAY poll from Oct. 31. The Trojans debuted at No. 24 in Week 3, climbed one spot in Week 4 and two spots in Week 5 before moving to No. 19 in the Week 6 poll.

Central-Phenix City (15-0 at No. 1), Vestavia Hills (18-2 at No. 12) and Prattville (13-2 at No. 22) were other Alabamian squads represented in the Week 7 USA TODAY Sports Super 25 rankings entering the AHSAA postseason.

In the MaxPreps’ state rankings, Daphne was the No. 6 team where only Central-Phenix City (15-0 at No. 1) and Alma-Bryant (10-0 at No. 7) were other undefeated squads.

The Trojans were scheduled to host the Hillcrest Patriots from Tuscaloosa Tuesday night at Jubilee Stadium where the winner would face the winner of the Auburn-Davidson matchup.

Foley, Elberta make postseason history in inaugural seasons

In their inaugural seasons, the Foley Lions (6A-7A) and Elberta Warriors (1A-5A) wasted no time in making history and also earned home games for the respective programs’ first-ever postseason contests.

Foley opened its inaugural season with its inaugural victory thanks to a 19-7 triumph over Davidson on Sept. 3. The Lions stacked their playoff resume with region wins, including victories against MGM (18-12), Spanish Fort (32-20), Dothan (13-12) and Baldwin County (18-6).

The Central-Tuscaloosa Falcons were scheduled to travel to Ivan Jones Stadium on Wednesday to open the postseason with Central-Phenix City already awaiting the winner in the second round following a Monday victory.

Elberta punched its playoff ticket with three-consecutive wins in October to lock in the second-place spot from Region 1. The Warriors’ inaugural victory came by a 6-0 margin over Citronelle on Oct. 15 before big wins over Satsuma (39-13) on Oct. 22 and LeFlore (18-6) on Oct. 29.

The Valley Rams were set for a Thursday road trip to John T. Cobb Stadium in Elberta to open the Class 1A-5A bracket with the Montgomery Catholic Knights awaiting in the second round following a Monday win.

Robertsdale, Spanish Fort earn programs’ inaugural victories

Also in the larger classification, the Robertsdale Golden Bears and Spanish Fort Toros fielded varsity teams for the first time and both collected their inaugural victories early in the season.

Robertsdale also won its inaugural game and used a 26-0 non-region win over Elberta on Sept. 3 to start the record books. The Golden Bears added another victory over the Warriors, 27-0, on Sept. 17 but fell in four region games.

Spanish Fort earned its inaugural victory by a 24-0 margin over Elberta on Aug. 27 before the Toros recorded their largest win yet at 40-6 over Satsuma on Sept. 17. Spanish Fort’s first region win came on Oct. 1 by a 20-0 margin over Baldwin County and the Toros added a 28-20 decision over Robertsdale on Oct. 8 to help finish 2-4 in region play.