By David Knox, Sports Editor
PINSON — The Pinson Valley Indians can look back and wonder how they gave up 28 points last week despite beating winless Center Point. They can look farther back and wonder about a Week 2 16-point loss to Ramsay, and a critical Week 3 blowout loss to Class 6A, Region 6 leader Minor, one that seemed to have them on the brink of a season off the rails.
But Matt Glover’s bunch pulled it together, and now the Indians have won four straight games, including first-ever victories over Clay-Chalkville and Walker, and despite allowing more points than they’d have liked to Center Point, are on the way to Gardendale for the biggest game of the season.
The Indians (5-2, 3-1 in Region 6) and the Rockets (5-3, 2-2) will battle Friday night at Driver Stadium to see who moves into solid playoff position and who is in some trouble.
Minor (7-0, 4-0), the region’s leader, faces Clay-Chalkville (6-2, 4-1) on Friday. Minor holds the edge on Pinson, thanks to that earlier win. But if the Tigers should lose to Clay-Chalkville and then beat Walker the following week, and the Indians win Friday and next week at home against Carver, Minor, Clay and Pinson would be tied for the region’s top spot, and tiebreakers would be in play. That couldn’t be determined until after the Oct. 28 games. If Pinson wins out and Minor loses to both Clay and Walker, the Cougars and the Indians would be tied for first and the Indians would be champs thanks to the head-to-head tiebreaker.
A Pinson loss Friday, though — which is really all the Indians can concern themselves with — drops PV into a tie with Gardendale at 3-2 and would make it impossible, by my calculations, to win the region. It could still lead to a three-way tie for positions 2, 3 and 4 in the playoff race, which again couldn’t be resolved until after the regular season ends on Oct. 28.
Keep in my mind that the top two teams get home games in the first round of the playoffs. The next two have to travel, and the No. 4 team will face the No. 1 team from Region 5. Ramsay has clinched that region title already.
