Photos by Barry Stephenson.
Hoover kicker Steele Witschy (39) watches a kick during a game between Hoover High School and Muscle Shoals High School on Aug. 21 at the Hoover Met.
Hoover High School’s football team opened Class 6A, Region 3 play in September against Hewitt-Trussville, Prattville and Oak Mountain, while Spain Park opened region play against Oak Mountain, Thompson and Vestavia Hills. Both teams now turn to the second half of the region schedule in October.
OCT. 2
Hoover hosts Thompson, a series the Bucs lead 26-9, including a 33-30 win last season. Four of the last six meetings between the two have been decided by single digits and the series has often produced one of the region’s most compelling games. Spain Park travels to Prattville, a series it leads 2-1, but the teams have not met since 2013.
Photos by Barry Stephenson.
Hoover linebacker Khonor Latham (25) celebrates after a tackle during a game between Hoover High School and Muscle Shoals High School on Friday, August 21, 2026, at the Hoover Met.
OCT. 8-9
Spain Park hosts Tuscaloosa County on Oct. 8, a series it leads 9-3, including a 35-14 win in 2023, the last time the teams played. Hoover travels to Vestavia Hills on that Friday. Hoover holds a 39-22 edge in that all-time series, but Vestavia Hills won last year’s meeting 39-30.
OCT. 16
Hoover hosts Spain Park in the city rivalry, a series the Bucs lead 21-4, including a 21-10 win last season. All three of the Jags’ on-field wins in the series have come since 2015. Spain Park won 39-27 in 2024 in a thriller, but Hoover avenged that loss with a 21-10 victory last fall.
OCT. 23
Hoover travels to Tuscaloosa County, a series the Bucs lead 22-3, including a 51-7 win last season. Hoover has won 15 straight meetings in the series dating to 2012. Spain Park travels to Hewitt-Trussville, a series the Huskies lead 6-3. The teams have not met since 2023, when Spain Park won 50-29.
OCT. 29-30
Spain Park closes the regular season at home against James Clemens in a non-region game, a series it leads 3-1, including a 28-7 win last season. The two programs have also met twice in the playoffs, with Spain Park winning a 2015 second-round game and James Clemens winning a 2016 first-round game. Hoover closes the regular season with an open date on Oct. 30.
LOOKING AHEAD
Hoover finished 6-5 last season and reached the first round of the Class 7A playoffs under head coach Chip English.
Spain Park finished 9-3 and reached the second round of the Class 6A playoffs under fifth-year head coach Tim Vakakes. Both teams’ October schedules will shape their playoff seeding as Class 6A, Region 3 sorts itself out under an amended format that sends the top six of eight teams to the postseason.
