We Speak Flag / 7v7 Football

The Bye Week Belongs to Spain Park: Region Champs Reload for a Second Round Fight

Published

1 hour ago

November 2, 2026

Spain Park flag football players in uniform on their home field.

Photo via Spain Park flag football (@spainparkflag) on Instagram.

Spain Park gets to watch the first round, and the Jaguars earned that right the hard way. Spain Park won 15 of its 19 games, swept all seven of its Class 6A Region 3 games and claimed the region championship, which comes with a first round bye in the AHSAA playoffs. The Jaguars open their postseason in the second round on Tuesday, Nov. 10, against an opponent still to be determined.

The resume travels. Spain Park stands No. 6 in the USA TODAY Alabama Super 10 rankings of Oct. 27, and MaxPreps ranked the Jaguars No. 16 in the nation earlier this season, according to the AHSAA. The program carries a pedigree as well: Spain Park was a state finalist in 2024 in the combined Class 6A and 7A bracket, and a Final Four team in 2025.

The results back it up. Spain Park won 41-18 at Oak Mountain on Oct. 13, shut out Thompson 35-0 on Oct. 20, won 35-0 at Hoover on Sept. 15 and beat Vestavia Hills 20-14 on Oct. 6. The one loss that stings came on the final night of the regular season, a 24-20 defeat at Boaz on Oct. 26.

Junior quarterback Abby Whatley runs the show. Whatley has thrown for 2,931 yards and 42 touchdown passes this season, numbers that rank third in Alabama on the MaxPreps stat leader list. Her biggest night came at Oak Mountain, where she threw for 268 yards and six touchdowns, with Nylah Calhoun finishing with 129 receiving yards and four touchdowns.

The bye gives Spain Park two weeks to heal and prepare. Whoever survives the first round gets a rested region champion waiting in Hoover.

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We Speak Flag / 7v7 Football

James Clemens Gets the Hardest Draw in 6A: A Playoff Trip to Hewitt-Trussville

Published

1 hour ago

November 2, 2026

We Speak Media

James Clemens players in action during the Jets' Oct. 20 win over Mae Jemison.

Photo by 100Shotz Media via James Clemens girls flag (@jchsgirlsflag) on Instagram.

Every bracket has a draw nobody wants, and in Class 6A it belongs to James Clemens. The Jets travel to Hewitt-Trussville on Tuesday, Nov. 3 at 6 p.m. for a first round playoff game, a road trip confirmed on Hewitt-Trussville’s official athletics schedule.

James Clemens, from Madison, won six of its 14 games and closed the regular season the right way, with a 6-0 shutout win at Columbia on Oct. 27. The Jets’ wins include a 36-6 rout of Bob Jones, a 35-0 shutout of St. John Paul II, a 31-13 win over Mae Jemison on Oct. 20 and an 18-0 shutout of Hazel Green. The losses show the gap the Jets have to close. Gadsden City beat them 36-6 on Oct. 22, and Sparkman edged them 13-6 on Oct. 13.

Hewitt-Trussville is the standard on the other sideline. The Huskies are one of the powers of the 6A bracket, and the program’s flag account still points to the inaugural state title it won in 2021, before flag became an official AHSAA championship sport.

Three of the Jets’ six wins were shutouts, so the defense has traveled before. The game is also one of eight first round matchups in the Class 6A bracket, while eight other teams, including Spain Park and Smiths Station, sit out the week on byes and wait for the winners.

For James Clemens, the math is simple. The Jets have already shown they can pitch a shutout and score in bunches against their own level. Tuesday asks them to do it in the hardest building in the bracket.