The 2016 season begins this week with a partial schedule of games. Here are a few tidbits entering the season.

   *  Before we get to the usual things here, I want everyone to notice the new helmets for many teams. Cody Walker does a magnificent job with the helmets and give us the best around. My hat is off to him for all his hard work with this never ending project.

   *  The state's newest school kicks off their initial season this week. Mae Jemison of Huntsville will host Calera on Friday to kick off a new beginning on the football field. Asbury, the other new participant this year, will have to wait another week to open the season on the road against Woodville.

   *  Hoover has been ranked by the ASWA for an amazing 175 consecutive polls dating back to the 2000 season. The Bucs open the 2016 season as the #3 team in 7A.

   *  McGill-Toolen opens the season as the #1 team in Class 7A. The Yellow Jackets have never been ranked #1 in the school's history. Other teams ranked as high or higher than they have ever been include; #4 Hillcrest Tuscaloosa, #2 Mortimer Jordan and #5 Hillcrest Evergreen. We will be adding this feature each week when the ASWA polls are released in the article for that week.

   *  Spanish Fort is coming off a state championship season and enters this year with a fifteen game winning streak which leads the AHSAA schools. Edgewood Academy leads the AISA school with a 71 game winning streak. The Wildcats will be gunning for a seventh consecutive AISA championship in 2016.

   *   Wilcox Central hopes to end a string of twenty-five consecutive losses this season. They are followed closely by Houston County with a string of twenty-four and Barbour County with twenty-three straight losses. The streaks are not close to the longest in state history behind R.C. Hatch at 68 losses in a row.

   *   Bullock County has lost 46 consecutive region games in a row but do not begin region play for a couple of weeks.

   *  The Guntersville Wildcats have won 28 straight regular season games. They are well short of the 56 game mark set by Prattville a few years ago. Edgewood Academy has won 53 consecutive regular season games in the AISA.

   *   Tanner has a streak of 47 consecutive region wins with no signs of slowing down this year. The Rattlers open region play in two weeks.

   *   Muscle Shoals and Edgewood Academy have won 37 consecutive home games. The Trojans open the season at home against Gardendale this Friday night.

   *   Spanish Fort has won 25 consecutive road games. The Toros face a huge test in their first game on the road against defending 7A champs McGill-Toolen later this week. Edgewood Academy has a string of 40 straight wins on the road.

   *   Gordo will try to extend their streak of 23 straight winning seasons. The Green Wave last suffered through a losing season way back in 1992 when they finished with a 4-6 record. They should have little trouble extending the streak in 2016.

   *   The Clay-Chalkville Cougars have scored at least twenty points in 77 straight games. That is a state record.

   *   Fyffe hopes to avoid the dreaded shutout and extend their streak of consecutive games scoring. They are currently sitting on a string of 206 games without being shutout.

   *   The Davidson Warriors have won 18 season openers in a row since opening the 1997 season with a loss to Daphne. Ironically the Warriors open this season against Daphne this Friday on the road.

   *   The Luverne Tigers will be working hard to extend their string of qualifying for the playoffs to 34 consecutive seasons.

   *   The Hoover Bucs have won 41 consecutive playoff games on their home field. They have also won 18 consecutive opening round playoff games. The state record belongs to Hazlewood at 20 straight between 1970 and 1996.

   *   Coach Tuberville at Monroe Academy will be in search of his 100th win as a head football coach this week as his team takes on Bessemer Academy in Troy.

Team approaching the 500 win club
  498  -  Escambia County  (498-429-33)
  496  -  Charles Henderson  (496-350-22)
  496  -  Valley  (496-350-22)
  495  -  Lauderdale County  (495-385-25)
  494  -  Albertville  (494-460-45)
  493  -  Fairhope  (493-340-24)
  493  -  Reeltown  (493-274-12)
  491  -  Tarrant  (491-440-40)
  491  -  Baldwin County  (491-423-30)

Coaches approaching the 100 win club
  99  -  Ernie Willingham (Collinsville)  (99-69)
  99  -  Mitchell Tuberville (Monroe Academy)  (99-24)
  99  -  Mark Hastings (Oakman)  (99-82)
  98  -  Ronn Lee (St. Luke's)  (98-126)
  97  -  Danny Raines (Berry Fayette)  (97-53)
  97  -  Jerry Hood (Clay-Chalkville)  (97-47)
  97  -  Swane Morris (Gaston)  (97-74)
  97  -  Andro Williams (Linden)  (97-22)
  96  -  Doug Vickery Jr. (Flomaton)  (96-79)
  94  -  Royce Young (Escambia County)  (94-174)
  94  -  Rodney Stidham (Hamilton)  (94-45)
  94  -  Tim Perry (Wetumpka)  (94-96)
  94  -  Jeff Pugh (East Limestone)  (94-80)
  93  -  Jay Brown (Moody)  (93-88)