I know it doesn&8217;t seem like it and it has come too soon but high school football is almost over &8212; unless you are a team headed into the post season. Even then the season&8217;s life span is short. Every game is life or death; another week on the gridiron or watching from the sidelines; it is big.

And there are a number of teams from the area that have a chance &8212; have qualified for the opportunity &8212; to keep playing and living from week to week The Alabama Independent School Association starts there playoff rollercoaster this Friday and the Alabama High School Association follows next week with their kickoff of the post season.

It is here, and I am ready to do some hypothesizing about who is stopping where and who is making it to the end.

AISA

In the area we have two teams looking at make or break time. Marengo Academy and Southern Academy, both of which play in the same class.

Southern Academy is going to win the title. Sorry to put it so bluntly, but barring a miracle or tragedy, depending on which sideline you sit, that is how it is going down in Class AA. That leaves Marengo Academy as a possible No. 2 in the state &8212; something I will say is conceivable. The Longhorn defense is playing extremely tough ball, and I don&8217;t know if you have noticed or not but the team doesn&8217;t lose on the road.

I have them over Kingwood Christian and then Meadowview Christian before falling again to the Cougars.

Division 5A

What we in the area are really worried about in this division is the fate of the Tigers. How far will Demopolis High School go?

I hate to be a killjoy, but Demopolis isn&8217;t getting a state title.

They will beat out Vigor, because so goes the Wolves&8217; offense so goes the Wolves record. Unfortunately for the afore mentioned Vigor Wolves, the Tiger defense isn&8217;t a guessing game. They are going to stop offensive production.

The Tigers will then face Henderson, an undefeated team. I don&8217;t thint Demopolis makes it past this one, which is on the road, but even if they do they fall the next week to Jess Lanier.

In the Tigers&8217; half of the bracket, McAdory has the route and team to make it to the final game. Where they will face one of two teams. I feel. I think the opposite side of the bracket from Demopolis will be decided in the second game of the playoff, between Briarwood Christian and Russellville.

Why Russellville you ask. They are No. 2 in the only 5A region with three of the Top 10 teams in it. If they take Briarwood, then in my projection they face the No. 3 team from their region, who they beat handily, and then the No. 1 team from their region, who they fell to by one point. If they fall to Briarwood, Briarwood makes it to the end and wins it all. Either way McAdory falls in the final game.

Division 1A

In 1A, Marengo County has the winner, Sweet Water. The Bulldogs have knocked off teams in the Top 5 of both 2A and 3A. Beating a couple more 1A teams shouldn&8217;t be too terribly hard. Their biggest challenge in the playoffs will likely be Maplesville.

Teams not going far from the area are Sunshine and A.L. Johnson. Not that the two teams aren&8217;t good. But they aren&8217;t good enough to beat Florala and Brantley on the road (though I hope I am mistaken).

That leaves Linden. The Patriots will win their first game pretty easily, I am confident. Millry, on the road no less, will definitely be a challenge, but the group is clicking on all cylinders these days and I think they will surprise some folks with this game. Maplesville, as I have said, is going to be Sweet Water&8217;s biggest challenge, if they have one, I am 90 percent sure Linden can&8217;t beat the group, but again I hope I am wrong because I would love nothing better than a rematch in Sweet Water.

On the other side of the bracket, I think Talladega County will stroll to the No. 2 spot only to get chewed up by some &8217;Dogs.

Brandon Glover is the sports editor of The Times. He can be reached at brandon.glover@demopolistimes.com.