Week 1 play for the Alabama High School Athletic Association (public schools) is always non-conference (non-regional) games, as are weeks 5 and 10. This allows schools to schedule local rivalry games or simply to fill the schedule. Week 2 of AHSAA is all about conference (regional) games.

Let&8217;s jump right into our games for tonight shall we:

McAdory at Demopolis

Talk about big games to start off with, it doesn&8217;t get any bigger than this.

5A No. 6 &8216;SmackAdory&8217; comes to Metropolis to take on our No. 10 5A Royal Blue and White Bengals. Many around the state feel the winner of this game will take the regional crown.

It would be something of an understatement to say Demopolis has had trouble with the Yellow Jackets over the years. To the best of my research, DHS is a perfect 0-4 against &8216;tha ballahs from McCalla.&8217; That&8217;s right, wins totaling the grand sum of zilch, nada, zero, numero ono, whatever. Demopolis is looking to get into the win column tonight.

The closest to victory DHS has come was in 2001. The Jackets came to town and claimed a, 22-15, victory. Demopolis led ever so briefly in this game as Dusty Goodwin hit Michael Lee with a 10-yard strike to stake a, 7-0, lead in the first stanza. Just before the end of the quarter MHS scored with a 12-yard pass from Onterio Sealie to Rufus Sheppard. Sealie then passed to Matt Caddell (yes, the very same Matt Caddell now playing at Bama) to take an, 8-7, lead.

For a moment things looked promising for Demop, as the Tigers had &8216;Mac&8217; pushed back to their 16-yard line and had knocked out their starting QB (Sealie) and TB (Bradley Hyche who signed with Samford at the end of the year).

Fate obviously wore black and gold that night, as, the very next play after Sealie goes out, Sheppard, the starting split end, moves to quarterback and does nothing but take the snap out of the shotgun and chunk it as far as he can.

The Demopolis DB on the cover slips and falls, Caddell runs under it, makes the catch and goes down the sidelines for the score. They make the two-point conversion and that&8217;s the game.

Hyche did return to the game in Q3 and was able to punch one in for McAdory from close range. DHS refused to die as Goodwin hit Marco Rembert for a five-yard TD with 9:23 in the game and followed with a two-yard pass to Michael Lee to round out the scoring.

In 2006 it was McAdory taking it, 22-7, in a game that was not as close as the score might indicate. Sophomore Jarvis Carter had TD runs of 24, 41 and 71 yards as DHS could not stop MHS when it counted. Other than the opening possession, when they marched 65 yards to briefly take the lead, the Tigers were stuck in neutral.

The Birmingham News has named McAdory&8217;s DB Brandon Dow, LB Alvin Nash, LB Bridarius Underwood and Nathaniel Armistead to their list of 2008 Super Seniors.

Those Jeffco boys are talented and are rough and tough. However, with execution, discipline and playing with heart don&8217;t be surprised if the good guys don&8217;t come out of this scuffle with a W.

South Lamar at John Essex

South Lamar whipped their big cousin, 3A rival Lamar County, 32-18, last week while Essex was losing to Marengo, 19-8.

South Lamar was runner-up to Sweet Water last year and made it to round two of the playoffs before being beaten down by Brantley. This could be a long night in Saltwell for the home standing Hornets. Things have to be done to near perfection on both sides of the ball if they have a chance at corralling the Stallions.

Sunshine at Linden

The Sunshine Tigers took their show on the road to the Megalopolis of Marion and had themselves a little barbequed goat at the expense of the 3A Francis Marion Rams.

In this game last year in Newbern, Sunshine prevailed 16-8. Sunshine went on to claim a playoff berth at the expense of the Linden Patriots.

I would be surprised if this was not mentioned at sometime over the course of the of season by the guys from &8216;below the Bogue.&8217;

New coach Andro Williams had quite a coming out party last week as his crew decimated Livingston 66-7.

Do the Patriots keep a 50-point winning advantage streak going or do the Tigers make lightning strike twice?

Sweet Water at Akron

Oh no, get the paramedics on standby.

It was 60-6 last year in favor of &8216;Da Dawgs.&8217;

This could get ugly real quick.

Marengo Academy at Coosa Valley

Coosa Valley (1-1) has put some points on the board in their first two outings, averaging 42 points per game. Unfortunately, their defense is allowing 35 per game.

Marengo (1-1) is one point away from being unbeaten.

Yes, CVA has scored some points but I don&8217;t think they&8217;ve run across a team that plays &8216;D&8217; like the &8216;horns.&8217;

Escambia Academy at Southern

It&8217;s possible for Southern to lose a game this year, but not this one.

Notables from last week

Giant Killer of the week: 1A No. 1, Sweet Water &8212; 27, 4A No. 2, Thomasville &8212; 14

Pancake of the week: Fultondale, 70, Shades Mountain Christian, 3

Left the Defense on the Bus: Chambers Academy, 50, Coosa Valley, 46

Low Ball of the week: Ohatchee, 6, Jefferson Christian, 0

Squeaker of the week: Montgomery Academy, 14, Trinity, 13

Longest game of the week: (Tie) Russellville, 34, Deshler, 28, and Muscle Shoals, 32, Colbert County, 26, (2 OT)

Shortest game of the week: Appalachian, 37, St. Bernard, 6, called at half due to weather

Remember, Demopolis at home tonight, at 7 p.m. in Tiger Stadium. So come early to the stadium for the Foster Farm pre game tailgate for delicious (and free) corndogs, or bring your own grill and crowd and proclaim your own dominance of the charcoal kingdom. The DHS Band Boosters have the concession stand stocked with cool drinks and treats so make the trip and wear blue. (Note: game will be broadcast on 104.9 FM and streamed over demopolislive.com starting at 6 p.m.)

Until next time, play hard; play for fun; play to win.

Mike Grayson is contributing columnist to the Times.