Halfway through...

Week Four of local high school football has come and gone, and it was interesting for more than a few reasons. Don't think so? Well, let's take a look.
J.F. Shields High School got its first win of the season in a big way, beating region rival Coffeeville 62-8 Friday night in "The Pit" in Beatrice. Friday night's 54-point win was Shields' biggest win in nine seasons, dating back to Shields' 63-0 win over J.U. Blacksher on Sept. 6, 1996 in Beatrice.
Friday night's win was also the first win for Shields head coach Jerome Sanders. I predict many more to wins follow if he remains the head football coach at Shields. If he has as much success as a football coach as he has had as a basketball coach, then Shields will be a force to be reckoned with on the football field in seasons to come.
Frisco City collected its first shutout of the season Friday night, when the Whippets beat Fruitdale 46-0 in Frisco City. Friday night's win was Frisco's biggest win over Fruitdale, since the Whippets upended the Pirates 56-0 on Sept. 20, 2002 in Fruitdale.
Also on Friday night, Monroe Academy posted its first win of the season, beating Hooper Academy 41-20 in Monroeville. Friday night's 41 points was MA's highest single game point total since the Vols beat Hooper 42-0 on Nov. 5, 2004 at Hooper.
With that said, here's my take on how this week's slate of games will turn out:
Excel at J.F. Shields: Excel has history on its side Friday night at they travel to Beatrice to take on in-county rival, J.F. Shields. In nine all-time meetings with Shields, Excel has only lost once. I look for Excel to get the win this week, unless Shields can stop Excel's running game. Excel 21, Shields 12
Frisco City at Flomaton: Compared to the other five teams in Monroe County, Frisco City is playing the best defense so far this season. (They're also scoring more points per game than another team in the county too.) The Whippets have given up just 8.3 points per game this season, and I look for their defense to give them the edge they need Friday night against 2A Flomaton. Frisco City 33, Flomaton 15
J.U. Blacksher v. Goshen: Goshen is giving up 36.0 points per game this season, and they've yet to win a game on the road. Last year's game between Blacksher and Goshen was the first-ever meeting between the two schools in football, and Goshen won 7-0. I look for Blacksher to even up its record against Goshen the week and to score a lot more than zero points. Blacksher 18, Goshen 14
MCHS at Hillcrest: Hillcrest is scoring 28.0 points per game this season, and MCHS is giving up 30.0 points per game. Those numbers don't bode well this week as MCHS travels to Evergreen to face the Jaguars on their home turf. Hillcrest 28, MCHS 21
Monroe Academy v. Fort Dale: Fort Dale enters this week's game ranked No. 10 in the state among AISA schools. I look for Fort Dale to get the win, unless MA's defense can rise to the occasion. Fort Dale 26, MA 20
Alabama v. Arkansas: Alabama enters Saturday's game as a 16-point favorite over Arkansas, who suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Vanderbilt two weeks ago. If Alabama plays like they played last week against South Carolina, the Tide will cruise to another conference win. Alabama 25, Arkansas 19
Auburn v. Western Kentucky: About the only reason that I would bother to watch this game would be if Auburn's Tommy Tuberville were to announce on Friday that he was going to try to score 100 points on Western Kentucky. Since we all know that's not going to happen, I should say that Auburn had better enjoy this last non-conference game of the regular season. Auburn 50, WK 28