By: Slade Gilmer

With the exception of three match ups, the Class 5A playoffs are set.

After a 6-3 win over Hartselle on Friday night, Russellville is one of the six teams in Class 5A that doesn’t know its first-round opponent.

Right now, Russellville, Hartselle and Cullman are all tied at 5-2 in Region 8.

All three lost to region champion Muscle Shoals, Hartselle defeated Cullman 20-13, Cullman defeated Russellville 21-20, and as previously mentioned, Russellville beat Hartselle.

With all in-region tiebreakers exhausted, the three teams will go to tiebreaker “L” in the Alabama High School Athletic Association, which uses non-region wins against teams in your class or above as the tiebreaker.

Russellville and Cullman each defeated Class 5A Walker (7-2), so each has seven non-region wins.

Hartselle defeated Class 6A Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa (5-4) in Week 1, but lost to Class 6A Decatur in Week 5, so they only have five non-region wins.

Russellville defeated Class 3A Deshler (6-3) in Week 1, while Cullman defeated Class 3A Madison Academy (7-2) in Week 5, so those games would not come into play through tiebreaker L.

What this means is that Cullman’s game Friday night against Class 5A Center Point (4-5) and Hartselle’s Thursday night game against Class 6A Austin (7-2) could decide the fate of the Golden Tigers.

If Hartselle defeats Austin, they would have at least 12 non-region points.

Even with a win over Center Point, Cullman would have 11 and would need Walker to defeat Class 6A Hueytown (5-4) to set up the possibility of a tie.

Also, if Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa defeats Demopolis, it would give Hartselle one more non-region win.

Wins by Hartselle and Hillcrest would clinch the No. 2 seed for Hartselle, and would put Cullman at No. 3 and Russellville at No. 4.

An Austin win over Hartselle and a Cullman win over Center Point would give Cullman the No. 2 spot, Russellville the No. 3, and Hartselle the No. 4.

However, should both Hartselle and Cullman lose, or should Hartselle and Walker win while Hillcrest loses, then tiebreaker “M” would come into play, which just takes into account defeated non-region opponents.

A Russellville win over Fayette County (8-1) on Friday night would give the Golden Tigers no less than 21 non-region points.

Cullman could only have 20 defeated non-region wins, while Hartselle would only have 12, which would give the Golden Tigers the No. 2 seed, Hartselle the No. 3, and Cullman the No. 4.