Oxford-Prattville game called off due to weather
Assuming both teams qualify for postseason play, Oxford's football team will have to wait close to three months for the state playoffs before they can get a shot at two-time defending Class 6A champion Prattville.
The Yellow Jackets (3-7) were scheduled to get it on with the Lions on Saturday night at the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery in the third annual al.com Champions Challenge. But the Alabama High School Athletic Association was forced to cancel the contest on the account of inclement weather caused by Tropical Storm Fay, which passed through the northeastern gulf on Saturday.
The game, which was going to be aired on live statewide television through a deal between the Athletic Association and the Sinclair Broadcasting Group, would have pitted two of the state's top teams against one another in a primetime matchup.
Oxford, ranked No. 7 in the Alabama Sportswriters Association preseason poll, won all 10 of its games on the field in 2007, but a ruling by the athletic association deemed a player ineligible, causing the team to forfeit their first seven games. Top-ranked Prattville (15-0) finished last season undefeated for the second year in a row, and ranked No. 2 in the nation in the USA Today Prep Football Super 25 poll.
"We're disappointed we can't play the game," said AHSAA Executive Director Steve Savarese in a statement released Saturday. "The National Weather Service told us there is a good possibility Montgomery will be under a tornado watch later today. We know we can't put our fans and teams in possible harm's way."
Oxford will open its regular season Friday on the road against Benjamin Russell. Prattville will play St. Xavier (Oh.) in Cincinnati on Saturday.
