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By Carey Reeder | Managing Editor

Maplesville High School was selected to take part in the 20th annual AHSAA Kickoff Classic at Montgomery’s Cramton Bowl, taking on Fyffe High School on Aug. 22. The rematch comes eight years after Maplesville took the first meeting between the teams in the Kickoff Classic 20-7 in 2017.

Class 3A Fyffe comes into 2025 winning seven of the last 11 state championships dating back to 2014, and a third-round playoff appearance last season. Maplesville reached the Class 1A state title game for the first time since 2016 on the back of four straight appearances from 2013-16 and winning three straight state championships in 2014-16.

The four schools playing in the Kickoff Classic — Maplesville, Fyffe, Pike Road and Prattville High Schools have combined to win 1,932 games and 17 state championships in their program histories. This includes Maplesville’s four state titles, 634 wins (the most amongst the four schools) and the winningest Class 1A team during the 2010-19 decade with 121 wins and just 12 loses.

“We will be kicking off our 2025-26 school year with these two exciting games,” Heath Harmon, AHSAA Executive Director, said in a press release. “We are also kicking off our school year by placing major emphasis on displaying outstanding sportsmanship. The AHSAA’s mission is to serve our member schools through interscholastic competition by enhancing student learning, sportsmanship, safety, and lifelong values with integrity always as its foundation. The Kickoff Classic on statewide TV is an excellent way for us to get that message out to our school communities.”

Both Kickoff Classic games will be aired over the AHSAA TV Network, and Alabama Public Television will also carry the games for the first time.

“We’re excited to showcase four outstanding programs—Pike Road, Prattville, Maplesville, and Fyffe—in this year’s AHSAA Kickoff Classic,” J.T. Lawrence, AHSAA’s Alabama High School Athletic Directors & Coaches Association (AHSADC), said in a press release. “This event marks the official start of high school football each year in Alabama, and there’s nothing quite like the energy and excitement that comes with it.”

Maplesville and Fyffe are scheduled to kickoff at 7 p.m. on Aug. 22 at Montgomery’s Cramton Bowl. Pike Road and Prattville will play on Aug. 21 at the same place and time.