By BAKER ELLIS / Sports Editor

For the first time since the Week 2 poll, a Shelby County team has worked its way back into the ASWA top 10 poll after Week 6 in Spain Park. All the Jaguars had to do was not take the field. In a weak full of upheaval across all top 10 classifications that saw over 20 ranked teams take a loss, there were a wide number of changes throughout all classifications, and the Jaguars were the beneficiary of those changes, jumping up to No. 8 in the poll.

This is a huge week for Spain Park, as the Jaguars take on city rival and 7A No. 1 Hoover on Thursday. If the Jaguars can pull out a win, it will be the first win over Hoover in the history of the school.

Chelsea, at 5-0, received 10 votes for the 6A poll, placing the Hornets 12^th overall in the state, but well behind the 11^th place team Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa, who pulled in 47 votes. The Hornets also have a chance this week to gain some statewide respect as they welcome in current 6A No. 3 Opelika to town in the biggest game of the year for Chris Elmore’s team.

Calera received six votes in the 5A poll a week after beating Shelby County 34-14. The Eagles will need to continue to post big scores moving forward to gain looks from voters statewide, as no team remaining on Calera’s schedule has more than three wins currently.

Montevallo seems to be gaining notoriety across the state as well. The last few weeks, the Bulldogs have garnered little if any attention from the voters, pulling in few votes each week, until this most recent poll, where the Bulldogs received 20 votes, 14^th-best in the state. The Oct. 2 matchup with West Blocton and the Oct. 9 matchup with Bibb County were the two games on the Bulldogs’ schedule that, a month ago, were circled as the true tests for this team, but both the Tigers and the Choctaws have struggled as of late, leaving the door open for Montevallo to run the table.