More and more each Friday night as I cover Class 5A, Region 4, I begin to feel like I am prepping for the ACT — trying to answer the age-old question:

Where will two trains meet if train A leaves Chicago traveling at 35 mph and train B leaves Washington D.C. traveling at 45 mph?

You remember the question. I always used an unorthodox approach of trying to reach an answer. I can’t remember if it was ever right.

However, there’s a slightly easier question on the horizon as the football season reaches its final weeks.

Shelby County and Briarwood Christian have been like a steady train, picking up steam week after week.

Both teams were traveling at different speeds when Shelby County defeated Briarwood Sept. 5.

With both teams perfect in the last four weeks, the question is not if these two will meet again, but when.

If the playoffs were to begin today, the answer is Nov. 21 in the state quarterfinals.

The Wildcats are in position to host Demopolis in the first round, while Briarwood will host Selma. After both county teams advance, the Lions will hit the road to Carver, while Shelby will travel to Sylacauga — dangerous territory this time of year.

If the Wildcats can survive the Aggies’ ambush, they’ll return home, bruised and battered to take on Briarwood.

You can expect an all-out war when the Lions come to Columbiana for the second time.

Briarwood looked conservative in its play calling in September. The Lions were coming off an emotional win over Vestavia and the Wildcats were out to prove they were for real.

Briarwood didn’t have much of a running game then, while the ’Cats barely threw the ball.

Times have changed and will change even more by then.

But then lies the real question. What happens when the trains collide?

We’ll have to wait and see who emerges from the twisted wreckage to meet Spanish Fort for a chance to play at Legion Field.