The Selma Times-Journal

This may be the rematch of all rematches.

And it may just be one of the biggest games in the AISA playoffs.

No, Wilcox Academy didn’t break Southern Academy’s three-year-long winning streak the first time they played this season.

That honor went to Bessemer in the final week of the regular season.

But losing 7-0, the Wildcats (9-2) came extremely close.

The most dangerous thing about Wilcox is it knows without a doubt it can play with Class AA’s juggernaut.

And the Wildcats could have won last time if a few more balls would have bounced their way.

“We could have done a few things differently,” Wildcats coach Chris Burford said about the teams’ previous meeting. “That was one of the first games we had played for a full four quarters. You can always look back and find something in general you would change.

“This is the type of game that’s got to do with who executes the best. We could have executed better, but then again, they had a lot to do with that.”

Practice for the Wildcats this week has been erratic because of the weather. The players are also anxious to get out and hit someone other than each other.

For all the things Burford thought of that his team could have done differently, he also noticed Southern (10-1) changed some things up since their last meeting.

“They’ve done a few things differently than when we played them,” Burford said. “They’ve thrown some more and changed a lot of their sets. It’s hard to get a read of what they’ll do. They do a fairly good job of playing fundamentally, and they’re well coached. You’ve got to beat them. They’re not going to beat themselves.”