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   The best of the best in Alabama High   
  School Football over the past 100 seasons.






2017 Team Previews 

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Brilliant Tigers

Head Coach: Brian Gunnels (first season)
Stadium: Tiger Stadium
Career Record: 0 seasons, (0-0)
At Brilliant: First season
2017 Enrollment:  58
Rank:  380th in the AHSAA, 57th in Class 1A

 History 
Overall Record:   360-439-27   (45.0%)
Last 25 years:   103-169   (38.0%)  (Rank: 294th in the AHSAA, 42nd in Class 1A)
Since 2010:   16-56  (22.0%)  (Rank: 355th in the AHSAA, 49th in Class 1A)
Last Playoff Appearance:   2013
Last Region Championship:   2001
Last Winning Season:   2013
Last Losing Season:   2016

 2016 
Class:  1A              Region:   5
Record:  0-10    (Team record for losses in a season)
Region Record:   0-6, (seventh)
Playoff Record:   Did not qualify.
Final ASWA Poll:   Not Ranked
Scoring:  105 (10.5)
Defense:  521 (52.1)    (Team record for points allowed in a season)


 2017 
Class: 1A              Region:   5
Strength of Schedule: 51-59 (46%) (284th in the AHSAA, 34th in Class 1A)
Region Strength:  36-33 (52%)
Non-Region Strength:  15-26 (37%)



 2016 Results 
 8/19  @ Lynn  (1A)   0-66   L  
 8/26  vs. Vina  (1A)   16-52   L  
 9/2  vs. Berry Fayette  (1A)  *  22-71   L  
 9/9  @ Holy Spirit  (1A)  *  20-76   L  
 9/16  vs. Marion County  (1A)  *  12-54   L  
 9/23  vs. Southeastern  (1A)   8-38   L  
 9/30  @ Pickens County  (1A)  *  0-61   L  
 10/7  vs. Alabama School Deaf    12-14   L  
 10/14  vs. South Lamar  (1A)  *  7-49   L  
 10/21  @ Hubbertville  (1A)  *  8-40   L  
 10/27   OPEN 

 2017 Schedule 
 8/25  vs. Lynn  (1A)       
 9/1  @ Vina  (1A)       
 9/8  @ Berry Fayette  (1A)  *      
 9/15  vs. Holy Spirit  (1A)  *      
 9/22  @ Marion County  (1A)  *      
 9/29  @ Southeastern  (1A)       
 10/5  vs. Pickens County  (1A)  *      
 10/13  @ Alabama School Deaf        
 10/20  @ South Lamar  (1A)  *      
 10/26  vs. Hubbertville  (1A)  *      
 11/2   OPEN 


Class  1A Region  5
Team 2016 Record Scoring                            
Berry Fayette (1A) 5-6284-298
Brilliant (1A) 0-10105-521
Holy Spirit (1A) 2-8125-407
Hubbertville (1A) 10-2369-199
Marion County (1A) 2-8178-310
Pickens County (1A) 11-4594-334
South Lamar (1A) 6-5291-181

 2017 Preview 


       Brilliant finished the 2016 season with a disappointing 0-10 record. Last year Brilliant finished seventh in Class 1A region five with a 0-6 region record and failed to qualify for the playoffs.

       The defense allowed a team record 521 points last season.

       The offense struggled putting points on the score board as Brilliant averaged scoring just 10.5 points a game. The Tigers also struggled on the defensive side of the football as they found little success in stopping opposing offenses and allowed an average of 52.1 points a game.

       The Tigers would prefer to forget the past two seasons as they have finished with a 0-20 record. Since 2010, the Brilliant football program has struggled with a record of 16-56.

       Over the past 25 seasons, Brilliant has managed to compile a record of 103-169. Their 38.0% winning percentage ranks 42nd in Class 1A and 294th in the AHSAA.

Mark Ragsdale leaves Brilliant after just two seasons as the head football coach with an 0-20 record.


Brian Gunnels returns to Brilliant as the head football coach for the 2017 season. Gunnels is a 2003 graduate of the school and was an assistant coach through the 2009 season. He was at Carbon Hill in 2010 and 2012 and at Cordova in 2011.



       The Brilliant Tigers will play in Class 1A region five during the 2017 season.

       The Tigers enter the 2017 season in the middle of a 26 game losing streak. They would like nothing better than to end the string of losses early in the season.

       This season, the Tigers will be a long shot for one of the four playoff spots in region five. After not winning a single game last year, the goal at Brilliant will be to simply win some games. Brilliant simply does not have the numbers to be competitive on the football field at this time. With just 58 students, the Tigers are one of the smallest schools playing the game and have little chance of being successful.

       The Tigers open the 2017 season at home against non-region opponent Lynn on Friday, August 25 at Tiger Stadium. Last year the Lynn Bears finished with an overall record of 7-4 and in fourth place in Class 1A region seven. The Bears lost in the first round of the Class 1A playoffs to Hackleburg by a score of 35-6.

       Brilliant and Lynn have met a total of 54 times on the football field. The Tigers have a 23-30-1 record against the Bears. They last met in 2016 with Lynn winning by a score of 66-0.

  


Great Moments in Alabama High School Football History

Spence McCracken won a record 21 Area/Region Championships at Montgomery Academy, Lee Montgomery and Opelika during his coaching career.