Mark Freeman and Thompson will vie for their sixth Class 7A state title in seven years Wednesday night against newcomer Opelika.

The Bulldogs have played in the Class 6A title game twice before but have never been in the 7A championship.

The Warriors are 10-3 this season with narrow losses to Grayson, Ga. (34-23 in OT), Class 6A finalist Clay-Chalkville (28-24) and region rival Hoover (33-30). They are coming off a 35-34 semifinal win at Central-Phenix City , a team they played against in the last two 7A title games.

The Bulldogs also enter at 10-3. They recovered from back-to-back late-season blowout losses to Enterprise (42-20) and Central-Phenix City (42-6) to win their last four games and reach the championship.

AL.com asked several coaches who are familiar with the teams for som

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