If private schools weren’t winning all these championships, this wouldn’t even be a conversation, but they are. Hence the OP’s original post and topic.
All what championships? If i counted right (on my phone and having to scroll back and forth/ up and down and may have missed a couple), since 2000 (just picked a good round year to start), in football there have been 161 AHSAA football championship games played. Private schools won 24...public schools won 137. Hell, I bet hoover and Thompson have won as many as the all the private schools (after double checking, Hoover and Thompson combined for 16).
Double checked and updated with correct #s
Look at the numbers from 2010 on in 1a -3a and see the number of championships
Maplesville has been doing pretty good in 1A football during that time...
I'm sure there might be better examples (such as Piedmont in 3A), but Maplesville has played only one private school in the playoffs in the last ten years. Nine years ago they defeated American Christian in the first round.
