The Apalachee High School football team has shown that its first regular season loss since 2008 has really not been a problem.
After the Wildcats fell to Flowery Branch Sept 10, coach Shane Davis’ team has put back-to-back wins in the record book, the most recent coming last Friday in a 28-14 victory against Heritage.
AHS now stands 3-1 in Region 8-AAAA with a trip to Madison County looming this week.
“They are all big when you play a straight region schedule,” Davis said. “Madison County is going to put some athletes on the field. They do enough offensively to cause problems. They are probably going to use more formations than anyone we play. They use a lot of trick plays. We will have to be ready defensively.”
The Red Raiders enter the contest 1-4 after taking it on the chin to Habersham Central last Friday 44-14.
“Madison County is a solid team,” said Wildcat offensive coordinator Joel Miller. “ They will base out of the 4-4 and they have great size across the defensive line. Our offensive line will be undersized, so they will have to have good pad level to not get pushed around by their big guys up front. We hope we can do a better job of controlling the ball than we did last week. Eliminating penalties will help. We need to help our defense out by keeping the ball away from Madison. As always, negating turnovers will be important.”
AHS also faces the long trek to Danielsville.
“It doesn’t help to be on the road,” Davis said. “We’ve only had one road game so far and that one didn’t turn out well. We have to be able to play well on the road because we only have two home games left.”
Davis, who coordinates the team’s defense, said Madison County will give the Wildcat coaching staff plenty to prepare for. The Red Raiders are apt to use anything from a shotgun formation to two tight ends and the wishbone.
“They are tough to prepare for,” Davis said. “They throw so many things at you you have to be ready for just about anything. It will be a busy week for us getting ready for this game.”
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. in Danielsville. It is one of the longest road trip for AHS.
