Last year was full of many firsts for the East Jackson Eagles, as the team worked hard to get the program off to a good start in its first year of existence.
Friday night will mark the beginning of another first for the Eagles, as they travel to Oakwood to face West Hall for their first game as a team in region 8-AA. Kickoff is at 7:30 in Oakwood.
While Friday night’s game is not against a region opponent, it will be an important final tune-up to East Jackson’s regional opener on Sept. 5.
It also will give the team another chance to fine-tune itself offensively. With the loss of nine seniors from the last year, the Eagles look for several players to step up into leadership roles, including Hunter Beck, Cody Hall, Zack Gilbert, Robert Mahone and Strandrick Stephens.
East Jackson coach Frank Caputo said that his team will have its hands full when they walk out onto the field against the Spartans Friday night. West Hall is coming off a rough 2007 season that saw them go 2-8 overall, and 1-3 in their region.
Caputo said the Spartans might very well see Friday night’s game as a shot at redemption, and a chance to start their own season off on a high note.
“We know they’re going to be hungry,” he said. “Anytime you go over to somebody’s place for the opener, they’re generally sky high for it. So we’re going to have to be well poised, and be very well schooled on what we want to do. We’re going to have to be able to control and take their crowd out of the football game. We’re looking forward to the challenge.”
One thing that has not helped is the fact that East Jackson has not been able to find much information about the Spartans and their approach on the field.
“We haven’t had an opportunity to see any film on them because we can’t find any,” Caputo said. “Apparently they don’t have a scrimmage this pre-season.”
But what he does know is that West Hall will be looking for some fresh meat when the Eagles hit the field.
“Here, they have a chance to redeem themselves, and start out on the right foot against a team that’s brand-spanking-new,” he said. “They’ll be facing a bunch of kids without a lot of playing experience, as opposed to them.”
That means the Eagles will have to be at their best from the beginning. That’s a task the team has been working towards, Caputo said.
“We just have to stay focused and do what we have to do. I know they have some tremendous athletes, but if we scheduled a game that we knew we could win, how good would that make us look?”
What the Eagles may lack in experience, they may make up for in ability. Caputo says his team has gotten a little larger, a little faster, and a little stronger since the end of their first season. He and his coaches have kept the players focused on the fundamentals in practice, and have worked to fix mistakes that occurred during last week’s scrimmage against Chestatee.
