With his team’s playoff hopes perhaps hanging in the balance, Apalachee High School football coach Shane Davis will prepare his squad for another test this Friday when the Wildcats venture to Salem High School in Conyers.
AHS (0-2 overall, 0-2 in Region 8-AAAA) is coming off a 42-20 setback to Flowery Branch last week although Davis felt his team put forth a better effort than it did in the opening game against Habersham Central. Now that same effort will be needed against Salem (1-2), who lost in the final minute to Habersham Central last Friday 43-39.
“They are a very athletic team,” Davis said. “They have a couple of running backs who have speed and their fullback is a strong runner. Their quarterback can be dangerous with the ability he’s shown to this point in the season.”
In need of a win, Davis knows this Friday could end his team’s playoff chances without a victory.
“If we are going to think about doing anything down the road, this is a game we have to win,” Davis said. “I don’t know what the magic number will be in terms of wins you need. However. I don’t think there will be a 5-5 team in the playoffs. Salem is good, just like all the teams remaining on our schedule.”
Davis noted his team still has Region 8-AAAA games with powerful foes such as Clarke Central and Heritage as well.
“We just played the number four team in the state,” the AHS coach said. “It’s not going to get much easier. We have to get better. That’s one thing we have to concentrate on.”
The Seminoles, coached by John Starr, run a Wing-T offense. Defensively, Salem will employ a three-man front.
“They move around a good bit,” Davis said. “Their defense won’t look like a conventional set. They will move a linebacker down to the line.”
Wildcat offensive coordinator Joel Miller said earlier this week the Seminoles are “big and athletic across the board on defense.”
“They do a great job of getting off of blocks and getting to the football,” Miller said. “It will be important for us to maintain our blocks, because they will close running lanes in a hurry. As always on the road, we have to limit turnovers and penalties We did not do a great job of that last week and we have to get better in those areas if we want to beat good teams like Salem. When you look at our offensive stats from weeks one and two, they look good, but we have not played up to our capabilities yet. We are missing scoring opportunities and we can’t afford for that to happen. Hopefully, we will execute and capitalize on all scoring opportunities this week.”
AHS defensive coordinator Matt Sorrells expects a challenge in stopping Salem offensively.
“Salem has a very big offensive line that does a good job of opening holes for their running backs,” Sorrells said Monday. “However, the running backs don’t need too much of a running lane because they are very fast. They like to get the quarterback involved by either running the option or by letting him throw off of play-action. As soon as they get a team to overplay the run, they try to hurt you with play-action passes. They have the ability to score lots of points. We must continue to get better at playing assignment football.”
