Even with a different opponent this Friday, the strategy will be mostly the same for the Apalachee High School football team.
The Wildcats host Loganville Friday in a battle of 4-5 teams. Both teams will likely miss the playoffs, regardless of the outcome.
“We will have to have a strong effort and be able to control the clock,” AHS coach Shane Davis said. “It will be key for us to keep their offense off the field as much as possible. Our defense has played well recently. Hopefully, our players have another four quarters in them.”
In past seasons, the Red Devils have been a physical run-based team. However, LHS is spreading the field a little more this fall behind quarterback Garrett Ford.
“Their quarterback is a good one,” Davis said. “They also have two strong running backs. They will line up in the shotgun some and use some zone reads. They are also big up front and have put up a lot of points this year.”
Wildcat defensive coordinator Matt Sorrells said Loganville is a tough opponent to scout.
“They do many different things to try and get the defense out of position,” Sorrells said. “ The quarterback is very good and their offensive line looks huge on film. They rotate several different running backs so they always seem to be fresh.”
Sorrells, in preparing for this week’s contest, also noticed Garrett likes to throw to his tight end a good bit.
“They run multiple things but their two favorite plays seem to be a power kick play and the zone read option,” Sorrell said. “Not only will it be a challenge to get lined up correctly to all of their formations, but then we will have to find a way to bottle up their host of running backs and the quarterback, something teams have struggled to do all year.”
Offensive coordinator Joel Miller also knows this week’s game will be a challenge.
“They are big, strong, and physical,” Miller said. “They will base out of the 4-3, but give a lot of different looks up front with their defensive line and linebackers. They are fundamentally sound and well coached. They do not seem to get out of position a lot. They have an explosive and complicated offense, so we must do a good job and controlling the clock and putting points on the board when given opportunites. We are looking forward to the challenge.”
Apalachee has a chance to close out the season with a 5-1 record after starting the campaign 0-4. That’s a fact that makes Davis proud of his players.
“I’m awfully proud of our kids,” Davis said. “We dug ourselves a hole early. However, we are closing out the season playing well. We had a bad taste in our mouth last year after finishing 1-3 in our last four games. We were 0-4 this season with every opportunity to hang our heads. We had high expecations coming into this season and we will always have those. The next thing you know we are 0-4. Our kids have showed a lot of character by having a chance to win five of our last six games. I think that would be a huge step for us, regardless of whether we get in the playoffs. We have fought hard and come back to play with a lot of passion. We are playing like a playoff team right now. When you start a season the way we did, that’s hard to do.”
