The South Pike High School football team has its first road test this season at Franklin County at 7 p.m. Friday.
After dropping the season opener at home last week, the Eagles will be counting on the offense to improve this week.
South Pike head coach John Culpepper saw his more experienced defense thrive against the speed of the Jefferson County.
The offensive line, however, had its struggles with some players.
“We’re still a young football team, but from the way we practiced this week, we expect improvements against Franklin County,” Culpepper said.
Sophmore quarterback Bobbieal Ellzey will look to improve on accuracy and decision making, while senior running back Marc Varnado prepares to have a more productive night against the Bulldogs. Varnado has rushed for 78 yards on the season.
Franklin County (1-0) enters the non-district contest after a 20-6 win over Brookhaven.
Bulldogs head coach Anthony Hart said it’s important to improve after a win.
“We could improve on everything, but I thought we could’ve did a better job with our hydration prior to the game because we had some players with cramps,” he said. “There were mistakes, primarily on the offensive side of the ball, like missed blocking assignments and not staying on the block long enough that I think we can get better at and improve each week.”
Bulldogs senior running back Courtney Smith finished with 103 yards and a touchdown against Brookhaven.
“That’s exactly what we expect of him, we have other weapons that we want to get to ball to,” Hart said. “He’s a part of the puzzle and we’ll continue to do what we’ve been doing with him.”
Sophmore quarterback Jacob McDaniel was 7-14 for 111 yards and two touchdowns last week and will need produce similar numbers against a stingy Eagles defense.
“We just want to do the things we’re capable of doing offensively, we just want to execute what we’ve worked on during the offseason and previous practices,” Hart said. “South Pike is really athletic on defense, they have good size and play well, but we have to do what we can do to be successful.”
Last week, junior DeMarte Collins had five receptions for 77 yards and a touchdown.
Like South Pike, Franklin County’s defense has its fair share of playmakers. Seniors linebacker Chris O’Quinn and safety Ryan Johnson anchor the group, while sophmore defensive end Cameron Young leads the front line.
Linebackers Ladarius Norman and Julian Matthews also helped to contribute last week.
The Eagles are led by seniors linebacker Darrion Carter and safety Corey Pittman. South Pike’s defensive line looks to wreak havoc in the middle with junior Quadarrius Downs but will need senior cornerback Robert McCarty, linebacker KeDarrius Shields and defensive back Keshun Nimox, Javosity Jones and the entire defensive rotation to have healthy, productive nights.
In the kicking department, the Eagles look to put freshman Justin Kluek in better situations punting the ball, and attempt an extra point in a game situation.
The Bulldogs have junior Thomas Slagle, who was 2-3 on PAT’s and had one punt for 20 yards, while senior wide reciever Antonio Christmas punted 6 times for 50 yards. Christmas also had a touchdown reception.
