FLOYD FOOTBALL FRIDAY
♦ Five teams in action as Coosa, Darlington host season openers
Week two varsity football has arrived as five teams prepare to take the field on Friday night. The Coosa Eagles and the Darlington Tigers prepare to kick off their respective seasons within friendly confines. The Unity Christian Lions return to action while the Model Blue Devils and the Pepperell Dragons look to rebound from season-opener road losses.
Trion at Coosa (0-0), 7:30 p.m.
The Coosa Eagles open their season against the Trion Bulldogs. It will also be head coach Joey Mathis’ debut at Coosa High School.
“Anytime you can open up at home, you definitely want to do that,” Mathis said in a phone interview. “I think our kids are excited, the community’s excited. We’ve been practicing for so long now, we’re just ready to get out there against another team and see where we’re at.”
The Eagles hold a 7- 9- 1 all- time record against Trion, with the lone tie from 1958.
“When you think of Trion, you think of tradition, and they’re generally known for running) the ball,” Mathis said. “They’re going to be well-coached, they’re going to be physical. It’s going to be a great opening game for us and a good opportunity to see where we measure up.”
This will be the third straight meeting between the two schools in football. Last season, Coosa fell at Trion 26-14. The Eagles are in search of their first victory over the Bulldogs since 2007.
“The Friday night lights are going to be new to a lot of them,” Mathis said. “Throw in the newness of me, the offense ... and defense that we’re trying to run, there’s going to be a lot of firsts on Friday night.”
Lakeview Academy (0-0) at Darlington (0-0), 7:30 p.m.
The Darlington Tigers open a new season at Chris Hunter Stadium as the Lakeview Academy Lions pay a visit to Floyd County. Head coach Tommy Atha enters his 19th year at the helm with expectations high for the Tigers. This will be the first meeting between the Lions and Tigers.
“We want to go into this thing and try to execute,” Atha said. “We know there’s going to breakdowns, but we want to make sure we don’t beat ourselves. Hopefully (we’ll) put points on the board when the opportunity presents itself.”
The Tigers begin a new season without quarterback Griffin Brewster, running back Kolin Rogers and offensive lineman Tate Ratledge, all of who have graduated.
This will be Darlington’s first time facing an opposing team since a playoff loss to Mount Paran Christian on Nov. 22, 2019.
“One of the things that’s been so much different is by this time, we’ve usually got at least one scrimmage, sometimes two scrimmages, under our belt,” Atha said. “We’re doing some good things in all phases and we’re doing some bad things in all phases.”
Model (0-1) at Lafayette,
7:30 p.m.
The Model Blue Devils are on the road for the second consecutive week, looking to rebound from a season-opening 20-14 overtime loss at Sonoraville last week. This week, the Lafayette Ramblers are on the docket.