MP back at home, faces Subiaco

MOUNTAIN PINE — Fresh off last week’s 44-20 win over Woodlawn, Mountain Pine looks to host a tough opponent in Subiaco Academy at Stanley May Field tonight for homecoming and senior night.

The Red Devils ( 1-1 West) made the switch to eight-man football just before the start of the season, and according to Red Devils head coach Sam Counce, are still getting used to the new, faster style of play.

“We feel better after last week going to Woodlawn,” said Counce. “We didn’t play as good as I felt like we should on defense, but we feel better just because we got another game under our belt. You know, this is all kind of new to us and the players and the more we play, the more experience we get and the more we find out about ourselves. So it’s been good to play, and we’ve gotten better I think. We’ve got a better understanding of rhythm in the game and what we need to do as far as offense and defense.”

Tonight marks the Red Devils’ third game of the season after the entire team was quarantined for two weeks due to

COVID-19. Mountain Pine fell

64-52 in their home opener on Sept. 11 after leading 38-14 at one point.

Against Episcopal, sophomore quarterback Jermaine Dobbins went 1 for 3 passing for 15 yards but did the majority of his damage on the ground, rushing 182 yards on 16 carries for three touchdowns. Senior Josiah Walpole completed one pass for 6 yards and rushed for

39 yards with two touchdowns. Sophomore running back Isaiah Miles tore up the ground for

193 yards on 18 touches and two touchdowns.

Defensively for the Red Devils, it has been a family affair. Dobbins, Walpole and sophomore Dayjon Matlock are each averaging over five tackles a game.

Subiaco Academy (6-1, 4-1) is enjoying a solid season. The Trojans make no qualms about their philosophy to “take the ball to the end zone.” Though the eight-man format provides for higher scores, they are currently averaging 50 points a game and coming off a 60-13 victory over Decatur last week.

Junior quarterback Wesley Schluterman is 51 for 93 passing for 715 yards and eight touchdowns while averaging 119.2 passing yards per game, and he has also rushed for 451 yards on 72 carries with an addition

al eight touchdowns. Senior running back Payne Lee has 732 total yards rushing on 93 touches and 12 touchdowns, and he is second in the Trojans’ tackling effort with 76 just behind leading tackler senior Adam Ackel’s 81.

“We’ll have to play real good on defense because they run the speed a lot, and they’ve got some good backs that are fast and we’ve got to be able to tackle in open field,” said Counce. “They get on the edge pretty good and pretty quick. It’s going to be a challenge for us — their speed. … We’ve got to get better at sustaining our blocks and driving the ball downfield in a running situation. We can throw the ball pretty good, but, you know, sometimes I feel like we don’t finish on whenever we’re running the ball. We’re better on the offensive line than what we’ve been playing, is what I think. And I think that’s where we’ve got to get better for us to be a good football team.”

The Red Devils and Trojans will kickoff at 7 p.m. following the junior high game at 5:30 p.m.