By By Tim Cottrell
Coach Heath Gibson and his staff at Escambia Academy was certain his team would be in for a tough game Friday night against the Faith Academy Rams, and he got all he bargained for and more.
The Cougars fell 39-0 to a Faith Academy roster bolstered with defectors from several Mobile-area high schools.
The Rams took a 13-0 lead before the Cougar fans were able to settle into their seats, and had taken a 25-0 lead by halftime.
Gibson said there were plenty of positives to take from the loss.
"We didn't quit," he said. "We played hard for all four quarters. We had a lot of young kids in there – we had two eighth-graders and two ninth-graders in at the end because of some injuries. We saw some young kids could play for us and we need it with our numbers."
When a team is overmatched in the way EA was during the game, it is difficult to know what areas need working on. But Gibson had a few things planned for his team when they come back to practice Monday.
"Offensively we need to work on coming off the ball the same speed every play," he said. "Not taking two plays off every five. We need everyone going full-speed wide-open every time."
Gibson was proud of a few of his players for their efforts.
"Joe Drew had nine tackles and 39 yards rushing," Gibson said. "He played a real good game. Dalton Murphy and Ethan Brooks played well on the line. Defensively, Jon Dean played pretty well."
With the first game of the season under their belts, the Cougars will now face competition closer to their level. After getting their toughest opponent out of the way, Gibson was confident the rest of the season would move smoothly.
"I feel good," he said. "We'll step back to our competition level, now. We just need to have a good practice Monday. The kids seemed ready to come in and work. None of them seemed down. They were all pretty upbeat."
The Cougars will travel to meet region foe Taylor Road Academy in Montgomery Friday at 7:30.