By By Matthew Nascone
Homecoming week can be exciting to some people and not to others, but whether you like the Homecoming festivities or not, there is still a game to be played. And when the Atmore Blue Devils football team hosts the Monroe County Tigers Friday, more than Homecoming will be going on in Herbert Barnes Stadium.
The Blue Devils (4-3, 3-2) will attempt to lock up a playoff spot with a win over the Tigers. The theme for Homecoming is "Torch the Tigers" and that is exactly what ECHS wants to do.
"We have to win this game to be assured 100 percent of a playoff spot," Atmore head coach Kyle Davis said. "We are coming off a tough loss and we will see what these boys are made of this week. We want to come back tough and see how we can handle ourselves."
Davis said the team's 37-0 loss to Thomasville last week stung the team and he said they need to get back in winning form.
"We have to get to the point where we can compete in every game," he said. "We are at the point where we have to make up our minds about whether we want to be as good as we can be. We hit a wall last week and it hurt. It is now up to the boys to make the decision to push forward or not. We have to see how they respond."
Homecoming festivities began Tuesday with Twin Day and today is Superhero Day. Tomorrow will be Dress-up Day and time for the bonfire at 7 p.m. Friday will be a half-day of school and is Spirit Day.
School will be closed at noon and there will be an Alumni Tea at the school from 10 a.m. until 11 a.m. The school pep rally will begin at 11 a.m. and end at noon. The Homecoming Parade starts at the Atmore Area YMCA at 3 p.m. and it will end at the school.
Kickoff for the game is set for 7 p.m. and the dance is scheduled for 10 p.m. until 12:30 a.m.