The Escambia County Middle Preparatory School Golden Eagles clawed their way back into their contest against Fairhope, but it wasn’t enough to earn a victory. The team fell short and lost 34-24.

“We did real good in the latter part of the third quarter and in the fourth quarter too, but we got behind in the first and second quarter,” Larkin said. “I feel like if we had had another quarter, we would have had a chance to win.”

Larkin’s main lament was that his defense didn’t apply enough pressure on the opposing quarterback, which allowed Fairhope to put enough points on the board to make a comeback difficult.

“If we could have put more pressure on the quarterback, we could have had a difference,” Larkin said. “Their quarterback is very accurate when he doesn’t have hands in his face.”

On the plus side, Larkin was pleased that each player had a chance to play and enjoy playing.

“All our kids got to play and have fun and that’s what it’s all about,” Larkin said.

Larkin is hopeful he can change the attitudes of his players before the end of the season.

“I want to get them to step up. I guess someone’s been telling them they can’t win,” he said. “We’ve got to boost the morale.”

Larkin is committed to building a winning program at ECMPS.

“I think we’ll have a good bunch of kids,” Larkin said. “They’ve just got to feel like they can win.”