Escambia Academy head football coach Hugh Fountain said he was pleased by his team’s performance in its spring football game Thursday.

“In last year’s spring game, we had a lot of penalties and mistakes,” he said. “This year, we did a much better job of cleaning up a lot of those errors.”

EA defeated Autauga Academy, 41-14, with the varsity playing in the first half and the junior varsity in the second half.

“The score wasn’t really the main thing in that game,” Fountain said. “It was more about giving our players a chance to perform in a competitive situation.”

Thursday’s game capped off 15 days of spring practice for the Cougars. Fountain said that there were roughly 45 players who participated throughout spring practice and in Thursday’s spring game.

“It was a good game for us,” he said. “The coaches got a chance to see which players blocked well, who ran the ball well, and who tackled well. It will help us as we get ready for our summer workouts.”

Fountain said the team would begin its summer workout schedule June 2.

The Cougars returned a number of players from last year’s team, Fountain said. In addition, several players who missed the 2013 season with season-ending injuries were healed up and able to return to the field Thursday.

“It was good to see those guys back out playing again,” Fountain said.

Fountain noted that his coaching staff should return intact in the fall, which was not the case heading into the 2013 season. In that season, EA had a new defensive coordinator and wide receivers coach.

“We will have pretty much the same coaching staff this year, which is good for our continuity,” he said. “Last year, we had some mistakes because the kids were still learning the new coaches and how they did things, but in the spring game everyone was on the same page a lot more.”

The Cougars finished the 2013 season with a record of 10-3, and advanced to the second round of the AISA playoffs.