andrew garner
news editor

Two local football teams will hit the gridiron for their season openers on Friday night.
Escambia County hosts Baldwin County, while No. 3 Escambia Academy visits Edgewood in Montgomery.
ECHS head football coach Royce Young said there’s always some unknown when entering the first week.
“We basically have game film on them from last year that we use as a reference,” Young said. “You can look at last year’s roster and films and see what they have coming back.”
Young said BCHS dresses 110 players.
“They’ve got a lot of speed,” he said. “They’re athletic and they’ve got a big ‘ol lineman that’s committed to LSU.”
Young is talking about Jakori Savage, who plays on both sides of the trench.
“He’s a big child,” the coach said.
Taking care of the football and limiting the number of penalties are the big keys for this week’s contest, Young said.
For Escambia Academy, this will be the first time in two years that the defending AISA Class AAA champion will be playing at Faulkner University’s stadium. Additionally, Edgewood is the defending Class 2A champion and owners of a 58-game win streak.
“It’s a big game,” EA head football coach Hugh Fountain said. “We both had good teams last year, even though that doesn’t mean anything for this year.”
In April, Edgewood got a big pickup when Canada’s No. 1 quarterback prospect, Nathan Rourke, transferred to the school.
While Edgewood has many quality players, Fountain said this is a good opportunity for his boys to get off to a good start.