By By Tim Cottrell
Now officially eliminated from playoff contention, the Escambia County Blue Devils (2-6, 1-5) and head coach Kyle Davis must look for other means of motivation for Friday night's season finale at Choctaw County (1-7, 0-6).
Despite last week's 41-14 loss to Jackson, Davis said there were plenty of bright spots to take from the game.
"I told someone that it's hard to say you got beat 41-14 and really didn't play that bad, but we really didn't," Davis said. "We killed ourselves with mistakes. We had three interception and two fumbles. If we reduce the turnovers we can be a good football team."
After a season of peaks and valleys, Davis said the main thing he and his coaching staff would look for through this week of practice and the final game would be effort from his seniors and especially from the underclassmen that will return next season.
"We want to see them play hard," Davis said. "We want to carry over from the second half last week against Jackson. We're going to play as many young guys as we can that we think are ready to play. We've got to get ready for next year; for the future. Has this season gone the way we wanted it to? No. Have their been some games we could've won? Sure. The difference is this team doesn't know how to win yet."
As for the Blue Devils' opponent, Davis said there would be plenty of athletes to go around on the field Friday night in Butler.
"They're a very athletic team," Davis said. "They're fast and they've got real good skill players. They've gotten better every week. This is their homecoming. When you play someone on their homecoming you know you're going to get their best shot."
Davis said the game would be decided by whichever team won two match-ups.
"I'm concerned about their wide receivers on our secondary," he said. "That's scary. We've got some young guys out there and they're going to have to play well. One thing we can exploit is our running game. I think our offensive line can whip their defensive line."
As far as the playoff picture in 4A region one goes, the four entrants have all clinched spots. However, Friday night will determine seeding as all four of those teams are playing each other. UMS-Wright will travel to Jackson, while Thomasville hosts Andalusia.
The Blue Devils will face off at Choctaw County at 7 p.m. Friday night in Butler.