By By Matthew Nascone
The Escambia Academy Cougars focus their sights on Sparta Academy for week six in the AISA, but the Cougars might be a little distracted this week.
"Homecoming week is the toughest time to keep the guys focused," EA head coach Heath Gibson said. "But we had one of our best practices of the year (Monday), so we are looking forward to Friday. I hope we can build on that good day and have a good week heading into the game Friday."
The Cougars (1-4, 1-3 AISA Class 2A, Region 1) will have a tough test against the 3-2 Warriors. Gibson said a couple things will have to happen for the Cougars to have a chance of winning.
"We are a lot faster than them, but we need to have a lot more intensity than last week out there," Gibson said. "We have to get some things going early in the game to get confidence up."
The Cougars will also have to stop a pair of seniors on offense. Gibson said senior fullback Hunter Hutcheson (6-2, 230) and wide receiver Damon Godwin (6-3, 190) could cause EA some problems if they are not shut down.
"They will pound the ball with Hutcheson and when they do throw the ball, junior quarterback J.R. Williams will get it to Godwin."
Gibson said he needs his offensive line to make some plays Friday if the Cougars want to have a chance of winning the game.
"We need a good performance all the way across the line for us to win this game," he said.
The Homecoming festivities will take place at halftime and kickoff is set for 7 p.m.