By By Matthew Nascone
The Escambia Academy Cougars lost junior running back Blaine Garrett to a blown ACL in their playoff-clinching 15-12 win over Wilcox Oct. 12. They also lost senior fullback and middle linebacker Ethan Brooks to a shoulder injury in practice last week.
"We are really banged up and we hope to get our guys healed up and make it through this game without any further injuries," EA head coach Heath Gibson said.
And to top it all off for the Cougars (4-4, 3-3 AISA Class AA, Region 1), they have to travel to Mobile to face No. 5-ranked Faith Academy in the final game of the regular season. Faith (6-3, 5-2 AISA Class AAA, Region 1) is a force to be reckoned with in the AISA, having gone 49-10 in the past four-plus seasons.
"We are going to have the mindset to focus on making ourselves better and not worry about the scoreboard," Gibson said. "We need to get healthy and worry about the playoffs."
Gibson said EA will have to respect the speed of the Rams' playmaking duo.
"Keandre Niles and his brother Sydney both have exceptional speed," Gibson said. "We will have to keep track of them if we want to win."
Keandre Niles is the Rams senior fullback who runs a 4.6 40-yard dash and Sydney is the Rams go-to guy through the air.
This is the last year the Cougars will square off against Faith because the Faith is going public for the 2008-09 school year.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. in Mobile.