The Escambia County Middle Preparatory School Golden Eagles lost their first football game of the season to a tough Spanish Fort team Thursday night. The defense kept a strong opposing offense under wraps, but the offense could not put points on the board and the team fell at home 14-0.

Coach Barry Larkin was disappointed with the loss but is emphasizing a message of resilience to his team. He said he does not want to see them too discouraged by one loss because the team still has at least six more games left in the regular season.

“They didn’t do bad overall,” Larkin said of his team.

Asked what Larkin plans to do to improve, he said, “they didn’t beat us. We beat ourselves. We’re gonna’ work harder next week. We’ve got to work on our offense more.”

Larkin said he is planning to implement some new plays on offense to help the unit improve and be able to put some points on the board. Larkin said he believes he has the talent on offense to win games.

“We’ve got some strong guys. We’ve got some fast guys,” Larkin said. “They’re just not playing up to their potential.”

ESMPS will travel Daphne to play Daphne Middle School Thursday, Sept. 13 with kickoff set to begin at 6 p.m.