There’s no doubt about it.

Escambia Academy’s game at home against Hooper Academy is an important match up.

The Cougars will host HA in a AISA 3A, Region 1 contest that could affect their playoff chances in the future. EA is 3-2 and 1-1 in region play entering the game.

“It’s going to be a very important game for us because we’re back in region play,” EA head football coach Hugh Fountain said. “We definitely need to get another win in the region. It has a lot of importance.”

Last week, the Cougars pounced on Crenshaw Christian in a 35-13 win as they utilized big plays to get ahead for good.

Hooper Academy, on the other hand, hasn’t won a game this season. The Colts lost 41-7 and 20-0 to Tuscaloosa Academy and Autauga Academy, respectively, over the last two weeks.

“They’re sort of up and down,” Fountain said about HA. “They lost to Tuscaloosa Academy, which is one of the better teams in AISA. They also lost to Autauga and lost to Fort Dale.”

EA beat Fort Dale 34-7 two weeks ago.

Fountain said Hooper Academy is pretty tough on defense and the Colts have the best punter in AISA.

“He can kick and punt the ball really well,” Fountain said. “One of the keys for us is that we have to continue to try to get better on executing on both sides of the ball.”

One of the keys this week will be to sustain and keep long drives going on offense, Fountain said.

“I didn’t realize that we had two drives with seven plays or more that ended up with a score,” he said.

Kick off at Escambia Academy on Friday night is at 7.