Blue Devils to close season Friday at home
Published 12:01 am Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Escambia County’s seniors are going to have one last chance to show their skill of play Friday night as the Blue Devils host Faith Academy for their season finale.
ECHS head football coach Royce Young said it’s going to be bitter sweet to see the seniors go.
“We’re losing some really good kids,” Young said. “A handful of these guys have been in the program in all three years I’ve been here.
“You hate to see them go,” he said. “We just hope they’re motivated and want to have a good performance.”
The Blue Devils and Faith have identical records at 2-7.
Records can be misleading, Young said.
“Faith is still in that (Class 5A) region (Region 1) we just came out of that has all the state powerhouses,” he said. “It’s hard to judge from that. We have lined up against St. Paul’s, Jackson and Vigor.
“The only legitimate opponent they did play was Wilcox Central recently,” he said. “They beat Wilcox by a couple of touchdowns.”
ECHS beat WCHS 24-16 in its season opener.
“You’d like to think we’d improve, but of course, we lost players over the last nine weeks,” Young said. “Athletically, we match up with them. An advantage we have is overall quickness and speed. The disadvantage is that our offensive and defensive lines are much smaller than theirs.”
When asked what he wants to see from the players this week, Young said a positive performance will help the transition into the winter weight program.
“At the same time, it’s an old coach’s cliché, ‘the next game should be the most important game of the season.’ These guys dressing out Friday night, they’ve stayed the course.
On Friday, each senior will be recognized for their efforts on the field.
Young said he knows the seniors will put together a good performance.
Kick off is at 7 p.m. on Friday.