This week’s game for Escambia County is going to be a business trip.

The Blue Devils are visiting Williamson in Mobile for a region match up on Thursday night at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.

“I’m excited about the opportunity that we have in front of us,” ECHS head football coach Rico Jackson said. “I would rather be in this position than in a position where you’re not playing for anything. Our kids have come a long way. We’re going to be ready to go on Thursday.”

At present, the Blue Devils are 5-3 overall, and 4-2 in Class 4A, Region 1. WHS is 5-3 overall, and 3-3 in the region. At present, ECHS is in a two-way tie with Hillcrest-Evergreen, but HHS has the head-to-head winner over the Blue Devils after a 26-0 victory on Sept. 14. Additionally, Williamson, Andalusia and Clarke County are 3-3 each in the region. ECHS has wins over AHS and Clarke County.

ECHS will need to win this game in order to control its own destiny down the road.

“If we don’t take care of business, we’ll be waiting to see if somebody else does,” Jackson said. “We don’t want to deal with any of that. We want to go down there and take care of business.”

Both teams are coming off of shutouts. ECHS lost 35-0 to top-ranked UMS-Wright, while WHS fell 34-0 to Hillcrest-Evergreen.

Jackson said Williamson is a good football team. Most of its players play both ways, he said.

“I’m really impressed with coach (Dedrick) Sumpter with what he does,” he said. “I know he fights a lot of different battles over there, but he does a good job.”

Jackson said WHS employs a spread offense with a dual quarterback system. He said both offensive and defensive lines are good.

“They play hard,” he said. “They’ve got a good football team. We’re going to have to play hard.”

Being that it’s a short week, Jackson said film study and weightlifting times were moved up.

“Other than that, you get one less day to prepare,” he said.

Jackson said at this point in the season, the Blue Devils are taking it week by week, and that he’s proud of what they’ve accomplished.

“I’m proud of the boys,” he said. “We’re going to go down to Mobile and play well. We’re going to have a great week of practice and I expect us to go down and win the football game.”

Kickoff in Mobile is at 7 p.m.