By By Matthew Nascone
When the Escambia Academy Cougars square off with the Jackson Academy Eagles Friday night at Bachelor Field in Canoe, one of the teams will secure its first win of the season.
As it stands right now, both squads are tied at the bottom of the AISA Class 2A Region 1 standings with an 0-3 overall record and an 0-2 regional record. EA head coach Heath Gibson said he wants to get that goose egg out of the wins column.
"We had a heart to heart with the guys Monday and we were truthful with them about what we expect out of them," Gibson said. "We really want to get that first win and we expected more than what we have gotten so far this year. There are some jobs on the line this week."
The Cougars will look for their offense to have a breakout game.
"We came in this week and went back to the basics in practice," Gibson said. "We will surprise some people with what we can do out of the wing-T running attack. We want to get back to what we are comfortable with. We also hope to have a big game out of Jon Dean. He is due to bust a big run because he is such a tremendous athlete."
Gibson said the Cougars need great play from the offensive line for the first win to come Friday night.
"We need our offensive line to blow people off the football and if they can do that, then we can pull this game out," he said.
Another key to victory for EA will be how well they can shut down junior tailback Jamie Rone and senior back David Hughston.
"Those two guys carry the load for Jackson and they have decent speed," Gibson said. "We feel if we come out and get physical from the start and hit them in the mouth early, they will lay down and we can win."
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Bachelor Field.