KEEP THE TRAIN ROLLING: Andy looks to handle business in Atmore

Published 12:05 am Friday, September 22, 2017

After knocking off the No. 1 team in the state, the Andalusia Bulldogs (3-1, 2-0) look to keep rolling as they travel to Atmore tonight to take on Class 4A, Region 1 opponent Escambia County (2-1, 1-1).

“Probably the biggest thing after an emotional game like last Friday, is to not get caught sleepwalking,” Andalusia head coach Trent Taylor said. “There is a reason that every coach says that after that kind of game. It’s hard to find those same emotions.”

Taylor said that he believes his players are capable of continuing to play at that level.

“That’s the thing about this group,” Taylor said. “They came in on Monday still sore from Friday night, but they didn’t use that as an excuse. Instead, they came out focused and we’ve had three good practices this week.”

At practice this week, Taylor said the Bulldogs focused on some areas that needed a little work.

“The biggest thing we focused on was special teams,” Taylor said. “Last week, we had a few breakdowns in coverage. We worked on that and we worked a lot on our kick placement.”

When asked about the keys to the game, Taylor said that this year’s Escambia County team isn’t the same team that the Bulldogs beat 54-0 in 2016.

“First thing, this isn’t the same Atmore team from last year,” Taylor said. “This is a much different team. Their coach got hired on late, but they are more disciplined and have been playing very sound on offense and defense. We have to be prepared for what they do.”

Taylor said that Escambia County runs an offense that the Bulldogs haven’t played against.

“They run Wing-T and that’s something that we haven’t seen this year,” Taylor said. “Our kids are going to have to be disciplined and not get mixed with the different things happening in the backfield. We have to stay at home and play assignment football.”

Andalusia leads the all-time series 21-15.

Ethan Wilson enters the game with 829 yards passing with nine touchdowns. Wilson has also rushed for 219 yards and two scores.

Roosevelt Weaver III is the rushing leader for the Bulldogs with 428 yards and eight touchdowns.

B.J. Anderson leads the Bulldogs receivers with 19 catches for 419 yards and five touchdowns.

Sophomore kicker Reese Burkhardt has gone 19-for-19 on extra-point attempts, and 2-for-2 on field goals, with a long of 34 yards.

J.W. Jones leads the Bulldog defense with 32 total tackles.

Andrew Dean leads the Bulldogs with 15 solo tackles.

Will Clark paces the Bulldogs with four tackles-for-loss.