Florala to rely on ‘defense’ Friday night

By Andrew Garner (Contact) | Andalusia Star-News

Published Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Florala coach Stan Gooden said Wednesday his team will have to “play better defense” in order to defeat Geneva County on Friday night.

The Wildcats (1-5, 0-4 in Class 1A, Region 2) will be hosting the Bulldogs to continue region play for the season.

Last week, Providence Christian blanked Florala in Dothan, 54-0.

Gooden said he is aware of Geneva County’s “skill” positions and the offense their opponent run Friday night.

“Their skill positions are very good,” Gooden said. “They are very good in those areas. They have a lot of speed and quickness and do a very good job of balancing up their offense with the running and passing game.

“They probably throw it more than any team we’ve faced this season,” he said. “So, it’s going to be a mess for our defense.”

Gooden said his team has had a good week at practice, where they have been focusing on pass coverage.

“We’ve had a good week at practice so far,” he said. “Our guys have responded. We’re doing things to try to have a good plan for Friday. Now, it’s just a matter of executing that plan when kickoff starts off on Friday.”

Friday night starts a two-week home stretch for the Wildcats before they travel to Pleasant Home for their last region game on Oct. 23.

Gooden said that after the number of away games his team has had to play recently it feels good to be back at home.

“We’ve been on the road quite a bit,” he said. “Three of these last four games are at home. It’s good not to have to try and develop a different game plan for travel and things like that. Hopefully we’ll come out Friday night and compete and improve from last week.”

Discussing the game last Friday night, Gooden said his team’s performance came down to “fundamentals.”

“We didn’t do a real good job of blocking and tackling,” Gooden said. “They were a little bit stronger and a little bit older. That puts you at a disadvantage where a bunch of older kids are playing a bunch of younger kids.

“Our guys are giving us their best effort and we’ve got to improve on that,” he said. “They know that and have seen it on film. I think we’re seeing the most out of our kids especially this week.”

One positive for the Wildcats this week is that all the players on the team are healthy, free from sickness or injury.

“This is the first week we’ve had everybody healthy since week one,” Gooden said. “That’s a positive thing for us. We’re going to see where it goes. We feel good about our plan, it’s just going out and executing it.”

Kickoff in Florala is at 7 p.m.