The main goal this week for the Andalusia Bulldogs leading into tonight’s region contest against Bullock County has been strictly focusing on the team, head coach Brian Seymore said.

The Bulldogs are coming off a 42-13 road region victory over St. James, and will pay a visit to Union Springs to play the Hornets. The last time Andalusia played Bullock County was in 2007, under former coach Heath Harmon.

In last week’s rout, Andalusia running back Derrick King rushed for 203 yards on 23 carries and scored four touchdowns.

Tonight’s game will be against a Bullock County team that runs the spread offense, Seymore said, which isn’t anything new to the Bulldog defense.

“I think with this week, it’s more about us — just making sure we’re still doing the fundamenals correctly and making sure we’re working on blocking and tackling like always,” Seymore said. “This will be the fourth straight week we’ll be playing a spread offense. So, we’re pretty familiar with the spread offense.”

Bullock County(0-3, 0-2 in Class 4A, Region 2) has three players in its arsenal in senior quarterback Gregory Junior, senior running back Jeffery Scott and a multi-purpose player in Johnathan Dixson.

“They’re a very athletic team,” Seymore said. “They’ve got a lot of speed and a good range of kids on the outside. They can definitely give you some problems.

“They really try to spread the ball between those guys,” he said. “We’ve got to do a good job in making sure we line up correctly and tackle.”

Seymore said this week’s practice was good, and the coaches have worked extra hard to make sure their players are on the same game plan.

He said the players need to come out “focused” and ready to go when they exit the visitor’s locker room tonight.

“My main goal for this week is that I want us to come out of the locker room at the start of the game and set the tone early on offense or defense,” he said. “We’ve got to go out there and take control of the game early. That’s what you want to do. That’s the main thing we’ve talked to our guys this week is going out there and taking care of business. I hope they come out of the locker room with a focus and desire to play at a high caliber.”

The Bulldogs (3-0, 2-0) didn’t necessarily do that in last week’s game against St. James. Andalusia held the Trojans to two field goals on defense, and managed to put one touchdown on the board before half time.

In the second half, Andalusia came out a different team, scoring five additional touchdowns.

Seymore said this week the offense will be using more of an option attack.

“I think our biggest deal is that we’ve got to find other people to contribute on offense besides Derrick King,” he said. “Derrick’s done a great job, and has the ability to navigate through the offensive line.

“He has a 155-pound frame, and how many carries can a kid that size carry on a weekly basis?” he said. “We’ve got to get some other guys making plays. We’ve got to do a better job distributing the ball around.”

Seymore said another goal each week is for the team to get better, and he said he thinks they are doing that.

“We’re going to keep taking something from each week and growing,” Seymore said. “Our kids have really done a good job tackling in the space on defense, and recognizing routs on defense and getting some key picks.

“The major concern this week was us because it’s definitely a region game, and we’re going to go and prepare in all apsects of the game,” he said. “We’re a 3-0 team and Bullock County is an 0-3 team. On paper, I think we’re still a better football team, but I think you still have to prove it, and take care of your responsibilities.”

Kickoff in Union Springs is at 7 p.m.

Injury update

Andalusia’s Rafeal Sims injury in week two against Alabama Christian turned up to have no tissue or ligament damage, Seymore said.

“He’s got a real deep bone bruise, and is still swollen,” he said.

Seymore said his status is still uncertain.

On the third play of last week’s game, inside linebacker Ethan Jones injured his knee, tearing his meniscus. Thursday, Jones had an MRI.