Pike County to test the Tigers tonight

Staff

Published Friday, September 22, 2000

Sports Editor

The Pike County Bulldogs (2-1) will be on the road once again this week, when they head up to Tallapoosa County to take on the Dadeville Tigers (2-1).

Kickoff will be at 7:30 p.m.

The Bulldogs are coming into this game with two straight regional wins over Lanett and Lafayette, while Dadeville won their first region game over Calhoun last Friday night, 43-19.

"We need to win this football game," said PCH Head Coach Wayne Grant. "A win tonight will just about put us in the playoffs."

But Grant expects a fight out of the Tigers, who are coming off of an 8-2 mark from last season.

"They've got some athletes on both sides of the ball," he said.

Both sides is right. Dadeville dresses out 45 players and will run 11 different players on both offense and defense. Pike County will play on both sides of the ball with the same 11 for most of the night.

"They're going to be playing two platoons during the game," he said. "While we're going to be playing one. That could hurt us going late into the fourth quarter."

Richard White is in his

first season as head coach of Dadeville High School. White changed the Tigers' base offense from a Wing-T to an I-formation during the offseason. Grant said that might be to his Pike County's advantage.

"We're used to the I-formation, because we run it and we've seen it in games and in practice," he said.

Grant said last week against Calhoun the Tigers showed some spread formation, with quarterback Jay Neese dropping back into the shotgun, during pre-game practice, but never actually using it during the game.

"They ran the ball most of the time with an offset line," he said. "About 99 percent of the time their tailback got the ball."

After giving up 34 points to Eufaula in the first game, the Pike County defense allowed just 13 points combined to Lanett and Lafayette and have forced numerous turnovers.

"Defense is what's carrying us right now," he said. "We're playing well in the secondary and we're not giving up the big play. We're also playing aggressive and getting to the ball."

But depth is getting to be a real concern for Grant. After losing tight end Eddie Meadows (knee) in the Eufaula game, the Bulldogs lost lineman Sherrell Brown for two weeks with a bruised shoulder. Quarterback Marquez Foster suffered a hit to his throwing hand against Lafayette and has practiced much of this week as a wide receiver.

Although he can't throw the football, Foster still got some reps in behind center, but Grant brought his JV quarterback Chris Nickson into practice with the varsity this week.

Grant said Nickson will see playing time against Dadeville.

"He's young, but he's smart with the football," Grant said. "Chris is got a great arm and he releases the ball so quick."  

 

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