Sports

After first week loss Elmore County hosts ACA in 4A, Region 2 opener

By David Goodwin
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The Elmore County High School Panthers will have to put the past behind them as they enter regional play against Alabama Christian Friday night.

ECHS lost 21-19 to rival Tallassee on a fourth-quarter touchdown by the Tigers’ Tyler Grant after the Panthers had led the first 44 minutes of the game.

ECHS head coach Norman Dean said the Panthers are determined not to let an opening week heartbreaker get the best of them.

“Kids are resilient, and they bounce back well,” Dean said.

“We watched the film, saw the mistakes we made and are working to correct them.”

Dean said the team is ready for its home opener, under the new lights of Burt-Haynie Field.

“It’ll be nice to be back home,” he said.

Alabama Christian won its season opener against St. Jude 34-27 on a fourth-quarter touchdown by its backup quarterback.

Dean, who was boning up on film from ACA’s week one victory said “those kids are playing hard.” The Eagles’ offense will look familiar to local Auburn University fans, Dean said, as they run offensive coordinator Tony Franklin’s spread offense.

Eagles head coach Kenny Simpson -- in his first year at ACA -- said ECHS would be a challenge for his young squad.

“By far they are the class of our (region); it will be a shock if anyone can match them,” Simpson said. “Coach Dean does a really good job, and (his players) are giants.”

Simpson said the Panthers are “very scary and athletic, and fundamentally sound.” His offensive strategy is pretty simple.

“We’ll try to move the ball on them a little, try to run a little, and just try to hang on,” Simpson said. “Defensively, for us to match up, we have to turn them one-dimensional and have sound defense.”

Dean said he was pleased with the Panthers’ play against Tallassee, but the difference in execution from the first half to the second showed up on the scoreboard.

“We had some mental errors and holds that killed some drives for us,” he said, but added he didn’t plan to make any changes. “Usually, teams that change what they do from week to week aren’t very good anyway.” 

The Eagles, Simpson said, would face reality Friday night after starting the season on a victorious note.

“This game is going to show us a lot about what we’ve got,” he said. “(The Panthers) are going to hit us all night, and we are going to have to play up to that.”

Seniors Adam Davenport and Laron Butler led the Panthers against Tallassee. Davenport completed 8 of 13 passes for 66 yards and rushed for 158 yards on 23 carries. He rushed for two short-yardage touchdowns.

Butler ran for 106 yards and one touchdown. Junior Reshad DeJarnett caught four passes for 39 yards. Dean said he was pleased with the airborne production, and “pleasantly surprised” by sophomore Colby Davis, whose one catch �” a 21-yarder �” was the Panthers’ longest completion of the night.

The Panthers’ opening loss did not make them unique in the 4A classification, though. Of the top 10 teams in the Alabama Sports Writers’ preseason rankings, six lost their opener, including No. 10 ECHS and the top two teams, Deschler and Thomasville.

The key, Dean said, is to “keep doing what we do well, and to cut our mistakes.”

“If we can do that,” Dean said, “we’ll be fine.”

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