High School Football Previews: Autaugaville & Edgewood Academy
High School Football
Autaugaville
Last season the Autaugaville Eagles finished the regular season with a 6-4 record and lost in the first round of the playoffs. The Eagle’s 2022 playoff appearance was their first one since 2013 and Head coach Javaris Jackson would love to see his team back there again in 2023.
“We got over the hump of getting in the playoffs last year, so now we want to build off that and go on to bigger and better things and just continue to get better as a team. Just using that motivation to keep breaking down barriers and breaking down doors for our small school to just continue getting better,” says Jackson.
As far as numbers and depth go, Coach Jackson says the team is still small, but according to him, playing both sides of the ball is nothing new for his team.
“We are a small school so a lot of our guys have to play both sides of the ball, and some have to play in all three phases of the game. Our numbers are a whole lot better than what they used to be my first couple of years here, so depth wise we’re going to be okay, it’s just that a lot of our younger guys are going to have to build in on some of that depth too,” say Jackson.
Sophomore wide receiver and defensive back, Kevee Tyus says that this offseason the team has put a lot of focus towards the small details.
“Things are looking pretty good. I want to say that we’ve worked better on our defense this year and in the small things that we made mistakes on last year,” says Tyus.
Senior offensive tackle and defensive end, Deontae Hester, explains out of all the seasons he’s played football this offseason is the one that has stood out the most to him.
“Things are actually looking great. I can say that from me playing so long that this is actually one of the best summers that we’ve had in a while. Just knowing that we are coming off of our first playoff run since 2013, it’s motivating to see what we can do as a team,” says Hester.
The Eagles kick off the 2023 season on August 25th at home against R.C. Hatch.
Edgewood Academy
Last season the Edgewood Academy Wildcats finished the regular season with a 5-5 record and then lost in the second round of the playoffs. Two out of the last three seasons the Wildcats have made it to the semi-finals round of the playoffs. This season, Head Coach Chad Michael and his team are hoping to break past that and advance to the Championship Game.
“We are looking to see how we can make that next step. What do we have to do to make that next step, to get into that Championship Game and compete for a Championship,” says Michael.
The Wildcats bring back several players from last year’s team. Just like in years past, lots of players will play both sides of the ball, but Coach Michael says his guys are used to it and are ready.
“You know we have a lot of good guys coming back on both sides of the ball and we don’t expect any kind of drop off with what we are doing. Our guys know that they’re coming in and they’re going to play over 100 snaps a game. We work really hard over the summer to make sure we prepare for that when it comes up,” says Michael.
Both senior wide receiver and safety, Gabe LeMaster, and senior offensive and defensive lineman, Will Reeves, both say that feel extra motivation this year to break through to that Championship Game.
“We’ve been to two semi-finals in the last three years, so that’s kind of the standard now. We always try to win state, but we first try to get a good playoff run and get to the semi-finals. The previous successes are kind of what makes us try to push ourselves and try to get better,” says LeMaster.
“It’s definitely pushed us. We’ve got some pressure on us because we’ve had two of the past three seasons where
we’ve gone to the semi-finals, we’re looking to do it again, we’re looking for a state run. I think we can do it,” says Reeves.
The Wildcats kick off the 2023 season on August 18th on the road at Fort Dale Academy.
