Kickoff at Bulldog Field is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
Both teams are coming off non-district wins in their season openers last week. The Tigers came from behind to defeat longtime rival Foyil 14-13 at Tiger Field while the Bulldogs shut out Konawa 30-0.
Central edged Savanna 13-12 in overtime last year, and Tigers’ head coach Wade Couch expects another competitive game on Friday night.
“There is something in the water down there because they are so quick,” Couch said. “They are extremely quick-footed and they move so well. I am impressed with their kids and they don’t take downs off. They are entertaining and play a very high-energy style of football. They’re scary to prepare for. Earlier we thought they might have dropped off some, but they haven’t.”
Some of Savanna’s key offensive players are running back Zac Doyle (5-foot-6, 150 pounds), quarterback Landon Walker (5-10, 160, junior), receiver Reedis James (5-7, 145) and linemen Shaq Kinchion (5-8, 175, senior) and Cory Caldwell (6-1, 170).
“Landon Walker is their quarterback, and he’s an accurate passer, a good runner and a good leader,” said Couch. “They run the spread on offense, and it’s the Tony Franklin-style of offense. It’s tough. Our defense has to tackle well, read our keys, run to the ball quickly and create turnovers. They lost three fumbles against Konawa and that would help us out a bunch.”
Leading the Bulldogs on defense are Jeremy Smedley (5-8, 165, senior), James and Doyle at the linebacker positions, Matt Murdaugh (5-7, 160, senior) at defensive end, and Kinchion and Josh Wilson (5-9, 165) in the defensive line.
“They run a 3-4 defense similar to Foyil’s,” remarked Couch. “They don’t slant as much but they blitz their inside linebacker quite a bit. They’re not very big, they average about 168 pounds, but they play bigger than that. They play so tough and try to put pressure on you, and it will be a challenge for our offense to sustain our blocks. We made some adjustments this week in practice that I hope will help us.
“Jeremy Smedley, an inside linebacker, is the sparkplug for their defense. We have to contain him because he will do a lot of blitzing. Matt Murdaugh is at defensive end and we have got to do a good job containing him. Shaq Kinchion is a defensive lineman who is small, elusive and slippery with good body control.”
