Because of Alabama High School Athletic Association realignment, Ardmore's new home is Class 5A, Region 8. "So, the teams we're playing are going to be a little bit new," Legg said. "Some of the teams we've played before. Some of them we haven't. But what I do know is there are several teams that expect to be competing for playoff spots."
Ardmore
is one of the teams expecting to be in contention. The Tigers return
several key starters from a Class 4A playoff team, including a veteran
offensive line with lots of starts on its resume.
Offense
Even
though Ardmore moved up in classification, Legg isn't changing his
team's identity, adopting any of the trendy spread offensive schemes
that are typical in large-school football. "That's
not who I am, and that's not who this team is," Legg said. "We're a
power football team. We're going to run the football and try to run the
clock. That's who we are."
Ardmore's personnel fits the mold.
Three
years ago, Ardmore made a long-term investment by starting a group of
freshmen offensive linemen. Now those players are juniors who are a
little bit bigger, stronger and seasoned with experience. "And
a lot of our success rests on their shoulders," Legg said. "For us to
be successful, we have to win the line-of-scrimmage. That's the backbone
of our team."
Like last season, Legg expects to use multiple running backs, led by Rickey Lowery. Even though the running game is a prominent piece of Ardmore's offense, the Tigers return a four-year starter at quarterback in Garrett Miller. As a junior, he passed for more than 1,000 yards. Ardmore also returns a potential big-play receiver in Dominic Clemons — a 6-foot-1 and 190-pound senior. "A lot of us here have played a whole lot of varsity football," Miller said. "Making the step up (to Class 5A) is going to be challenging, but I think we're up for it."
Defense
With seven starters returning, Ardmore expects to make improvement on defense. Last season, the Tigers gave up 30.7 points per game, which aided a four-game losing skid to end the season. "We
didn't do a very good job of stopping people, especially in the second
half of the season," Legg said. "If we don't get better, play more
physical and have that competitive instinct, then we're not going to
take that next step."
Extra points
Since
taking over as Ardmore's football coach last year, Legg has taken an
outside-the-box approach to the offseason, scheduling one event that is
supposed to be fun while challenging student-athletes to think about
big-picture life lessons."
This
summer, Legg's teaching platform was a group of U.S. Marines, who not
only spoke to the team, but also helped the team with some strength and
conditioning work.
"The idea was to help our guys get a little tougher, both mentally and physically," Legg said. "And
at the same time, our guys got a valuable lesson in just how fortunate
they are to have the things they're blessed with, and why it's important
to take pride in that fact." Don't be surprised if Miller passes for 12 or more touchdowns.
Quick hits
- Ardmore is trying for its third straight winning season. That hasn't happened since the early 1980s.
- Because of reclassification, an old rival returns to the schedule. Ardmore is playing East Limestone for the first time since 2009.
- During the first half of the season, Ardmore is spending a lot of time away from Cooper Field. The Tigers only have two home games before Oct. 10, including three straight road trips to Russellville, Clements and Pope John Paul II.
- The Tigers return seven starters on each side of the ball.
source: Decatur Daily
Decatur Daily Prediction:
Elkmont at Ardmore
Where: Cooper Field
What: Non-region game
Records: Elkmont (0-0); Ardmore (0-0)
The Daily picks: Ardmore 21, Elkmont 14
Decatur Daily Prediction:
Elkmont at Ardmore
Where: Cooper Field
What: Non-region game
Records: Elkmont (0-0); Ardmore (0-0)
Last meeting: Ardmore won 25-14 in 2013.
The skinny: Ardmore and Elkmont are renewing a longstanding Limestone County rivalry. Ardmore leads the series 41-26. … With a big, veteran offensive line, a four-year starter at quarterback in Garrett Miller and a veteran power running back in Rickey Lowrey, Ardmore enters its first season in Class 5A with postseason aspirations. … Clint Legg is heading into his second season as Ardmore’s head football coach. … Elkmont returns several key skill players in its wing-T offense. Zeb Pankey, Jared Bailey, Jordan Nelson and Eli Hobbs combined last season for more than 2,000 rushing yards.
The skinny: Ardmore and Elkmont are renewing a longstanding Limestone County rivalry. Ardmore leads the series 41-26. … With a big, veteran offensive line, a four-year starter at quarterback in Garrett Miller and a veteran power running back in Rickey Lowrey, Ardmore enters its first season in Class 5A with postseason aspirations. … Clint Legg is heading into his second season as Ardmore’s head football coach. … Elkmont returns several key skill players in its wing-T offense. Zeb Pankey, Jared Bailey, Jordan Nelson and Eli Hobbs combined last season for more than 2,000 rushing yards.
The Daily picks: Ardmore 21, Elkmont 14
Ardmore Tigers 2014 Roster
| NAME | POS1 | POS2 | HT | WT | GRD |
| Ayala-Cardona, Armando | WR | CB | 5' 7" | 148 | 9th |
| Barnett, Noah | QB | S | 5' 9" | 150 | 8th |
| Carter, Curtis (Levi) | OL | DL | 5' 9" | 234 | 11th |
| Clemons, Dominic | WR | S | 6' 2" | 188 | 12th |
| Clemons, Zachary | WR | S | 6' 0" | 178 | 10th |
| Cooper, Tobi | OL | DL | 5' 10" | 287 | 10th |
| Coulter, Tristan | FB | LB | 5' 9" | 145 | 9th |
| Davis, Charles (Adam) | OL | DL | 5' 10" | 176 | 12th |
| Douthit, Joe | RB | S | 5' 9" | 151 | 8th |
| Edwards, Braydon | RB | LB | 5' 9" | 160 | 11th |
| Eubanks, Joseph | FB | DL | 6' 0" | 243 | 10th |
| Fox, William (Cody) | RB | LB | 5' 8" | 178 | 11th |
| Free, Zachery | TE | LB | 6' 1" | 176 | 11th |
| Goldsmith, Carson | OL | DL | 5' 8" | 204 | 8th |
| Graham, Mason | OL | DL | 6' 0" | 254 | 9th |
| Hall, James (Dylan) | TE | DL | 5' 9" | 160 | 8th |
| Hemphill, Johnnie (Dwayne) | OL | DL | 6' 2" | 180 | 9th |
| Hogan, Garrett | OL | DL | 6' 0" | 280 | 11th |
| Holland, Garrett | RB | LB | 5' 6" | 143 | 9th |
| Hughes, Christopher (Austin) | OL | DL | 6' 0" | 182 | 10th |
| Johnson, Casey | WR | LB | 5' 8" | 159 | 11th |
| Jones, Austin | TE | DL | 6' 1" | 188 | 9th |
| Kearns, Jordan | WR | S | 5' 9" | 148 | 11th |
| Kellum, James | WR | CB | 5' 8" | 155 | 12th |
| Kuespert, Stanley (Jordan) | OL | DL | 5' 10" | 194 | 10th |
| Kuncho, Kodee | OL | DL | 6' 2" | 281 | 11th |
| Lay, Phillip (Chase) | RB | LB | 5' 10" | 152 | 8th |
| Lewis, Derrick | TE | LB | 6' 1" | 180 | 10th |
| Lowery, Ricky | RB | LB | 5' 9" | 221 | 12th |
| Magnusson, Benjamin (Ben) | TE | DE | 5' 11" | 238 | 11th |
| Meloon, Joshua | RB | CB | 5' 9" | 157 | 11th |
| Potter, Robert (Keegan) | WR | CB | 5' 7" | 139 | 10th |
| Pugh, Austin | RB | CB | 5' 7" | 147 | 10th |
| Repasky, Matthew (Hunter) | OL | DL | 6' 1" | 294 | 12th |
| Roberts, Nicolos | OL | DL | 5' 6" | 183 | 10th |
| Schrimsher, Tyler | RB | S | 5' 9" | 150 | 8th |
| Scott, Thomas (Kyle) | OL | DL | 5' 10" | 184 | 9th |
| Smith, Logan | OL | DL | 5' 7" | 208 | 9th |
| Smith, Michael | FB | LB | 5' 10" | 145 | 10th |
| Stafford, Tylor | FB | LB | 5' 9" | 187 | 12th |
| Teeples, Joseph (Barrett) | WR | QB | 5' 8" | 158 | 10th |
| Welling, Christopher | FB | LB | 5' 11" | 237 | 12th |
| West, Jacob | OL | DL | 5' 10" | 187 | 11th |
| Whyel, Adam JR | OL | DL | 5' 10" | 248 | 9th |
| Winton, Austin | TE | 5' 8" | 160 | 9th |
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