Where: Cooper Field
What: Non-region game
Coaches: Duane Wales (second season, 1-10) for Elkmont; P.J. Wright (first season, 1-0) for Ardmore
This season: Class 4A Elkmont (0-1), Class 5A Ardmore (1-0)
Radio: 1110-AM, 105.1-FM
Last meeting: Ardmore defeated Elkmont last season, 15-7. Ardmore leads the all-time series, 45-27, and is on a two-game winning streak against Elkmont.
The skinny: Ardmore beat West Morgan last week to open the season. It was a high-scoring affair with the Tigers racking up 52 points. Running back Chase Lay ran for four touchdowns. The Tigers also scored on an 80-yard kickoff return. ... The win gave P.J. Wright his first win as head coach. He came to Ardmore from Spanish Fort, where he was an assistant. … Elkmont lost to Clements, 29-0, to open the season. The Red Devils are on a six-game losing streak dating to last season. … Elkmont is now in Class 4A, Region 8 after being in Class 3A last season.
The Decatur Daily picks: Ardmore
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The towns of Ardmore and Elkmont are situated just a few miles from each other in northern Limestone County, and that close proximity makes for a fierce football rivalry. The two schools will meet on the gridiron Friday night for the 73rd time, with Elkmont trying to break a three-game losing streak to the Tigers, including a 15-7 loss last season.
Duane Wales has experienced the rivalry from all sides, from an Elkmont player to an assistant coach, and now his second season as Red Devils' head coach.“No doubt, this rivalry is a lot of fun,” Wales said. “These communities are so close, and there are so many people that are friends and a lot of these kids hang out together. It's one of those games that if you win, you have bragging rights for 365 days.”
Ardmore is coming into the game on a high, having defeated West Morgan 52-39 last Friday. Elkmont was defeated by Clements 29-0 in its season opener on the same night. But Ardmore coach P.J. Wright knows that won't matter when the two rivals clash. “This is a rivalry game, so it does not matter what happened last week for us or for them,” Wright said. “They're going to come ready to play, because their community wants to beat Ardmore as much as Ardmore wants to beat Elkmont. You can literally throw any record out the window that you want to because they're going to play us harder than they played Clements.”
The key to Ardmore's success last Friday was the running of tailback Chase Lay, who rushed for 239 yards against the Rebels. “We played well and executed well, but it's important for us as a team, staff and community to know we can still improve,” Wright said. “We've got a long way to go, and we've preached that all week. You've never arrived as a team or as a person. You're trying to continuously get better.”
Wright also cautioned his players against looking past the Red Devils, pointing out Ardmore's record from last year.
“I don't think there's any room for a 3-7 team from last year to ever look past anybody,” Wright said. “We can't afford to do that. They are a good football team and have some good players. We're going to be ready to face a good Elkmont football team.”
Wright also cautioned against his players getting caught up in the emotion of the rivalry game.
“You don't play this game on emotion, you play it on energy,” he said. “A lot of times people don't know the difference. They think if you're emotional you're playing on energy. But that emotion lasts until the opening kickoff and then you're tired. You've got to play on energy the entire game.”
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