Linden focused on self

LINDEN —The Patriots will look to take another step toward clinching the Class 1A, Region 1 championship Friday when they travel to face Marengo High.

While the Panthers are winless on the year, Linden head coach Andro Williams said it is crucial that his team takes no opponent lightly at this point in the season.

“We’re going to prepare ourselves each and every week no matter who we are playing. We could be playing the Hoover Bucs. It doesn’t matter. We’ve just got to try to work to get better each and every week and go from there,” Williams said. “We’ve got a lot of things we can improve on. We’ve just got to come to work every day focused and practice like we play on Friday nights and we’ll be fine we feel like.”

Linden will look to counter Marengo’s athleticism by attacking early and establishing itself physically from the outset Friday night.

“They’re Marengo. They’ll come out and give us this and that. We’ve just got to come out and try to establish ourselves early and try to hit them, play fast and more physical than them from the jump,” Williams said.

The Patriots will also be aiming to correct the miscues that plagued them against A.L. Johnson, a contest in which the Linden offense stalled in the red zone on multiple occasions.

“A.L. Johnson, you’ve got to give them credit,” Williams aid. “They came out and hit us from the back side a little bit. We didn’t hit down blocks hard enough. We’ve got to continue to get better and go from there.”