DHS, SWHS eye Jamboree rendezvous
The 2013 season unofficially gets underway Friday night for Demopolis and Sweet Water when the traditional in-county powers meet for an exhibition contest.
The occasion marks the third time in the last four years the teams have shared a Jamboree meeting.
In 2011, DHS hosted Class 6A Robert E. Lee for a Jamboree game while Sweet Water participated in the Champions Challenge at Cramton Bowl in Montgomery.
The annual meeting sets up as the ideal exhibition contest for both squads as travel is kept to a minimum while neither side sacrifices familiarity or comfort in closing out preseason preparations.
“I think one thing about our staffs is that we’ve got a lot of respect for each other and what I call a good working relationship with them,” Sweet Water head coach Stacy Luker said. “For that reason, I enjoy playing them. It’s a game that is not going on your record, but it is good for your team because it just sort of measures where you are and what you’ve got to work on. They’re a darn good football team that really challenges you athletically and physically. It challenges our coaching staff and our team.”
“I think a lot of it is our working relationship we have with Sweet Water and Coach Luker and his staff. We get together in the summer time and do 11-on-11. The trust factor. I know him. He knows me. Obviously his son is on our staff,” Demopolis head coach Tom Causey said of the relationship with Sweet Water. “Coach Luker has been in this thing a long time. He kind of checks his ego at the door and we make sure we have everything covered when we get ready to play week one.”
In view of getting focused for game one of the regular season, both coaches will have a keen eye on the subtle nuances of Friday night’s contest.
For Causey, Friday is about three simple things.
“Basically, assignment and alignment and personnel,” Causey said. “We want to make sure our alignment is correct, offensive formations and defensive formations, fronts and coverages. We want to make sure we know where we’re failing assignment-wise still. And we want to know where personnel when we go from punt team to defense, from defense to kickoff return. You want to try to get as many of the bugs out as you can the first game.”
As for the Class 2A Bulldogs, Friday is about competing between the whistles and taking another step toward determining the winners of a handful of ongoing position battles.
“I like to see how our guys compete is the main thing. We’ve still got a couple of spots that we’ve got to answer. We want to see guys in a game situation and see how they respond,” Luker said. “We’ve still got a couple of jobs up for grabs and this Friday night will go a long way in determining the next Friday night. We know we’ve got a long way to go and have got a lot of work to do.”
Causey indicated the starters for each team will play the first half as a regular game with live kicking. After the kickoff to open the second half, each team will see its starters play one series on both sides of the ball before giving way to the younger players. At that point, the kicking game will no longer be live aside from field goals and extra points.
“I know for the fans it is about winning and nobody wants to lose,” Causey said. “But it is more about Coach Luker and myself making sure our teams are prepared for game one as best we can.”