Roundup: Mosley not overlooking NFC; Bucks face 'Dogs
For fans of Class 4A Mosley looking past Class 1A North Florida Christian tonight, see Vernon.
The Dolphins begin their regular season 7 p.m. at Tommy Oliver Stadium against the perennial small-school powerhouse. Bozeman hosts Liberty County to kick off 2010, and Bay and Rutherford open on the road. Arnold is idle.
Mosley coach Perry Brown didn’t think it would be too difficult to find a Week 1 opponent considering the Dolphins’ 4-5 record last season. In NFC, he found a school unafraid to take on the big boys, cementing that reputation in the past against some of the larger Tallahassee public schools.
“They play up,” Brown said. “They’re well disciplined, coached up really well. They’ve got a really good program.”
Brown has spent some time reminding his players that any school that has won six state championships in 15 years knows how to lace its shoulder pads. More reinforcement came in 1A Vernon winning at Tommy Oliver Stadium last week, albeit in a practice game.
The Eagles also will invade with a larger coaching staff than the Dolphins and a recent history of more Division-I signees. In addition to providing a good test for Mosley’s inexperienced secondary, the Eagles could exploit what early in the season is a lack of depth behind its starting units.
“I kind of wish we could have played the first team a full half, but we started subbing pretty freely,” Brown said of the Dolphins’ 42-21 defeat of Marianna in last week’s classic. “Our 1s are pretty good, but (backups) is where we need to pick it up.
“We should know more about it after Friday night.”
Brown said running back David Craig again will be sidelined with a hamstring pull, but that is one area the Dolphins do have depth. Starting linebacker A.T. Brown will return, and senior quarterback Chase Smith has ample experience in directing the offense.
Liberty County at Bozeman: Playing a jamboree on Thursday enabled Bozeman coach Loren Tillman and staff to not only scout tonight’s opponent Liberty County, but Vernon and South Walton at Wewahitchka.
That represents four of the Bucks’ five opponents to start the season.
“With Coach (Grant) Grantham, Liberty County won’t be turning it over or putting themselves in bad situations,” Tillman said. “Whatever we do, we’re going to have to create.”
Tillman felt his squad “played fairly well” against Port St. Joe in its jamboree before running out of gas against 3A Arnold in its second half.
His comments underscored that Bozeman remains a work in progress in September.
“We’re still processing, still trying to find what this team’s identity is going to be,” Tillman said. “Some things worked last week, but before we get into (district opener) Vernon we’re going to use a lot of formations and types of plays.
“We’ll see if it answers some questions for us.”
The return of offensive linemen Dakota Merritt and Chase Mercer should complement depth and production tonight. Liberty County is coming off a kickoff classic win over Class 2B Chipley, and advanced to the region championship last season.
Outlying games: In addition to Bay at Port St. Joe and Rutherford at Escambia, a number of area schools debut tonight. Franklin County opens at South Walton in a battle of Class 1A schools, Bratt Northview plays at Graceville, Vernon opens at Chipley in a Washington County bragging rights game, and Tallahassee Maclay travels to Wewahitchka.
