The No.8 Talladega County Central Fighting Tigers (9-1) will host Holy Spirit (7-3) in the first round of the AHSAA playoffs tonight at Alumni Field.
The Tigers come into tonight’s game with some momentum after defeating county rival Childersburg 19-9 last week. According to head coach Christopher Mahand, the atmosphere of that game will help them in the playoffs.
“Childersburg is a playoff caliber team that caught a bad draw,” Mahand said. “They were in a very tough region. That game gave us the ability to see how we perform against a team of that caliber.”
The Fighting Tigers are coming into tonight’s game with a week of good week of preparation under their belt.
“We have a good lively week of practice,” Mahand said. “I think that the boys are ready to play.”
TC Central also will be coming into tonight’s game healthy, which is unusual considering that it is Week 11.
“Surprisingly we are 100 percent healthy,” Mahand said. “We have our bumps and bruises, but we do not have any injuries that will slow us down, which is a blessing going in to Week 11.”
Holy Spirit Titans is coming into tonight’s game with a 7-2 record. In last week’s game the Titans were defeated by West Blocton 33-14. The Titans may not the biggest team or the fast team TC Central has seen this year but they maybe the most disciplined.
“They are team that does not make a lot mistakes,” Mahand said. “They fundamental sound football and they are well coached.”
The Fighting Tigers will be trying to stay away from mistakes against Holy Spirit. According to Mahand, Holy Spirit will capitalize on mistakes.
“When they beat Maplesville they did not make a mistake,” Mahand said. “Maplesville did and they capitalized on them.”
The Fighting Tigers will have to contain quarterback Braden Fowler, an athletic quarterback who can make plays with feet and his arm.
“They have a very athletic quarterback,” Mahand said. “We have to make sure he does not get to the perimeter. Hopefully we can get that done.”
The Titans will force the TC Central to defend their balanced offense. Fowler will be looking to go down field to his brother Blair Fowler. He also will depend on the running backs Chris Della Penna and Chris Davis to gain chunks of yards on the ground.
“They are very talented team that has just enough talent,” Mahand said. “They will not beat themselves.”
Senior quarterback Dion Duncan leads the Tigers’ balanced attack on offense. In last week’s game led the Tigers offense to over 200 yards of total offense. The most important stat for Duncan last week: zero turnovers.
“The last couple of weeks we have been playing good football,” Mahand said. ”Hopefully that we will carry that in to this week.”
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. from Alumni Stadium.
