The rivalry has been one-sided the last few season, as the Bulldogs have won the last three seasons.
“It is always exciting for them,” Winterboro head coach Dave Nurnberg said. “It is big for them it is a rivalry game. They look forward to every game, but with the rivalry they get a little pep in their step.”
TC Central’s first year head coach Damian Dorsey, who is an Anniston native said he was told about the rivalry when he took the job, but he had several fans to come talk to him about it this week at practice.
“They mentioned to me, but some of the die-hard fans have come and mentioned it more,” Dorsey said. “Even the players; they are really jacked up about it. Some of the them have family on the Winterboro side.”
Winterboro defeated Fayetteville to earn their first victory of the season.
“We had a pretty good night,” Nurnberg said. “We still have a lot of things that we would like to improve on. I think we left some opportunities on the field. We have been building on what we did well and fixing the things that we didn’t.”
TC Central fell to St. Jude 36-12 last week in their region opener. The Fighting Tigers lost their No.1 receiver Julius Player to a hip sprain in that game. Dorsey said he had a few players to step up and fill his spot.
“ The competition has stepped up,” Dorsey said. “Those guys are seeing other guys make plays and they want to make plays. I challenged each and every one of them. Cederick Garrett came out of nowhere. The guy we were depending on Julius Player injured his hip. We have another guy Derunyae Bell who is stepping up in practice. We have to put them in positions to make plays.”
Nurnberg knows that Dorsey will have his players ready to play when they step on the field tonight.
“We know they have good athletes,” the first year coach said. “We know that they have improved a lot each week and we know they get up for the rivalry as well. We expect to get everything they got and we expect their best on Friday night.”
Dorsey said he was impressed with the way the Bulldogs looked on tape.
“Winterboro is going to be tough,” Dorsey said. “I have met Nurnberg, he is a good guy and I am pretty sure that he is going to have them prepared. They won last week, so they are feeling good and rightfully so. He has great looking kids over there on film.”
Nurnberg believes that Winterboro has to hang on to the football and start the game off fast.
“We have to eliminate mistakes and handle adversity well, Nurnberg said. “We have to start quick.”
Dorsey said his team is going to have to win the turnover battle if they are going to win their first game of the season.
“We must win the turnover ratio,” Dorsey said. “We have take of the ball and stop the run on defense.”
Kick off is set for 7 p.m. from Bulldog Stadium in Alpine.
