Selma hosts No. 8 Greenville Friday
Published 12:14 am Thursday, September 17, 2009
SELMA — If Selma football coach Foster Davis ever needed a wakeup call, Friday’s home game against No. 8-ranked Greenville will be all that and more.
Forget that the Greenville Tigers are 3-0 with two blue-chippers on the team.
Or that three-year starting quarterback Ryan Smith passed for 1,400 yards last season.
Or even that defensive tackle Kenneth Carters is No. 2 in the state on Rivals.com at his position.
Davis just hopes the Saints (also 3-0) will be well enough — and well prepared enough — to give Greenville a run.
“The first thing that really hurts is that Eddie Johnson (6-2, 210, junior) has the flu and won’t be back until Monday,” Davis said. “Johnson is our starting running back and linebacker. I’m not so worried about running back as I am about linebacker.”
Then there’s punting, or need for it. In last week’s 45-6 victory over Wilcox Central in Memorial Stadium, the only points by Selma’s opponent came from a blocked punt that was returned for a touchdown.
Junior Deskendray Blake, the backup punter, was injured on the play and won’t be ready for Friday’s game. The starting punter, senior Emmanuel Moore, was injured during practice.
So senior quarterback Keaton Spears (5-8, 163) will take on the punting duties. Obviously, the Saints worked on that part of their game during Tuesday’s workouts.
“This will be a test this week, a tough test,” Davis said. “They’ve got a good quarterback who is the key to their offense.”
Smith is a three-star recruit on Rivals.com who stands 6 feet, 2 inches and weighs 208 pounds.
Leading the defense for coach Ben Blackmon’s Greenville squad is Carter, who was the cover boy for the 2009 local football tab. A 6-5, 257-pound Auburn commitment, he is No. 67 on the recruit list for his position nationwide.
Davis said he was pleased with the play of senior safety/receiver Kedrick Woods, who caught a TD pass of about 70 yards and returned a punt about 50 yards for a score. He also will be looking for his troops to step up for the Class 5A, Region 3 matchup.
“We’re going to have to have people like (junior) Keenan Woods, (sophomore) quarterback Darion Alexander and receivers like (senior) Johnathan Harris step up.”
Selma has allowed only six points each in the three games this year — against Southside (50-6), Monroe County (35-6) and Wilcox Central.
Greenville’s 3-0 record includes victories over Charles Henderson (28-7), Carver-Montgomery (28-24) and Monroe County (54-0).
The game begins at 7 p.m. at Memorial Stadium, the fourth of six straight home games for Selma.
IN OTHER GAMES involving ranked prep teams, Wilcox Academy (2-2) goes to No. 6 Monroe Academy (3-0) in AISA action, while John Essex visits No. 4 Maplesville in Class 1A.
Lowndes Academy (3-1), which is No. 8 in the AISA poll, is idle this week.
Also playing in Selma on Friday night is Meadowview (0-4), which hosts Clarke Prep.
Both teams have a common opponent in Wilcox Academy. Meadowview lost to Wilcox 36-13 at home in the third game of the season, while Clarke Prep defeated Wilcox 48-28 at Wilcox last weekend.