No. 7 Columbia stands in Eagles' way

Shelbyville senior Angel Jarquin will handle all the kicking duties tonight when the Eagles travel to Columbia for a key District 8-AAA contest. Jarquin has connected on a pair of field goals over the past two games.
(T-G Photo by Gary Johnson)

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The Eagles (3-1, 1-0 8-AAA) opened the season with three wins before suffering a 51-3 loss last week on the road.

Giles County wore Shelbyville down both mentally and physically but Eagle coach Jason Hardy thinks his team will bounce back in both ways.

"We've had a great week of practice and the players responded really better than I expected," Hardy said. "We started the season out 3-0 and sometimes you need a little dose of reality to get you back on track. The only thing we can do about last Friday night is just learn from it and continue to get better.

"We had a few minor injuries last week, but I think everybody has pretty much recovered. We're going into our fifth straight game and every team has some injuries. We've just got to play through them and our guys have done a good job of taking care of themselves and recovering from their injuries."

Every game on the schedule is important, especially a district matchup. Tonight's winner will take a huge step towards advancing to the playoffs.

"Our ultimate goal is to hopefully play in the postseason and you've got to have district wins in order to do that," Hardy said. "A win would go a long way as far as our chances to play in the postseason. In order to do that we've got to play good football because Columbia is a very good football team."

The Lions (4-0, 2-0) are coached by former Shelbyville assistant and offensive coordinator Vance Belew, a Columbia native with two sons on his team.

Senior Bryant Belew is an outstanding receiver and return man, while junior Eric Belew is a backup quarterback and receiver.

"Vance had already left when I started at Shelbyville so I never got to coach with him but he's done a good job at Columbia and they probably have one of the best teams they've had in a number of years," Hardy said.

The Lions feature an explosive offense and a strong, fast defense.

Senior quarterback Zach Tate is their field general but is listed as "day-to-day" after suffering a severe bruised collarbone injury last week against Marshall County in the first half.

His younger brother Haden Tate, along with Belew, are likely to share quarterback duties if the elder Tate is unable to play.

The Lions are led on the ground by senior Tra'Darius Goff, who averages slightly under 100 yards per game rushing. He's joined in the backfield by Geronn Moore.

Columbia is averaging over 30 points a game.

"They have a lot of talented players and a big offensive line," Hardy said. "They do things up front that make the whole offense go. They're good run blockers and good pass blockers as well. They've got two running backs that are as solid as anybody we've seen. They might be quite as flashy as a couple we've seen the last two weeks but they run really hard and as a tandem, they're very good."

Belew has always liked to pass the ball and they have a number of good receivers.

Defensively they are big and fast as well.

"Their defensive line guys may not be very aggressive but they are 300-pound guys that sit there and read and don't let you run it," Hardy said. "They do a good job of slowing down the running with two or three guys and that gives them more guys to stop the sweeps and passes."

Columbia will have a huge size advantage over the Eagles and the teams are comparable in speed.

With the wet weather a possible issue, the team that can take care of the football will have an advantage.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m.