Last week’s results: Etowah 53, Columbia 7; Lincoln 21, Hokes Bluff 14
2012 result: Etowah 37, Lincoln 25
Series record: Etowah leads 3-2
By Gene Stanley/Sports Correspondent
Now that the Etowah High football team has proven it can handle adversity, it’s time to show that it can handle success.
“You can’t forget what you had to do to get to this point,” Blue Devils coach Drew Noles said. “If you do, it’s easy to fall flat on your face. We’re not where we want to be but we’re still getting there.”
Etowah started the season with the mentality to win one game at a time.
Noles wants that to continue.
“If we put all our focus on Lincoln, we can be successful,” he said. “We’re not good enough to win just by showing up.”
Lincoln comes in on the other side of the coin, not being able to convert close losses into victories.
That doesn’t mean that the Golden Bears are a bad team – quite the opposite, in fact. In two of its three defeats, Lincoln lost by a total of seven points.
“They’re one of the most talented teams we’ll face this year,” Noles said. “They’ve got really good running backs and are huge on both sides of the ball. They’ve got great speed, so they’re a threat to score on any play.”
Last week against Columbia, Paul Ruiz rushed for 185 yards and two touchdowns and ran back a kickoff return 87 yards for a touchdown.
Kordell Rudolph passed for a touchdown and ran for another, while Stacy Williams ran for a score. Jordan Powell and Lamar Thomas each caught a touchdown pass.