Bulloch Academy head coach Aaron Phillips was frustrated when his Gators only beat Frederica 14-0 two weeks ago. Last week Phillips said he put the team through a pretty intense week of practice and they responded with an impressive 55-0 win at St. Andrews Friday night.

“Football comes down to who blocks and who tackles, and we just needed to remind them of that,” Phillips said. “Each group has their own personality and sometimes there are teams where you just can’t hit in practice. Then there are groups like we have that need to be reminded that this is how we play. We had those 21 days off with the hurricane and we needed to be reminded. We had some pretty physical practices after the Frederica game and it paid off Friday with one of our most impressive outings.”

The Gators exploded out of the gates scoring 35 points in the first quarter alone. Phillips sat most of his starters in the second half and said that many of them said they were sorer after practice that week than after the game. 

Phillips will be looking for that same kind of intensity Friday night as the Gators wrap up the regular season against their rivals from Bellville as the Pinewood Patriots (2-7) pay a visit to Gator Alley. With the GIAA having a power-poll Phillips knows it is important to not only beat Pinewood, but to do in impressive fashion.

“We are practicing for Pinewood as if they are the top team in the GIAA,” Phillips said. “This is for the region championship and would give us the possibility of playing at home throughout the playoffs. Pinewood has a lot of pride and are very well-coached. They have a quarterback who is a great athlete and is a threat to go all the way if he gets into the open field. I hope our team will remain focused on the goal at hand and come out like we did last week.” 

Bulloch Academy and Pinewood are scheduled for a 7:30 kickoff Friday at Gator Alley.