Central tries to start title march versus Bob Jones

For Central head coach Jamey DuBose and his Red Devils, every week of the offseason has been a work week. On Friday night, the fans at Garrett-Harrison Stadium will get a glimpse at whether all that work will pay off.

The Red Devils, ranked second in Class 7A by the Alabama Sportswriters Association, begin their 2017 season with a home matchup against No. 8 Bob Jones, a 7A school from Madison, Ala. The showdown with the Patriots will be Central’s first test in a year in which many expect the team to make a state championship run.

Reaching that objective is still very far down the line, but Friday’s game can provide DuBose and others a valuable measuring stick.

“You’ve got to play a really good opponent that’s going to have a tradition of good football and is well coached,” DuBose said. “You want a playoff-type atmosphere in Game 1 to come right out of the gate and find out where you’re at. From there, you can adjust.”

The tactic is one DuBose has utilized every season at Central. In 2014 and 2015, the Red Devils faced Stockbridge, a Georgia Class 5A team which won 23 games in those two seasons. Last year, Central opened against Hoover, which beat the Red Devils 23-7 and later won the 7A state championship.

The Patriots went 7-4 last season, which was a bit of a down year under head coach Kevin Rose. In Rose’s previous seven years, Bob Jones went 66-17 and posted double-digit victories in three of those seasons.

With sophomore Caden Rose, Kevin’s son, projected as the starting quarterback, the Patriots are eager to prove last year was an exception to the norm.

“It’s a good opponent, and it’s good work,” DuBose said. “They’re a well-coached team, so they may be able to find some issues within our defense or offense that we maybe didn’t see in preseason. I think our guys understand during the year and during the offseason that Game 1 is not going to be an easy game.”

DuBose said he was happy with the effort he saw from his team during the summer, which he hopes will translate on Friday night. The Red Devils have 10 returning starters from last year, including standout wide receiver Justyn Ross, but have lost key playmakers such as quarterback Zion Webb and running back Jaxton Carson.

It’s now up to the returning players to fill those voids effectively in order for Central to contend. Based on what DuBose has seen, several Red Devils are headed in that direction.

“It seems like we’ve got some guys who are trying to become leaders, even younger guys,” DuBose said. “I think that’s always a positive this early in the year. There’s still some continuity needed to be built within our program. Hopefully, we’ll grow a little bit more familiar with each other in the weeks to come and as the season grows.”

DuBose said he’s been happy with how the team has handled the days leading up to the first game. He said it’s possible for a team to get too energized early in the week, leaving the players feeling flat once game time rolls around.

Now in his fourth year at the helm, DuBose feels his Red Devils truly understand how to conduct themselves leading up to a game. Come Friday afternoon, those players will finally let the blood start pumping and the adrenaline flowing.

“We’ll start to see what’s at the end of the tunnel, and that’s going to be the ballgame,” DuBose said. “When we come running out of the tunnel, we’ve got to be ready to go on kickoff.”

This story was originally published August 24, 2017 at 3:18 PM with the headline "Central tries to start title march versus Bob Jones."