BY WIL CREWS
SPORTSCREWS@
OPELIKAOBSERVER.COM
OPELIKA —
For the varsity Opelika Bulldog football team, last season coincided with many milestones.
Beginning with their move up to the highest classification of Alabama high school sports, 7A, to the defeat of eventual region champions Central Phenix City in early September, to the end, when Opelika missed the playoffs for the first time since 2009, not all of Opelika’s milestones were happy ones.
However, the new season is here, and after its initial exposure to playing in 7A, the Bulldogs are ready to cement their place amongst the state’s best in 2023.
“We are excited about this year,” said Opelika head football coach Erik Speakman. “This is year two for us in 7A. Last year, we struggled. We saw some growing pains of what we were facing each week with that jump but, we competed. There are no moral victories but, we lost three of those games by a combined 18 points. So we are hoping that carries over to this year.”
Opelika, which last year spent its first season competing in a region comprised of East Alabama regional powerhouses like Central and Auburn, finished the 2022 season with a record of 5-5. It matched that .500 effort in its eight regional games, going 4-4. The Bulldogs crashed out of the playoff picture in the end, however, losing its final two region games to Enterprise, 14-22, and Dothan, 7-14.
“I think the biggest thing is, you are always talking to your kids about the five or six plays that make a difference in the game, and little things matter,” Speakman said. “But I think when you actually lose a game because of it, it means a little bit more. And then all of sudden you don’t make the playoffs for the first time since 2009, you’re done before Halloween, that really puts some perspective on it. I like trick-or-treating and have fun scaring people but I rather be doing football practice.”
This season’s schedule doesn’t get any easier for the Bulldogs. Opelika will begin its schedule facing back-to-back-to-back-to-back 7A champions, Thompson High School, in Montgomery’s Cramton Bowl for the AHSAA’s annual Kickoff Classic.
“It brings a lot of excitement number one,” Speakman said on what it means to open the season against Thompson. “It brings a lot of energy to your summer, because [the players] know what is ahead of them. When you get a chance to play Thompson with what they have done, you can kind of just see a different attitude going into the weight lifting, the running and the summer practice.”
Thompson is led by freshman quarterback Trent Seaborn, who, as an eighth grader, torched Auburn High School in the 7A State Championship game last December, resulting in a final stat line of 12-of-14 passing for 207 yards, three touchdowns and one interception, as well as being named the game’s MVP.
“Trent, great kid, they have a really good team over there,” said Opelika quarterback Roman Gagliano. “But I have full confidence in coach Speakman, our coaching staff and all our players that we are going to go there and make them earn the win. All of our players’ mindset is that we are the underdogs. That’s kind of how we are thinking — go prove everybody wrong.”
Speakman said he is aware of Seaborn’s abilities but the Bulldogs will not cower at the prospect of slowing the prolific Thompson offense. In fact, Speakman is betting on his guy, the senior 3-star, Gagliano, as the quarterback to watch in the season opener.
“The best quarterback in the state is wearing an Opelika jersey,” Speakman said.
To achieve a season-opener upset over Thompson, and to reach the goal of returning to the playoffs in 2023, Opelika, like any high school football program, will have to replace the talent lost from its 2022 roster. The graduation of 2022 All-Stars Brenton Williams (defensive end) and Tae Gay (linebacker) leaves a 450-pound-sized hole in the middle of the Bulldog defense. And the graduated Jakori Thornton and Caden Cooper vacate a large chunk of carries and receptions handled by the Bulldog’s offensive weapons in 2022.
While Speakman said the Bulldog’s senior class is “not as big,” he emphasized that “the quality is there.” And with the return 20 players who Speakman said played significant snaps last year, the head coach hopes Opelika will have an experience edge on some of its competition this season.
“We have some dogs on the team and we aren’t scared of anybody on the schedule,” said senior defensive back Jamarcus Phillips.
Along with Gagliano and Phillips, look for junior defensive linemen Malik Autry, E’Mauri Smiley, Allen Jackson and Jakii Lightfoot, junior athlete Makai Simpson and junior running back Calvin Hughley to make their presence known for Opelika in 2023.
“This group has done a great job in the offseason,” Speakman said. “We start back August 7, so at this point the focus now is on doing the little things right. Making sure we are here on time, acting right in the classroom, all the things we talk about as far as off the field that translates to success on the field. With this schedule, every week is a new challenge with a really good team in front of you, so we will focus on that, play it out on Friday(s) and start it over on Monday(s).”
OPELIKA FOOTBALL
SCHEDULE:
– Aug. 25 (neutral) vs. Thompson
– Aug. 31 @ Jefferson Davis
– Sept. 8 vs. Lee
– Sept. 15 @ Central Phenix City
– Sept. 22 vs. Prattville
– Sept. 29 @ Theodore
– Oct. 6 vs. Auburn
– Oct. 13 @ Smiths Station
– Oct. 20 @ Enterprise
– Oct. 27 vs. Dothan