BY DANIEL SCHMIDT
THE OBSERVER
LOACHAPOKA — Loachapoka High School entered the contest against Valley High School riding high having won six of their last seven games.
However, the Lady Indians (6-5, 5-5) were brought back down to earth with a 7-6 loss to a determined Lady Rams (7-7, 5-5) squad at Ram Stadium on Oct. 21.
Loachapoka head coach Ashley Anderson didn’t have to look far to find what went wrong against Valley.
“We shot ourselves in our own foot,” Anderson said. “We were inside the red zone three times, and we were just making a lot of mental mistakes.”
The Lady Indians had beaten the Lady Rams 25-6 at home on Sept. 22 but couldn’t finish drives in the rematch, which had been rescheduled because of weather.
“I think what kind of took us out of our rhythm is when the game got rescheduled because of the weather, and then we had to kind of switch some things around,” Anderson said. “So it was just a lot of adversity, and I’m trying to get them prepared to be able to fight through all adversity.”
Jalady Winchester ran for Loachapoka’s only touchdown. Valley answered with an Aniyah McCullough TD run, and the Lady Rams’ point after proved to be the difference.
The Lady Indians’ defense kept them in the game. Winchester and Vennecia Cobb each intercepted Kailee Harris, and Valley managed just 33 rushing yards on 12 carries.
“The defense played well. I could not be more proud of my defense,” Anderson said. “They gave us a couple of chances, but like I said, we just couldn’t get out of our own way.”
Winchester has been the centerpiece of that defense. Her interception against Valley was one of 14 she has this season.
“She’s just a natural-born player,” Anderson said. “Whatever it is we ask her to do, she’s going to do it. She’s going to push her teammates, and with being the type of player that she is, I stay on her the hardest. … Finishing with 14 interceptions in just this season, that says a lot about her eye for the ball.”
Despite the loss, Loachapoka qualified for the playoffs in Anderson’s first season as head coach.
“It’s a great feeling,” Anderson said. “My job was to come in and just get the girls to buy into the program and get everybody on the same page, so we can be together and go out there and compete at a high level.”
Postseason
Loachapoka opens the playoffs on the road against Moody High School (18-1) on Thursday, Nov. 5, at 5:30 p.m. at Bill Morris Stadium. Anderson described the Lady Blue Devils as one of the top-ranked teams in Alabama.
Anderson said the offense needs to clean things up before then.
“We’ve got to be vocal, and we’ve got to be vigilant,” Anderson said. “We’ve got to minimize the penalties and make those catches that are in our hands. We’ve got to be able to see where the open spots are on the field.”
Anderson said Winchester has been encouraging her teammates to study film ahead of the matchup. She also said Moody’s ranking isn’t a concern.
“I don’t care about them being a No. 1 team,” Anderson said. “My main goal is to go out there and just compete and lay everything on the field.”
