By Ashley Hargrove
TANNER — Mark Adams tried for a while to forget how his football season ended last year.
The Tanner High senior did for the most part, but admits it’s been on his mind a lot recently — and with good reason.
Last season, Sulligent put a damper on the Rattlers undefeated season and ended their hopes of repeating history with a 52-14 road win in the third round of the Class 2A state playoffs. With the way region play in Region 7 and 8 played out this year, Friday looks to be a case of deja vu all over again when the Blue Devils travel to Tanner for the opening round of the state football playoffs.
“We’ve definitely talked about it,” Adams said of the rematch. “We talked about how embarrassing it was. It stung pretty bad having them beat us at home. Just because they beat us last year doesn’t mean they’ll lay down this year.”
Adams teammate Tray Cosby remembers having to watch the second half of the game from the sideline after leaving during the second quarter with an injured knee. And while it wasn’t easy, he said he and his team are motivated to play them again.
“We’ve talked about how we don’t want to get beat again,” Cosby said. “There is a lot at stake — you lose and you go home. We don’t want that. We want to end on a good note.”
Whatever the outcome, both Adams and Cosby know it will be a good game either way.
“ It’s going to be a battle,” Adams said. “ One good team is going to go home.”
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
