justin@athensnews-courier.com

ARDMORE – While every other school in Limestone County is playing football Friday night, Ardmore’s players will be finishing up something more important – the Alabama High School Graduation Exam.

Due to testing this week, the Tigers have postponed this week’s game with Columbia. Ardmore will play Saturday night at 7 p.m. in Milton Frank Stadium.

“This has been a different week for us,” Ardmore coach Tracy Malone said. “We’ve had kids taking tests all week, so there have been several guys missing from practice some days. It’s been difficult, but we just have to step up and get ready for Columbia.”

As if practicing with a short roster wasn’t difficult enough, preparing for Columbia isn’t an easy task itself. The Class 4A, Region 7 newcomer is in its first year of football, but Malone said from what he’s seen so far, they aren’t your typical young football program.

“They are a well coached group,” he said. “Their coach used to be at Winston County and he’s done a great job of getting them ready. They have several talented players and will give you a lot of different looks.”

Columbia (1-2,0-2) won it’s season opener against Class 1A Hackleburg, but followed with two close losses to Madison County and Priceville – two teams Malone expects to contend for a playoff berth.

“They’ve got two kids who transferred from Butler that are really good,” Malone said. “We are going to need a good effort Saturday night. Columbia has already shown they can play. There was only a touchdown difference in their two losses and both of those were to good teams.”

Malone said the Tigers have to run the football successfully Saturday night. Ardmore running back Derrek Green has rushed for over 400 yards through the first three games this season.

“Our offensive line has done pretty good so far,” Malone said. “Derreck didn’t have a great game against North Jackson, but they did a great job on defense.”

Over all, Malone has been pleased with the effort he has gotten on the field. He said the Tigers’ secondary has played very well and the defense has played good as a unit. Even though he has been pleased with a lot of things, he still believes Ardmore could use its time at practice more wisely.

“I don’t like the way we practice,” Malone said. “We don’t practice with a sense of urgency. I don’t think these guys realize just how valuable our time at practice is.”

Even though Ardmore has found success early in the season, Malone said the Tigers are still going to continue working hard.

“We know we’re getting into our stretch run,” he said. “We’ve made huge strides to get where we are and are in good position to make a run at the playoffs. Our guys are still a little behind in the weight room, but we’re going to keep working hard and catch up.”