By Justin Graves

justin@athensnews-courier.com

East Limestone may have the No. 2 playoff seed in Class 4A, Region 7, but coach Jeff Pugh said that doesn’t mean the Indians’ first playoff game will be an easy matchup.

The Indians will host Cherokee County Friday night, a team Pugh believes could pose some problems.

“They’re a very good football team,” he said. “But every playoff team coming out of Region 6 is strong this year. You could put Cherokee County, Alexandria, Guntersville and Boaz all in a hat and it wouldn’t matter which team you drew. All four of those (teams) can play.”

While East Limestone is hosting Cherokee County – last season’s Class 3A runner-up – Friday, Ardmore will travel to Guntersville for its first playoff game since the 2004 season. The Tigers went 0-10 last year, but finished this season with an 8-2 record and are the No. 3 playoff seed in Class 4A, Region 7.

Ardmore coach Tracy Malone is excited the Tigers have returned to the playoffs, but he doesn’t want his players to just be content at getting there. At the same time, he also knows Guntersville won’t be an easy task.

“Guntersville is a pretty good football team,” Malone said. “Our kids are excited about having the chance to play in the playoffs. Everyone in the community is excited.

“We control our own destiny this week. That’s all you can ask for.”

East Limestone beat West Morgan in a 48-28 rout last week. Indians running back Jonathan Pinque ran for 193 yards with five touchdowns in the win. Pugh said now that the junior is almost healthy, he is hoping to see similar performances.

“He (Pinque) has had a nagging ankle injury almost all season,” he said. “But he’s almost 100 percent and it showed last week at West Morgan. He had a huge game for us and I hope he can keep it up this week. We’re going to need him and Chad Dewitt to perform well for us this week.””

The Indians rolled up over 600 yards of total offense in last week’s win. Pugh said the majority of that production can be attributed to the offensive line.

“Our lowest grading offensive lineman was 72 percent,” Pugh said. “They played great, but we’re going to need those guys to do it again this week. Cherokee County plays good defense. But if our offensive line play the way they’re capable of, then we can move the football.”

Even though the Warriors are known for solid defense, Pugh said they have the weapons to hurt you on the offensive side too.

“They have some exceptionally talented players,” he said. “They get into several different sets and give you a lot of different looks. R.J. Brown, Cameron Nye and Marvin Baker really stepped it up for us defensively against a good offensive football team last week. We need another superb effort this week.”

Pugh isn’t the only coach worried about a high-powered offense this week. Guntersville has made a habit of putting up a lot of points this year.

Even though Ardmore will need a good defensive effort this week, Malone said it will be just as important for the Tigers’ offense to establish their running game.

Ardmore is led by junior running back Derrick Green – who is the area’s leading rusher with over 1,500 yards.

“Everyone knows how we’re going to attack them,” Malone said. “We have to be able to run the football if we’re going to be successful.”