Ardmore has exploded out of the gates in the 2018 season, scoring 93 total points in two dominating victories, including a 41-0 thumping of rival Elkmont last Friday.

But Tigers coach P.J. Wright knows his team will face its toughest test of the season Friday night, when they open up Class 5A, Region 8 play on the road against Scottsboro.

“Scottsboro is a much better team than the first two teams we played,” Wright said. “They are fast and athletic, and we’re going to have to play better than we have been in order to beat them. There’s no mistaking that.”

This will be Ardmore’s first road game of the season, which is something Wright said could affect a team full of new and inexperienced players.

“It’s an hour-and-a-half bus ride, and you have to be very mature in how you handle it,” Wright said. “We have a lot of people who have never been on a bus ride to a football game before. We’ve got a lot of seniors who have never played before, and that’s been our Achilles heel the last two weeks.”

Wright said inexperienced mistakes included three post-play personal foul penalties in Ardmore’s first game, while there were numerous holding and block in the back penalties last week against Elkmont.

“We’re trying hard, but we don’t know how to control what we’re doing yet, and that comes from experience,” Wright said. “The good news is we film everything, and these are all teachable moments. Where I get upset is when we teach something and then they commit the same error. But for the most part, everything we teach and show them, we clean up.”

Wright pointed to the fact that the Tigers committed no personal foul penalties against Elkmont as an example of his players learning from instruction.

“This week, our focus is on holding penalties and keeping our hands inside,” he said. “Hopefully, our players will learn from that instruction and not make those same mistakes this week.”

Scottsboro opened its season last week with a 26-13 victory over Fort Payne, and Wright said the Wildcats have a good defense that could trouble the Tigers’ explosive offense.

“They show a variety of defensive looks that will present different challenges for our offensive line,” Wright said. “They have an inside linebacker who can really play and also play a lot of man coverage in the secondary. When you do that, you’re oftentimes sending blitzes, so we’ll have to do a good job of identifying where they are coming from.”

Scottsboro also has several offensive playmakers the Tigers will have to watch for.

“They have a good quarterback who throws the ball well, and a running back who will also play wildcat quarterback,” Wright said. “Their wide receiver is probably their best athlete on the field. He’s their go-to receiver and also plays cornerback.”

Scottsboro is coached by a familiar name to Limestone County football fans. Don Jacobs, who coached at Elkmont from 2007-2009, is beginning his second year as Wildcats head coach. Wright said he is excited to coach against a coaching legend such as Jacobs, who won a state championship at Oneonta in 2013.

“Coach Jacobs has been around a long time, and I’m looking forward to getting to coach against him,” Wright said. “He’s been around football a long time, and it will be fun getting to go against him.”