East Limestone passed a tough test last week when it defeated Boaz 53-33 in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs. But the Indians will face an even tougher test tonight when they travel to play Mortimer Jordan in the second round.

“That’s the thing with playoffs,” East Limestone coach Jeff Pugh said. “Boaz was a great team, but we’re facing an even better team this week. Mortimer Jordan is a step up from who we played last Friday. This is going to be by far our toughest test of the year.”

The game was originally supposed to be played at Mortimer Jordan’s stadium in Kimberly, but the contest had to be moved to Clay-Chalkville High School in Clay, about 20 miles east, due to unplayable field conditions at Mortimer Jordan caused by the incessant rain.

Pugh has talked about the need for his team to improve each week if they want to continue to advance in the playoffs, and he feels the Indians did that against Boaz, especially in the second half when East outscored the Pirates 24-7 to pull away for the 20-point victory.

“Winning against when I think is a good football team in Boaz, I feel like we improved,” Pugh said. “We improved defensively in the second half. In the first half, we didn’t tackle well and had busts in coverage. I feel like overall we did get better in the game last week. In practice we’re still trying to improve.”

East Limestone’s defense allowed 267 yards and 26 points in the first half against Boaz, but only gave up 117 yards and seven points in the second half.

Pugh said better tackling and not blowing coverages was the reason for the difference in points and yards. But he said East can’t have a poor defensive half against Mortimer Jordan and expect to come back with a win.

“The big thing is you can’t have busts in coverage against teams that are well-coached and have good receivers,” Pugh said. “We’ve got to clean up those coverage problems we had last week. The other thing is our tackling has got to be better because they’ve got good running backs and players on offense. We have to be disciplined, stay in the proper position and take the proper angle. Everybody has got to fill a gap on defense.”

Mortimer Jordan has a multi-dimensional offense, running the option out of the veer formation, but also being able to spread a defense out and pass the ball.

Mortimer Jordan (10-1) has won 10 games in a row after losing its season opener against Pleasant Grove. The Blue Devils rushed for 243 yards in their 17-3 playoff win over Dora last week and had 341 yards total.

“When you face an option offense like this, you’ve got to be disciplined and take care of your business so somebody else doesn’t have to cover for you, which opens up another hole,” Pugh said. “You’ve got to be responsible and make sure you’re where you’re supposed to be, or you’re going to get exposed.”

Another way to slow down Mortimer Jordan’s offense is to keep them on the sideline. Pugh said the Indians will need to be able to run the ball well in order to keep the clock running and score after some long drives.

The key to East’s offense will be quarterback Andrew Parris. The senior has thrown for 1,516 yards and nine touchdowns while rushing for 810 yards and 13 scores this season. Most of his passing yardage has gone to C.J. Yarbrough, who has 32 receptions for 1,014 yards and seven touchdowns.

Parris had 92 rushing yards and two scores last week while throwing for 149 yards and another score.

“We need to control the tempo of the game and control the clock,” Pugh said. “We also need to win the war of special teams and field position. To get to where we want to be, you’ve got to beat the best teams, and they’re definitely one of them.”