West Limestone’s next opponent might not have won a game yet this season, but Wildcats coach Shelby Davis said Friday’s game against Central-Florence will be anything but easy.

“They’re 0-4, but they have played four really good teams,” Davis said. “They are not a team that wows you by just looking at them. But when you watch them play, they get after it. They play so hard, and they do all the little things right. They’ve also got one of the best running backs probably in the state (Dalton Hanback). He’s averaging between 200 and 300 yards per game.”

Central might be 0-4 overall and 0-2 in Class 4A, Region 8, but the Wildcats have played a very tough schedule. They dropped non-region games to Colbert County (34-28) and Haleyville (33-16) and then faced two of the toughest teams in Class 4A, Region 8 in Brooks and Deshler. Central lost a close game to Brooks 35-28 before losing 40-20 to region favorite Deshler last week.

“We’re really going to have our work cut out for us to go over there and find a way to win,” Davis said. “We think we can. We’ve just got to go over there and tackle the Hanback kid, not give up any big plays and not turn it over on offense. I feel like if we do those three things, we’ll be able to come away with a win.”

West Limestone is 2-1 overall and 1-0 in Class 4A, Region 8 after a record-breaking 75-0 win over Elkmont last Friday. The Wildcats were off the week prior to the Elkmont game, so they should be fresh and injury free going into Friday’s game against Central.

“We feel like we do have an advantage as far as our depth is concerned,” Davis said. “We had a bye week and then our starters basically only played a half last week, so we’re pretty fresh and injury free right now. Central might be a little beat up after playing all the difficult opponents they’ve faced.”

Central defeated West Limestone 35-0 last season, but this year’s Wildcats team is much improved, especially offensively. Much of that is due to the play of quarterback C.J. Adams. Adams, who threw for 106 yards and a touchdown on six completions last week, has thrown five touchdown passes in the Wildcats’ first three games.

“Our offensive coordinator has done a great job with C.J. getting him ready,” Davis said. “We were hesitant our first couple of games with knowing what he was able to do. But he’s proven to us he’s capable of doing whatever we need him to do.”

West also has receivers Adams can get the ball to. River Helms is the team’s leading receiver, but Thorne Slaton, Dakota Jefferson, Tyree Hiliare and Branson Owens are also targets for the junior quarterback.

“We’ve got several guys we can get the football to,” Davis said. “Now the issue is finding a way to get them all the football. It definitely opens things up for us offensively if we can find a way to get those guys the football at the right time.”