Season Preview: Westover wants to push toward playoff goals, opens against Dougherty Friday night

ALBANY — The Westover Patriots will open their football season Friday night in Hugh Mills Stadium in the Hamp Smith Classic against crosstown rival Dougherty and interim head coach Octavia Jones believes his team is ready to compete and push the Westover name toward the upper echelon of Region 1-AAAA.

“We are not afraid of talking about competing for a region championship,” Jones said. “When I took over the football program last spring, I told the players during the first meeting that I wanted us to be able to compete for a region championship this year. We set a goal of being able to host a playoff game because we want to be in the upper part of the region standings, not coming in at the bottom.”

The Patriots are coming off of a 3-8 record from last year but have many key players returning and some players that are now coming into their own.

“Keyon Thomas is not the 14-year-old quarterback you saw a year ago,” said Jones. “He has worked very hard this summer and is now able to make throws he couldn’t make last year. His decision-making is far above what it was a year ago and we believe he is going to be able to put us in good situations.”

One of the keys for Westover and Thomas to be successful on offense will be the offensive line and Jones said he believes the offensive line players now understand what it will take for the Patriots to be able to move the football.

“Since we got back from the OTAs this summer in Bainbridge, the offensive line has been coming into their own,” the coach said. “They now understand what we are looking for from them when it comes to their physicality. I’m really liking what I am seeing from those guys and if they keep improving, they can put us into that region conversation later in the season.”

With the improvement of the offensive line, Westover has also been able to see who can handle the skill positions that will lead to yardage and points on the board. Jones pointed out that Zavion Tillman has broken out as one of the top receivers who can catch those passes after a strong performance in the scrimmage against Mitchell County. Running back Adrian Rogers had an impressive showing in Camilla as well and has earned the starting running back position for the Patriots.

Jones said the defense is ready to go as well.

“The defense has always been a little bit ahead of the offense,” Jones said. “They know they have to go after the ball and their assignments are not as intricate as they are on offense. They know their roles. The things we have been working on with them is missed tackles and just being out of position.”

Eddie Vicente will again handle the kicking duties for the Patriots and linebacker Cameron Williams will handle punting duties.

Jones said his team is focused on Dougherty and ready to compete.

“We’ve set goals and the first team in our way of reaching those goals is the Dougherty Trojans,” the coach said. “So, we’re going out to play our best and see where the chips fall. We told our guys when the news hit about the coaching change at Dougherty that we weren’t going to worry about any of that. We were just going to focus on what we were doing. I am sure Coach Joyner will have the Trojans fired up and ready as well so we know we will be in a battle.”

That battle begins Friday night at 7:30 at Hugh Mills Stadium in Albany.

By Joe Whitfield
@SidelineJoeWhitJoeWhitfield[email protected]
By Joe WhitfieldJoeWhitfield[email protected]