LAKELAND —
Lanier County High School will host its inaugural Salute to the Military tonight, when the Bulldogs’ football team opens its season against the Atkinson County Rebels.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at Roquemore Stadium in Lakeland.
Tonight’s special event was established to honor all active and retired military personnel, and their families, with free admission to the game. All service members will be granted free admission with their military identification cards.
Moody Air Force Base Colonel Edward “Jerry” Ford will conduct tonight’s coin toss, and the Honor Guard will present the nation’s colors.
“It is very special to me because I have a son that is stationed in Afghanistan. He’s been there since November,” said Lanier County head coach David Ward, who will coach his first official game as the Bulldogs’ head coach. “(My son) is a U.S. Army Airborne Infantry Soldier. He is a front-line soldier. So it is very special to me.
“No. 2, having been in the United States Army and having served, myself, back in the early- to mid-70’s, it is very important to me. Then some of our players, whose parents are presently in the military. It is a big deal for us, especially with the Moody connection.”
The Bulldogs own a five-game winning streak against the Rebels, including a 34-20 victory last season, when the teams met in region play.
Although Atkinson County is no longer a member of Region 2-A, after being moved up a classification and into Region 2-AA, tonight’s game remains a rivalry between the two schools.
“It is a rivalry,” Ward said. “We are 20 miles apart. With the exception of a year or two, they have been close games.”
This season, the Rebels are the bigger, faster, deeper and more experienced team, according to Ward.
“They’re bigger than us this year, and they’re faster than us,” Ward said. “(Atkinson head coach) Jody (Stone) has probably 45 to 50 kids. He has a lot more than we have.”
“It is going to be a big task for us this year,” Ward continued. “With as many young kids as we have this year, it is not going to be easy.”
Lanier County’s most experienced player is quarterback Jovan Smith, who also plays defense and special teams.
“He is the most experienced guy we have at quarterback. He is a leader on defense and a big help on special teams,” Ward said. “A lot of stuff is geared around him.”
Young and inexperienced, the Bulldogs were able to gain a lot of game-like experience last week with a 14-7 win over Pelham in preseason action. For Ward, the result of the game didn’t matter, but rather the amount of experience the younger players gained.
“You always want to win, but it was not our main focus,” Ward said. “Our main focus was to get as many kids playing time as possible. We got everybody in the game. A lot of our young kids, a lot of our freshmen and sophomores, played the whole fourth quarter.
“It was real big to have those young kids to get a lot of playing time. There were some kids we were disappointed with and there were some kids that surprised us. We were able to make some adjustments, personnel wise, this week. But we are going to have to play a whole lot better against Atkinson County.”
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